Time to stop plugging classics as investments?
Discussion
lowdrag said:
In Autocar of April 1972 (12 1/2 p if you want to know) a 1966 roadster was advertised at £1,095.
Thanks, 12 1/2p for a motoring mag’!!! now I know I’m old 
Looks that house prices vastly outstripped classic car values so far as financial investment goes. Expect we all knew that
crankedup said:
During 1972 we purchased our first home, a two bed post war semi bungalow in Essex. Cost £4250
+ £650 to build a bathroom onto the rear.
Wonder how much a good used early 1960’s E Type would have cost to purchase back then? Seems to indicate the classic car purchased as an investment a poor decision in. those terms only
of course.
We need to know what that house is worth today. + £650 to build a bathroom onto the rear.
Wonder how much a good used early 1960’s E Type would have cost to purchase back then? Seems to indicate the classic car purchased as an investment a poor decision in. those terms only
of course.
That was 4 or 5 series 1 Etype at the time. So assuming you stashed them away, an unrestored Etype might be worth 100k each maybe
vpr said:
crankedup said:
During 1972 we purchased our first home, a two bed post war semi bungalow in Essex. Cost £4250
+ £650 to build a bathroom onto the rear.
Wonder how much a good used early 1960’s E Type would have cost to purchase back then? Seems to indicate the classic car purchased as an investment a poor decision in. those terms only
of course.
We need to know what that house is worth today. + £650 to build a bathroom onto the rear.
Wonder how much a good used early 1960’s E Type would have cost to purchase back then? Seems to indicate the classic car purchased as an investment a poor decision in. those terms only
of course.
That was 4 or 5 series 1 Etype at the time. So assuming you stashed them away, an unrestored Etype might be worth 100k each maybe
I purchased my first home in 1972 as well, and paid £6,200 for it. The very same house is on the market for £195,000. Move on 10 years and I bought my E-type for half the cost of the house. Last year I refused £250,000 for the E-type. This is though
rather a pointless exercise since there are some areas of the country where houses are for sale at £1 (Liverpool) and others where new houses have halved in value, but if you bought in London or really anywhere in the south you should be quids in. But I can't drive a house.
rather a pointless exercise since there are some areas of the country where houses are for sale at £1 (Liverpool) and others where new houses have halved in value, but if you bought in London or really anywhere in the south you should be quids in. But I can't drive a house.
lowdrag said:
I purchased my first home in 1972 as well, and paid £6,200 for it. The very same house is on the market for £195,000. Move on 10 years and I bought my E-type for half the cost of the house. Last year I refused £250,000 for the E-type. This is though
rather a pointless exercise since there are some areas of the country where houses are for sale at £1 (Liverpool) and others where new houses have halved in value, but if you bought in London or really anywhere in the south you should be quids in. But I can't drive a house.
Indeed, I only mentioned it as a lighthearted diversion tbh, interesting nonetheless. As you mention you can’t drive a house, but I have slept in many a car during my spotty youth period rather a pointless exercise since there are some areas of the country where houses are for sale at £1 (Liverpool) and others where new houses have halved in value, but if you bought in London or really anywhere in the south you should be quids in. But I can't drive a house.
lowdrag said:
vpr said:
So assuming you stashed them away, an unrestored E-type might be worth 100k each maybe
They were last year perhaps, but a fully restored S1 E-type roadster sold for £72,000 last week and a coupé for £68,000. Times are changing, and very quickly it seems.Etype sure have dropped off but a couple of nicely restored E’s have very recently sold at auction for well over the £100k. Surprised me too but they did
lowdrag said:
But on the other side of the coin, talking classics, these two were certainly good value compared to a year or two ago:-
https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/jaguar-e-type...
https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/1962-jaguar-e...
I'm no expert but I looked at both of these cars last Friday. In my opinion they were both very nice compared to a lot of rubbish in the same room and in the sort of condition I'd be proud to own.https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/jaguar-e-type...
https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/1962-jaguar-e...
vpr said:
As you know “fully restored” is subjective. When and by whom.
