Appreciating Assets

Hi, Julian from Classic Riviera here. As classic car traders and experts we get naturally asked a lot which cars will go up in value.

This is, of course, the Holy Grail and the question that if we knew the answer to every time, we would be much better off! I am sure that this will be the first of many articles as it is a huge subject.

My first advice to anyone wanting to buy a classic or new car is to buy one that you love. That way if it goes up in value that’s great, and if it doesn’t you still own a car that you love.

There has been much talk about the new Ferraris and the in house designer instead of Pininfarina. Personally I think the 12 Cillindri and the 296 are both very beautiful designs, and I would challenge those that keep saying the values are dropping to prove it. I have a client who is keenly awaiting delivery of his 12 Cillindri Spider, having just sold his F8 Spider, and he was concerned at the articles he was reading. The spec that he has chosen is really nice, with a dark grey paintwork and a double stripe front to back, black interior and almost every carbon trim option box ticked, I have seen the mock up and it looks fantastic. I then looked at every well specced 12 Cillindri  for sale from a reputable dealer and every single one is above list price. It is very important to get the best advice and not to rely on articles online, some of which are good and some are not as well researched as they should be….in my opinion!

The market for classic and modern collectors cars has certainly changed recently. If you are old enough to remember when the interest rates dropped for over 5% to practically zero, this is when the latest surge in prices started, everyone thought “why leave my money in the bank when I have always wanted a DB5” for example. These then went north of a million and have now started to come back, as interest rates have now gone back up. This has caused money supply to tighten and also allowed a yield (albeit not a great one) at the banks.

The other thing that I am noticing is that the old blue chip investments such as E Type Jaguars and DB Astons are now easing. This is because the buyers are now a generation younger so are looking at the cars they wanted when they were young and it is moving from the 60s to the 80s, 90s and 00s. Porsche seem to have managed with the 911 to continuously make fabulous cars, whether it is the 993 Turbo S or a 911R, both of which have doubled in price recently.

The manual gearbox is having a renaissance, which I thoroughly approve of, just look at the price difference between a Ferrari f355 F1 and a Manual, similarly but to a lesser extent with the f360. There is also a love of analogue car without endless digital “aids” which can detract from the pleasure of a weekend blast through the hills.

As always, I am happy to discuss and advise anyone who is considering buying any car, just drop me a line and let me know.