A roadworthy classic or an exotic for special occasions?
08/19/2015
The auctions around Pebble Beachhave not provided a clear indication of where the market is heading. Several trends can be observed at the same time: Modern yet rare super sports cars are being traded for big money, as are super classics from the fifties and sixties or top racing cars from the post-war period. Even expensive pre-war vehicles were bid for.
Of course, one can only guess whether these vehicles were bought purely as investments or whether they will actually serve their new owners as a means of transportation.
Which categories will have the best value development in the future also depends on the development of the areas of use. Will there be more concours events (where the vehicles can at least be shown)?
Will there be more and better historic racing events?
Will it still be possible to drive 20-, 50- or 80-year-old classics on everyday roads in 5, 10 or 20 years' time, when networked and self-driving cars have taken over the roads? What will it be like to drive the McLaren F1 LMfrom 1998, which has just found a new owner for USD 13.75 million, in the traffic of 2020, if this will still be permitted at all by then?
Many questions and many assumptions, but also a lot of money that is currently being invested in old and new classics, because in the last week alone, vehicles changed hands for over USD 500 million at four auctions in California ...
However, it is not only the major investor who is likely to ponder the question of what to buy, but also the classic car or youngtimer enthusiast with much more modest means, who is perhaps looking for a classic for twenty or thirty thousand euros/francs. However, the enthusiast with less money can focus primarily on the pleasure of driving today and leave the worries about huge losses to others. We realize that a lot of money doesn't always make you freer ...
