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We made several brave predictions back in September in 2016, although now those predictions seem like a distant memory, as the prices of Classic and Modern Classic Cars have surpassed most of the value's that we suggested back then.
We did have a review of values in January of this year, and of course things have just kept bouncing along in a very upward way since then.
What will the future hold ?.
Holden HK Monaro is auctioned online, and in QLD for AU$312,000
Lloyds Auctioneers have now joined in with the massive rise in demand for Classic Cars, with their specialised auctions around the country. The online bidding component allows some of the "astute collectors" to remain anonymous, something that we are all too well aware of, as we meet with them all the time.
Our value predictions the last quarter of 2016 in Australia turned out to be quite accurate. We used our 30 years of experience to accurately predict the value rises throughout the following 3 month period, back on the 30th, September, 2016. Please feel free to refer back to the Blog that we compiled in late September to see the actual figures that we spoke of then.
Our price predictions were :
What is a Lotus Esprit Turbo X180 like to own and drive ?.
Of all of the many Modern Classic's that we could drive every day, the Lotus Esprit Turbo is one of the most pleasureable. In this third part of out "Drive Cars" series, we explore the myth's and realities of owning a Lotus Esprit.
The incredible Lotus Esprit is now getting the write-ups that it deserves
As we all know, if a Classic or Modern Classic Car gets a write up in a magazine, then prices skyrocket overnight, as everyone rushes out to purchase cars, in an attempt to beat the market. This editorial in the January, 2017 edition of Classic and Sporstcar Magazine will re-write the future for Esprit's.
What are the differences between Australian and Overseas Specification Classic and Modern Classic Cars
Since all European Classic Cars were all built in the same factories in Europe, we thought that it might be interesting to see how the Australian specification cars line up with their European specification counterparts. Although all the cars came from exactly the same production line, the engines had different compression ratio's and valve timing for different markets. Here is what we found :
The iconic DB Aston Martin's have always made history, and Octane Magazine's 30 page expose of the marque starts with the DB2,.........not the DB1.
As the entire planet knows, James Bond drives either an Aston Martin or a Lotus Esprit. This connection with an extremely successful movie franchise has undoubtedly brought great things to Aston Martin, right from the early days in the DB5's and 6's.
Why are Classic and Modern Classic Cars are the next big thing in Australia ?
There are several reasons for the rapid rise of interest in Classic Cars in Australia, some obvious, and some less so. Naturally there is the significant rise in value year on year, although when we look deeper into it, there is far more behind this movement of change.
Whilst all of the Mitsubishi Evolution range, from Evolution II onwards are now attracting great interest, it is really the Evo 6, Evo 8 and 9 that are really going somewhere, mainly due to the very exciting versions available in the U.K. The FQ series of the car developed by Ralliart UK (Co-Ordsport) in the shape of the FQ 300, 320, 340, 360, 400 and 440 (final version of the Evo X) were all outstanding cars, especially with sub-4 second acceleration to 100 km/hr in the case of the FQ440.
From $3,100 to $31,000 in 10 months.....The Jaguar XJS finally awakens from it's slumber.
The Jaguar XJS has been lying in wait for years, and years and years. These cars were designed as the replacement for the infamous E-Type, although have never lived up to expectations of the design team. The Coupe XJS was far more of a Grand Tourer than the E-Type, and was of course intended to be so, to take on some of the other GT cars of the time, especially for the U.S market.
Toyota Supra's finally get into their stride, at over $40,000 in Australia
As we have been commenting on a great deal this year, the amazing Japanese cars have now finally come of age, particularly in Australia.
Porsche 928's triple in value in 10 months
Way back in December, 2015 we were purchasing all the low mileage Porsche 928's, and 928 S's that we could get our hands on, and never paid more than AU$10,000 for any of them. Now, in October, 2016, the same cars are selling for AU$30-40,000. (For cars with under 110,000 kms on the odometer).
Understanding the Classic Car Market
We are now going to uncover a little of the mystery regarding the prices of cars, and why cars are mostly known for dropping in value.
One great guy that came for a meeting with us yesterday with a view to investing in Classic Cars made the point that whilst Real Estate and the Share Market are quite widely understood in Australia, the car market is not so clear to see. We will now clear up the myths :
Our Valuation Predictions for the remainder of 2016
Leaving behind the only car that we missed out on making major gains from across 2015/2016 (the Porsche 911SC, all of which we sent to the U.K where we only doubled on them), we are now going to make some bold predictions as to where the Australian Classic Car Market will take us between now and the close of 2016. Given that the Porsche 911SC went from $18,000 in 2015 to $114,000 in 2016, anyone who would have thought that these kind of value rises were not possible would be quickly silenced. We have chosen 10 cars that we know are about to accelerate their growth trajectory. We will re-visit this subject in late December, 2016 to see how accurate we were, and we will only do this once.
A new era in Car Appreciation begins
Following a 12 month period of stabilisation in Europe for the established Classic Cars, the new kids on the block have finally taken off, in a massive way.
The recent important auctions held in the Northern Hemisphere have demonstrated a very rapid and important shift towards a new type of appreciating asset in the Collectible Car world, and these cars are just the ones that we predicted would move last year, and bought large numbers of.