I like classic cars, have owned a few over the years and try to keep an eye on prices yet currently the market is going mad with residuals changing weekly now rather than monthly or quarterly. I’ve other friends who have spent good money on their childhood dreams who now have got to the point where their car is so valuable that they fear driving it.
A good point is this car for instance; I was offered this car 6 or 7 years ago for £25k but thought it was overpriced…. It’s on the market again now….

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/16139562115...rid=229508

A good friend of mine has a Ferrari 328 GTS that I helped collect from Nick Cartwright. Now, it’s ironic that Nick Cartwright are mentioned as they are well known for being ‘Top End’ and Glenn paid about £6-7K over market value for what was a show standard car. They currently have a 911E for £46K and when I was looking at early 911’s E’s and T’s were £10-12 which was where I wanted to be so I ended up buying my Vitesse which was the same colour/spec as the one I went to primary school in, in 1974 and fulfilled my then midlife crisis. Back on track…. NC phoned Glenn at Easter this year and offered him nearly £30K more than he paid for his Ferrari as they had a buyer lined up and last week they phoned him again and offered him £71K, yes Seventy One Thousand Pounds MORE than he paid and now Glenn is saying that he’s going to bail soon.
NC has a Yellow 308 Vetro and although it’s POA I was told a month or so ago that it’s £125K. I bet its £150 now as it’s far rarer than an F40 and Armari have one of those at £800K and they were £225 a few years ago. ( I know someone else who bought at just under 200 and sold for 400 thinking it can’t go any higher!!)
So really the Vetro is a good buy at the moment with prices going the way they are then that will command half a million in a few years’ time. Unfortunately I’m not in that league..

So, I’ve not got that sort of money to play with the big boys and am disappointed that I won’t be able to own the cars that were posters on my childhood wall but I know I’d be just as happy with this… Which my friend Glenn is looking at this weekend…
http://www.carnellclassiccars.co.uk/listing/hilman-super-imp/

The Other big movers that got away include a 70’s Lamborghini LP400 for mid £40’s that sold this year for £600 and a Lancia Delta S4, also for Mid £40’s that is currently for sale at £250ish…..
And last year when I bought my SC I flipped a coin between that and another favourite, the Lotus Carlton which was £13K at the time and is now £30K… I’m rubbish at this game… Regards
Mark

2009 D4; 1993 Classic 3.9 VSE

The secret is to buy them to use and enjoy them, then if they make a profit when you sell them then all the better.


I've owned Tilly now for over 11 years and just enjoy it for what it is.

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This has 'bubble' written all over it. Now all we need is somebody to tell us how this time it will all be different, just to confirm it.

It varies a lot by make/model. I have been looking for a Honda NSX for a long time, I got one 5 months ago, prices for these are climbing and these are also rare cars.

MC

I don't even try, although I'd love to.

Looking at when we've currently got, though, it appears three of my cars haven't depreciated one jot since buying them years ago. I looked at the prices of W210 E55 estates just recently and really good ones, like ours, are on the market (note to self, not necessarily selling...) for decently high amounts.

I keep hankering to sell my 300Tdi 110 as I simply don't use it, but I feel prices for these are on the up and am considering a careful programme of returning it to nearly standard in order to maximise its value when Defender production stops.

The problem I have, like many, is where to store these things. If I could find a secure barn / unit somewhere, I'd buy more to fill the space. Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

It's driven by investors and speculators at the moment. They see low returns with other investments so look at classic cars. I don't doubt some prices will continue to go up, but maybe when investors realise the big cost of maintaining their investment prices will level off.

I saw a lovely MK X Jaguar recently for about £12k - but it had bills over the years for +£70k.

NSX - yes, lovely car and a few years ago you could actually use one - not now.

I sometimes regret buying my TD6 instead of a 2 door classic. Maybe I'll wait until my TD6 becomes a classic.

A couple of real world examples of the market.

I have two "classics" although I would say I am not sure they are old enough to warrant the title.

A Mercedes R107 500SL which I bought about 5 years ago which is currently undergoing a restoration which should finish in a week or two. That one I bought for about £6k in need of work, and seems to be worth between £10k and £15k depending upon who you listen to in it's improved state. Overall, it probably owes me what it is worth but I have had great fun with it so effectively free motoring. Personally I think R107's are undervalued at the moment, but that is based upon the fact that the majority really are bad now. While built from girders, they were none or poorly galvanised girders and are invariably rotten unless money has been spent. Once the worst ones are at the scrap yard I suspect they will slowly increase, but never have stratospheric values as they made quite a lot, but until they do people will always assume a £10k car is the same as a £15k car.

My Ferrari Mondial T is an interesting one in terms of value. Again many are pretty ropey as they dropped to a value where a single part failure could write the car off easily so they were often poorly maintained. A lack of traditional Ferrari sexiness also kept values low despite being one of the nicer Ferrari's of the era to drive. I bought mine in pretty good condition for about £19k earlier in the year and getting it to a standard I am happy with has added another £2k to that bill.Will it go up.... maybe.... and I doubt it will drop so again, a useable investment. It seems to be at the lower end of what a T is advertised for, but as we all know that is not necessarily the sale price.

The upside value, if the speculators keep hyping the market, is that the Mondial is the last sub-£20k Ferrari... and in real terms probably the last sub-£30k Ferrari if you remove a few shed like 348's from consideration, and that means the last one mere mortals can afford to experience, so drives the cost up until they can't experience it anymore. I personally do not believe that will happen, but will be booth happy and sad if it does. Happy I make money but saddened that the experience is denied to people with normal pockets.

Overall, I would recommend anyone wanting a classic to really want the car and consider value second. No matter what anyone believes going in, or how perfect it looks, it will require cash within 3 minutes of driving away...... it just depends on how much cash.

My experience of owing the two is that I would not choose a Ferrari again. The potential for ruinous bills is high, the costs of even minor jobs are unpalatable. The image is better than the ownership experience for me and I want it the other way around. The R107 has been reliable, useable and a joy to own hence my investment in a restoration that probably makes marginal financial sense.

Never buy a cheap Classic as there is no such thing, drive them, experience them, pamper them....... and maybe, just maybe, add up the cost afterwards.... but never while the wife is around. 2011 Stornaway Grey 5.0SC Autobiography

Having this classic car virus since the 70ies I can say that the only ones that have cost me, were the ones I had restored completely. But then again not as much as any modern car would have cost me. The last few years I am reducing my collection (British only by the way) and I made profit on each and any one of them. Apart from the money the drive, the looks and the feeling is so much better as any modern car, so it is understandable that more and more people are sucked into that market.
And than ofcourse the fact that a cassic or vintage car offers so much more fun as shares, gold or money in the bank.
If you buy well you will always make money, even on the short term. If you have no money to play with, don't step in. There will be always something that the car or you need or want to do.
But isn't that the same with FFRR's?