The collection of vintage or classic cars does not restrict itself to the rich and famous, who fill their converted heated stable block with automotive models of yesteryear.
The majority of classic cars within the UK and the United States are housed in garages which are attached to fairly standard suburban housing. But the most wonderful thing about classic cars is that you can make an initial investment for just a few thousand pounds.
"The market is very buoyant," says Bonhams' motoring specialist Stewart Skilbeck. "There's a lot of literature and publications on collecting motor cars and collectors are very knowledgeable and discerning. The market is very firm and gently rising, with certain areas really flying, like London to Brighton veteran cars, historic rally cars or any car that can be associated with famous people."
You could buy a classic car for as little as £3,000 and still participate in events such as the Monte Carlo Historic Grand Prix. "The novice should buy a car that has a good owners' club, such as an MG. You can buy an MGB Roadster open top for just £5,000 and then you have an excellent club organising events, spares facility and everything the enthusiast needs," says Skilbeck. "And they will maintain their value or increase as the number of cars diminishes."
It is in the end diminishing numbers that push the value of an automobile, one example is the Bond Bug. This wedge shaped fiber glass car was built in the 1970’s by Reliant in partnership with Bond. There is a very active Bond Bug owners club who actively track the 750 or so remaining Bond Bugs and the website itself practically begs new owners not to buy a second bug to use as spare parts. “There is a habit among some collectors to have one car for driving and one to break up for parts” says Leslie Morton, a keen Morris Minor collector “Most clubs prefer people to find
spares through other sources, enough vintage cars are lost through accidents”
Cars that were inexpensive in their day will be less likely to increase their value long-term - excepting if you count the inevitable fall in numbers which like the Bond Bug will increase the value of each remaining specimen.
Classic sports cars are still in plentiful supply, with prices ranging from free to well into seven figures. Although these nostalgic rides are no match for a modern car in terms of performance, durability or comfort, they have strong personalities and clean, uncluttered styling frequently lacking in modern mass-market automobiles. And they usually appreciate over time, a positive experience compared to watching the value of a new car drop considerably almost as soon as it leaves the showroom.
Buying an older sports car is more difficult, though, than walking into a shiny showroom and plopping down your chequebook and the diversity means that some models are relatively reliable while others are prone to frequent breakdowns, even when properly maintained. Luckily we now have access to the internet which can inform the potential reliability of the car we are looking to purchase.
Many sports cars that are still excellent choices for fun driving can be had for between £2,500 to £10,000. MG built the highly successful MGA, MGB and Midget sports cars for years and parts are both available and affordable from a number of sources. They are also easy to work on, and have informative owners clubs and their basic by today’s level engineering means that any competent mechanic can figure them out.
Triumph, another popular sports car builder, is known for its TR-3, TR-4 and TR-6 models which are hot with collectors today. The TR7 an underpowered and poorly made junker with quirky styling and virtually no resale value was known for falling apart while in motion is currently hitting rock bottom in value. However there is evidence that this model may to see an upturn in popularity as that aforementioned 70’s quirky styling becomes more of a fashionable retro look.
Moving up in price also involves more maintenance and parts expenses. The Austin-Healey 100-6 and 3000 models are currently appreciating faster than a speeding Corvette.
For looks alone, Jaguar's XKE is a world-class beauty, but make sure to pick a solid example as restoration costs can be very high. An often-overlooked classic is the Sunbeam Tiger, a traditional British sports car that used a Ford V-8 to good advantage.
Not every sports car is a classic, and some are worse options than others. Although there are fans of every car ever built, inexperienced buyers should avoid some models.
In 1974 Triumph and MG replaced the engines in their low-priced Midget and Spitfire models with a new 1500cc unit that was anaemic, unreliable and saddled with a bad gearbox. Opt for the earlier models of both.
Other dogs to avoid include the Mercury Capri convertible introduced in 1990, which resembled a sports car but was actually a bad economy car in disguise. The mid-engined Fiat X1/9 was pretty and had superb handling, but keeping them alive was a full-time job. If you like Italian cars, look into the Fiat 124 Spyder series or earlier Alfa Romeos with carburetors instead of fuel injection, but avoid the visually tempting Maserati Biturbo, which was a mechanical disaster.
Some once-expensive exotic cars can be had at what seems like bargain prices, but they can turn out to be budget-breakers when they need repair or service. The Porsche 928 was a lovely touring car, but cost a fortune to repair if anything major went wrong. Even some Ferraris such as the Mondial and 400A can now be had for less than the cost of a new MX5, but will likely cost several times the purchase price to repair engine problems. It's possible to spend over £10,000 going through a Ferrari engine, even if not much has gone bad.
Of course if you choose a more mundane car there are other advantages. There is a huge market in TV
and film to hire cars and commercial vehicles for period dramas and film work. These vehicles can easily make £250+ per day on hire and because of rarity there is often work on more than one production for example the Chevrolet tipper used in Darling Buds of May was also the lorry belonging to Greengrass in Heartbeat.
Also being seen on a large screen or on TV can also increase the personal value of an individual vehicle, and as the owner you often get to accompany your car on the set.
One area of the market that Skilbeck thinks is somewhat undervalued is that of Edwardian cars. "This could be an area that's ready for a surge. It's been a fairly static market for 20 years or so but people are realising that cars of the 1905-18 era are enormous fun to drive, it's a very fast-moving market and quite fickle," Skilbeck says, "but the old masters of the car world, which are eligible for the London to Brighton Run, are in massive demand at the moment. Cars of that era have actually doubled in value over the last five or six years."
Christie's head of motoring, Rupert Banner, adds: "We think the market will maintain its ground because people have bought for nostalgia and recreation - not just for financial gain. Having said that, most people, who have bought a classic car at the beginning of this current decade would have seen a rise in the value of their car."
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