Classic car market post COVID

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Just had a flashback to an old crime investigation I saw on the TV news back in the early 1980s. There was a boy eyewitness and he drew an image of the perpetrator’s getaway car. It was a hatchback with big wheels each with 4 circles. The police got their XR3 driving man!

[Chillidoggy]

30 minutes ago, jps-1985 said:

i totally agree with mr masons view on classic cars a ford xr3 was a terrible car in its day i used to sell them when they were 4-5 yrs old and they were dredful in comparison to .a honda prelude gsi from same period , the honda was quicker more economicla , better built , drove better etc but they fetch nowt in comparison ... if just being old means its a classic , does that meen "agadoo " is a classic record LOL

Are cars like the Austin Allegro or Morris Marina ‘classic cars’? Not in my view, but they might be to someone else. As to whether they were ‘dreadful’, that doesn’t matter to those same people. Some of the old exotics were nightmares to maintain, cost a fortune to do so, and weren’t that good to drive. Yet they’re still seen as ‘classics’.

I’d put my Triumph Stag in the ‘dreadful’ category for both those reasons, yet they’re an accepted ‘classic’. I agree it looked beautiful and sounded gorgeous, but it was woefully unreliable, drove like a barge and drank fuel like nothing else. I hated it.

Some XR3s are fetching serious money these days, and so are some XR2s, so a good slice of the population clearly thinks they’re worth the tag, and so probably see them as ‘classics’. Having had an XR2, I thought it was a good car,  but I don’t think they’re worth what people are willing to stump up for them right now, but again, that’s my view.

Ultimately, it’s a subjective thing, but for what it’s worth I also agree with Nick Mason’s definition, which seems the most sensible one I’ve heard so far.

[eeyoreish]

For 'modern classics' it's all about cars people lusted after back in the day but couldn't afford or some nostalgia for a car they owned and let go. Those people are now in their 40s and 50s with some disposable cash and want to finally own their teenage dream car or relive their younger years with the first or favourite car from their youth.

Value is all about supply and demand. Fast Fords we're plentiful in the day and desired, hence lots of demand now but little supply of good, original cars. Hence values are high. Similar for other hot hatches etc. Sure, there are some 'investors' when things begin to get worth serious money but mostly the value is driven by the amount people are reasonably prepared/able to pay to fulfil their teenage car dream. 

I dabble a bit in buying and selling modern classics and that's the market I see. 

Some cars are just old and rare but not desirable (Allegros, Marinas and the like) and whilst there's still a nostalgia market they'll never make big money because they weren't desired in their day.

It's an interesting market because unlike 'established', older classics (like Stags, MGBs etc) not all values are established so one man's 'old car' is another man's 'must have'. Spotting the gems in the classifieds is the fun part but finding good cars is hard.

At the kind of values I'm playing with I doubt the market will be hard hit but if I were sitting on a £1m Ferrari investment  I'd be more than a bit twitchy...

[USAndretti42]

On 26/04/2020 at 19:45, eeyoreish said:

For 'modern classics' it's all about cars people lusted after back in the day but couldn't afford or some nostalgia for a car they owned and let go. Those people are now in their 40s and 50s with some disposable cash and want to finally own their teenage dream car or relive their younger years with the first or favourite car from their youth.

I agree but an ex-boss of mine, who is in his late 50's, loves Austin 7s.  Another loves Model Ts.  It's not rational.

[eeyoreish]

The case for reincarnation.

[dclare]

If anyone knows of a good Porsche 964 C2 or C4, or 993 Im interested (only coupe's not targa or cab)......

Prices still seem to be very solid and the air cooled Porsches are selling, although there are a couple of modified cars that have been for sale for a long time at too high a price.

I do believe the higher end of the market (£100k +) is very soft with E-Types going down significantly, but the mid-range which is not really investor territory, more the high end enthusiast market is pretty stable.....once an enthusiast sees a car they love man maths tends to take over (if they are anything like me anyway!), whereas an investor wont be emotional in the same way.