Brexit and the classic car
06/25/2016
So they did it, the British. They said "goodbye" to the EU and were immediately punished on the stock market. The pound lost a good ten percent of its value against other currencies in the short term and by the end of the day.
This means that British classic cars have become a tenth cheaper for continental Europeans within a day. For some, this could perhaps fulfill a long-awaited wish and make a classic car affordable.
Europeans should probably just hurry up and get the deal done, but they probably have two years to transfer the car and import it duty-free into their own country.
The value of the pound and cars on the island will be determined by further moves by politicians, but the British car industry, if it still exists, is predicted to have a very difficult future.
Currency shifts are rarely a good thing for the international classic car trade, as they also force potential buyers out of the market. And experts from both camps will probably be arguing about the long-term effects of leaving the EU for a while yet ...
But one thing is certain: anyone who bought a car yesterday at the Bonhams auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and didn't hoard the money in British pounds beforehand has now benefited from a short-term discount almost equal to the Buyers Commission and, like Stirling Moss in the picture above, can enjoy a good drink.
