Pleasure over profit
11/27/2025
For a few weeks now, there has been a magazine on the editorial floor whose headline jumps out at me every time I go to the coffee machine: "These classic cars are better than shares". Classic cars whose value has increased many times over a defined period of time and will certainly continue to rise, which is why you should buy them now. Quite apart from the fact that this "logic" is based on the widespread misconception of wanting to read the future from the past, I always ask myself: who wants that?
I certainly don't. The worst thing that could happen to me in automotive terms would be for a Triumph TR4A to suddenly be worth millions. Not only would this make spare parts and insurance unaffordable for a poor hack. Above all, I would have to live with the constant fear that it would be stolen as soon as it was left unattended in public for two hours. That would be an irreplaceable loss, not only financially, but above all ideally, after almost 50 years of "family membership".
That's why all the talk about appreciation, the secret longing for it and even more so the speculation on it are quite alien to me, in the latter case even extremely repugnant. Somehow it adds an obsessive component to the hobby, which in my opinion hobbies should never have. Fortunately, I only own cars where a spontaneous escalation in value is almost impossible. Nevertheless, they are all better for me than shares. I can't drive with shares.