Etype sure have dropped off but a couple of nicely restored E’s have very recently sold at auction for well over the £100k. Surprised me too but they did
In the case of the roadster, it would seem to have been built around a whole or mostly new shell from Martin Robey, and since it was XK Engineering who built the car I think we can say it was a bargain. I can't say I really liked the interior, which had red piping on black and a mix and match of late 3.8 arm rests with vinyl dashboard and vinyl transmission cover. but the shut lines were superb and the car seems from all the photos to present itself well. The restoration would cost today at least double the sale price. The coupé too looked in fine fettle with a subtle new grey interior. Both cheap as chips, as they say.Etype sure have dropped off but a couple of nicely restored E’s have very recently sold at auction for well over the £100k. Surprised me too but they did
Edited by lowdrag on Tuesday 10th December 13:15
lowdrag said:
vpr said:
As you know “fully restored” is subjective. When and by whom.
Etype sure have dropped off but a couple of nicely restored E’s have very recently sold at auction for well over the £100k. Surprised me too but they did
In the case of the roadster, it would seem to have been built around a whole or mostly new shell from Martin Robey, and since it was XK Engineering who built the car I think we can say it was a bargain. I can't say I really liked the interior, which had red piping on black and a mix and match of late 3.8 arm rests with vinyl dashboard and vinyl transmission cover. but the shut lines were superb and the car seems from all the photos to present itself well. The restoration would cost today at least double the sale price. The coupé too looked in fine fettle with a subtle new grey interior. Both cheap as chips, as they say.Etype sure have dropped off but a couple of nicely restored E’s have very recently sold at auction for well over the £100k. Surprised me too but they did
Edited by lowdrag on Tuesday 10th December 13:15
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rAjkZd-tsOw
Edited by Shy Torque on Thursday 12th December 12:54
Just been catching up on some reading. It is April’s Classic Cars magazine, so came out a month or two back (pre CV-19 lockdown). It reminded me of this thread I started 6 months ago.
In Quentin Willson’s regular monthly column on page 39, he writes “Our new mantra should be don’t buy to invest,”.
Hallelujah I thought. Finally the penny has dropped.
However, on the very next page (40) is a full page advert for Classic Cars’ very own Investment Guide 2020, which has been compiled “With our resident guru, Quentin Willson”
On page 36 there is another full page spread showing Quentin promoting the upcoming May issue with his “market-beating buys of 2020”.
You couldn’t make it up!
In Quentin Willson’s regular monthly column on page 39, he writes “Our new mantra should be don’t buy to invest,”.
Hallelujah I thought. Finally the penny has dropped.
However, on the very next page (40) is a full page advert for Classic Cars’ very own Investment Guide 2020, which has been compiled “With our resident guru, Quentin Willson”
On page 36 there is another full page spread showing Quentin promoting the upcoming May issue with his “market-beating buys of 2020”.
You couldn’t make it up!
In recent years Classic Cars magazine seemed to position itself as the 'go to' magazine for investment advice on classic cars. Every issue would have a front cover photo of five or six CARS TO BUY NOW before prices rocket!! Look inside and there'd be loads of auction results and positive comment talking up the market, plus helpful little graphs showing an upward trajectory.
Presumably they were looking to mop up magazine sales from eager wheeler dealer types looking to invest in old metal before giving it a polish followed by a frothy wordy ad on ebay for a tidy profit.
Whenever I flicked through CC (even bought it a few times) there seemed to be very little focus on what the cars were actually like, it was all about the money. Shame as it's a nicely produced magazine with decent photography but I always found the investment talk off putting.
It'll be interesting to see where they go from here assuming the market goes into some sort of decline, which seems very likely with even the most optimistic commentators agreeing to some extent.
Presumably they were looking to mop up magazine sales from eager wheeler dealer types looking to invest in old metal before giving it a polish followed by a frothy wordy ad on ebay for a tidy profit.
Whenever I flicked through CC (even bought it a few times) there seemed to be very little focus on what the cars were actually like, it was all about the money. Shame as it's a nicely produced magazine with decent photography but I always found the investment talk off putting.
It'll be interesting to see where they go from here assuming the market goes into some sort of decline, which seems very likely with even the most optimistic commentators agreeing to some extent.
A box full of old Thoroughbred and Classic Cars mags from the seventies and eighties for 20 quid is better than anything written now. A buyers guide for E Types, old Ferraris etc when they were worth less than a new 1275GT and were still useable is a far more interesting and relevant read. I don't much care for articles written by 29 year olds who don't actually know much about old cars or indeed remember when Mark II Jaguars, Cooper S's etc were not much more than bangers clinging to an MOT.
The market will readjust, but given how dismal most new cars are, the market will always be there and more robust than 30 years ago.
The market will readjust, but given how dismal most new cars are, the market will always be there and more robust than 30 years ago.
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