Alfa Romeo 8C: You Know You Want To
An Alfa that's a good investment? Shurely shome mishtake?
Following the excitement of finding a nice Alfa Romeo GTV for Shed of the Week a fortnight back, Shed has become addicted to that feel-good-factor that only an Alfa can bring.
Fortunately, Shed can break out of its £1k straight-jacket budget for once, because he's come into some money - thank a Qianlong dynasty vase for this. Now he finds himself in rather more rarefied territory, eyeing up a recent Alfa Romeo 8C.
It shares its ethos with the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900(b), which raced at Le Mans. Its streamlined body gave it a notable advantage over the open-topped competition, before - you guessed it - mechanical problems forced it to retire.
Cloaked in carbon fibre, this latest interpretation of the Alfa 8C has exclusivity (only 500 have been built), good looks and impressive performance figures (0-60mph in 4.5secs and a 181mph top speed) on its side. Oh, and a growling 450bhp 4.7-litre V8.
With its ideally configured running-gear - engine mounted behind the front axle and gearbox at the rear - the 8C should also handle (even though, for some reason, it doesn't really). Still, the 8C's low production run and all that heritage means, remarkably, this is an Alfa that makes sound economic sense, with used cars currently being offered for £130k, £20,000 over the original list price.
Alternatively, this Ferrari 599 GTB HGTE has shed more than £60,000 of its value since early 2009. As an investment, then, it's clearly not a great choice, but it's certainly quick, with its 6.0-litre 611bhp V12 lump delivering 205mph potential. The 599's power is controlled via a quick-shifting sequential 'box, sophisticated 'magnetorheological' semi-active dampers, and an HGTE handling pack - the combination of which leaves the 8C seeming rather primitive.
But, if you thought a Ferrari was a quick way to throw away your money, take a look at the Aston Martin DBS.
Aston's mighty 510bhp V12 might make a fine high-speed GT, and purists will love this car's manual gearbox, but the used market has been cruel to this particular Aston DBS, and it's lost £50k in a mere 1650 miles. Ouch.
Shed, it seems, has found a modern Alfa Romeo that's a better investment than a Ferrari or an Aston. As to whether it's a better car or not, that would be another question entirely...
Racing pedigree
Rarity
Provenance (god I HATE that word - so bloody pretentious)
Desirability due to beauty or historical significance (ie. the Veyron is an engineering masterpiece). etc.
Most current Ferrari's and Astons don't score that highly in the first two and may only score highly in the last. 1 out of 4 doesn't cut it.
The 8C will definitely tick rarity and beauty and possibly provenance. 3 out of 4.
e.g. it might seem they sell for high prices - but are they actually selling at all??
If you want horrific depreciation tho - there are thousands of worse examples in the classifieds, esp where the original owner has been stupid and ticked ALL the boxes. Cayennes, M6s, RS6s and almost anything 'tuner' or 'modified from new' shedding huge chunks of their value having covered relatively few miles.
But anyway - I smell a rat with 8C values - a rat you won't discover until you try to sell.
i've been keeping an eye on prices for last few months - nothing seems to have sold, and prices dropping to sub £130k across the board, when only one was at that price a couple of months ago.
I think that financing LHD cars is also a problem at the moment, in case you are planning to run (or drive) off to the continent, which won't help.
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