Values for high-end collectible cars have been on the rise for years. Lately, the market appears to have softened, but that hasn’t diminished the appetite of collectors. Values of affordable collector cars continue to rise, according to specialty insurance company Hagerty, which insures more than a million classic and collector cars. 
Hagerty’s “affordable classics” value index, which tracks vehicles from the 1950s through the 1970s that are priced under $40,000, is at an all-time high. It rose just 1 percent in the company’s latest four-month tracking period from January through April but has been on a steady climb since September 2011. The index includes vehicles such as the 1967 Volkswagen Beetle pictured above. The category of affordable classics was the only index of the seven that Hagerty tracks to have risen in average value over the past eight months, said Brian Rabold, Hagerty’s vice president of valuation services. The other Hagerty indices are muscle cars, blue-chip cars, 1950s American automobiles, Ferraris, German collectibles, and British cars.
The British cars category includes the likes of the 1965 Jaguar E-type SI 4.2 (which Hagerty currently values at $77,700) and the 1972 Triumph TR6 (valued at $12,400). The German cars index encompasses classics such as the 1972 Porsche 911S (valued at $128,000) and the 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing (valued at $1.3 million). These indices, along with Ferraris from the 1950s...