‘Big Old Cars’ gaining interest among those searching ClassicCars.com

There was a time when General Motors subdivided itself management hierarchy beyond its various brands. One of those groupings was known as “BOC.” Officially, BOC was shorthand for Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac, divisions which shared common vehicle components and thus were encouraged to work together on vehicle development and production.

Unofficially, BOC was derided as “Big Old Cars.”

But instead of deriding such vehicles, they increasingly are being pursued and driven by the folks searching for vehicles on the ClassicCars.com Marketplace.

For the past few months, those former BOC vehicles have been climbing up the list of the most-searched on the online sales website. In March, Cadillac was up to eighth, Buick to 17th and Oldsmobile to 18th among searches for vehicles of all years and models.

“Over the last four or so years, many cars from the B, O, C category had dropped quite a bit in value, especially the more standard models, and prices for these cars dropped quite a bit,” noted Andy Reid, ClassicCars.com’s market analyst and East Coast editor. “A great example are the Cadillac Series 61 and 62 cars.

“These are truly great cars, built at a time when America was in fact building some of the greatest cars in the world. Their affordability to buy has made them become more desirable to a whole new generation of collectors.

“This is even more true to the Cadillacs built in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. The fact that a younger collector can pick one up for less than $20,000 makes them worth trying out.”

On that all-years search, Chevrolet continues to be No. 1, followed by Ford, by Mustang, Chevrolet C-10 pickup trucks and Dodge.

We also track searches by those seeking particular year-make-model pursuits and again in March No. 1 was the 1969 Ford Mustang and No.2 was the 1967 version of that same car.

There was little movement on that list, though the 1967 Chevrolet Impala moved up from fifth place in February to third in March, and the 1969 Dodge Charger elevated from sixth to fourth. Dropping down a couple of spots were two Chevys, the 1964 Impala and 1969 Camaro.

On a consistent basis, and except for mid-1950s Chevrolet BelAirs, the year-make-model searches are dominated by those seeking cars produced in the 1960s and very early 1970s. At any time, there are around 30,000 vehicles advertised for sale on the ClassicCars.com website.