16 replies to this topic

[Cooperman]

I wish I still had the 1973 Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RST which I bought for £6600 in Germany in 1979. I sold it for £20k in 1996 and a similar car sold recently for over £400k.
Oh well, you win some and lose some!

[Spider]

 

You might think they are 'dear' now compared to 5 - 6 years ago, however, keep in mind that the prices are all only going one way. Buy wisely now and you can be reasonably assured in 5 years time it would sell for more than what you paid now.

 

I wouldn't have thought Mini prices can go up much more when people are asking £30k for Coopers and even vans.
Classic car values can go up and down with the economy.....and that's in a precarious position,no one knows what the future will be like post Covid,Brexit and environmental legislation.
I certainly wouldn't be buying a classic car today with the expectation it will me make money....hope yes, expectation no

 

 

I've never bought any of my cars, hobby or otherwise, with an expectation to make money on any of them, though, I moved one on just yesterday for what would be a record price or close to, though, I'm just happy to have some space back !

Locally at auction, no Cooper S has sold here for under $50k AUD (one sold about a month back for $65k and another about 3 years back for $94k), Mokes too have been knocking on the door of $50k. Totally agree that the prices have always been up and down, but the general trend, certainly over the past 10 - 15 years has been one way - Up. Our local Real Estate Institute came out about a years back and did say that the best, absolute top, investment over the past 20 years has not been Real Estate (which has always been solid and reliable here) nor stocks, but Vintage Cars. The 'trick' here is knowing when to buy and when to sell.

 

Also, like any investment bar none, there is always risk attached, if doing this to make money from, then one needs to understand the particular market and quirks of that market. ie, what's presently fueling the classic car market is baby boomers, who always wanted that Cooper Sin their youth, but never had the money back then, but now, have no debts and are cashed up. There's also a group who I refer to as 'Professional Collectors' who trade in Cars, like one would in Stocks, they have little passion for the Cars, but see the value in them, the further attraction here is, that if unregistered (as many are), there's no stamp duty, taxes or Government Reporting on them, so, unless sold at Auction, what ever they sell for goes 100% in to their pocket, and even taking in to account Auction Fees, if going that way, though, they can usually get better prices at Auction, they still come away smiling.

 

The real risk to the Classic Car Market I think is when most of the 'Baby Boomers' have passed away, if there will still be a big enough interest in the younger generations. This is also a big 'risk' to the Spare Parts market. Another Risk too is what is happening with Fuels and Government legislation, like you guys have in the UK now, with 2030 not far away. I don't think this will have an immediate effect but in time, it's bound to.

 

Just coming back to risk involved here, if one isn't prepared to accept risk, then best stick your Money in the Bank, however, I think largely (though only partly) because it is such very low risk and in some cases, Government backed (against total collapse), that Bank Rates have been so low over the past 20 years.