Not sure if this was posted, enjoy Ferrari's Testarossa May Be a Better Investment Than Its IPO - Bloomberg Business Tom
Makes sense. One of only two iconic cars of the 80's that every kid and adult lusted after. By the mid 90's the super car market started to become crowded.
“Prices may not continue to go up like this forever, but they’re never going to crash because these are tangible assets,” said Johnson. “Cars are fabulous and a joy to own,” said Johnson. “The fact they go up in value is wonderful.” Two years ago, the people buying those cars were enthusiasts,” said Johnson. “Now the dynamic has changed, and there’s no doubt there are now more people in it for the investment.” LOL, wow. Talk about clueless. Looks like he's running a company called classic and sports finance? Hmm. Please do a follow up interview with this man in 2 years...
Before or after he jumps out the window of his office. These crash and burn just like stocks, bonds, real estate or any other tanigible asset. It is knowing when the music is going to stop that makes the wise investor a smarter owner. Selling at the top and buying at the bottom is where the true enthusiast wins. And that simply is from his love of the marque. He knows whar other don't.
The real time to buy anything, is before Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal does an article. Doesn't take a genius to have taken advantage of a clearly undervalued car, just last summer. Spring of last year saw several TR's selling for under 40K and many under 60K While a lot of Ferraris had jumped in values, the Testarossa was just simmering. So a SMART person sees the trend and buys before they've doubled in price. Real Estate in 2010 was languishing- three years later after prices had almost doubled, the articles appeared touting buying real estate again. TOO LATE, if you missed the 2010-2011 time, you were just part of the herd. Four years after buying houses at the bottom of the market, with rent and appreciation, they've doubled. Will TR's double again in a year?? Or will there be a correction? I drove my TR today, even in the rain. I feel so fortunate to have bought it JUST before prices went ballistic. What an awesome car to have been able to purchase last year for LESS than a 328! A remarkable misjudgement on peoples accounts because of the horror stories of these cars. Where was "Johnson" last year? Sitting on his hands? How dumb to post a "trend" after it already happened. So how much can the TR go up? With Dinos selling for 300 to 500K, Berlinetta Boxers firmly into the fours, can the TR double again in one year? There's a lot of inventory out there, just like the 328's. But with a PERCEIVED value, reaching into the 200K range may be achievable. Then the writer of the article will really be able to thump his chest.
sure mel??? the cheapest one just now in mobile.de is one from your country for 95k € last year in august a friend of mine ( car dealer ) sold one for just a little more than 40k €, but I told him that for this money I would never sell it. now he knows
Classic Cars Seen as Smart Investments Among High-Rollers and the New Rich - latimes Same hyperbole, different era "But Skilbeck warned would-be speculators that they must have an interest in the car they are buying and understand that they are entering a temperamental market. "They must be enthusiast-owned or maintained to climb in value," he said. "There's no use putting 100 cars in a warehouse and leaving them as they will suffer and depreciate." Value Of Collectible Cars Accelerating Fast - tribunedigital-sunsentinel "In fact, the skyrocketing values of vintage cars have attracted investors who have been priced out of the fine arts market, says Rick Cole, who runs one of the nation`s premier collectible car auction firms in North Hollywood, Calif. ``When the art market went basically out of sight, people returned to their first love, which is cars,`` Cole said." The high flying cars set the stage. (60s F-cars, low production) Market starts to boom. The high production cars sit idle or slowly rise, then the bottom-feeders start to come in and start the anarchy. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here is my take. The guys who are buying these cars for an investment purpose only will never explore the fun of ownership to the fullest. More garage queens are going to be made soon out of high miles TR just because the value is going up. Once the engine out is due and the prices are leveled, these investors will sell. For me the true love of a Testarossa was delivered after 35,000 miles behind the wheel. I miss her dearly.
Why bother with art? Buy a TR, park it for a year, and you'll have an oil painting on the floor of your garage. I actually agree with Skilbeck's comment, though. I'd never want to own more cars than I could drive at least every week or two.
Great articles, very amusing reads. They could be describing activity today, with exception to investment brokerage firms corralling investors to acquire rare cars in a shared portfolio (unless I have not noticed).
I completely agree. No matter the amount of funds/space I have, I'll only buy cars that I love and enjoy to drive. The second I have one that I'm not into anymore, I immediately begin to plan on selling it. I'd rather another enthusiast get the enjoyment out of it rather than have it go under-appreciated by me It's not about the car or its value. It's about the total experience. That's what makes ownership special
YES ! Two months it was € 120.000 or more, they now sink back again under € 100.000 . And I fully agree with our fellow Haig ! I too do miss the looks, but absolutely not all the cotst I had over the last 6 years ... Image Unavailable, Please Login
+1; I have 7 cars and try to drive each one at least once a week ... except on a raining or snowing day ... regardless I just drove short distance about 50KM to golf club or auto-events ... so I put on less than or around 1000KM per year per car .... except the DD
I have seen the same cars for sale in Europe now for months-asking prices and selling prices are very different. After 12yrs of ownership I have no regrets at all about selling and its replacement makes me smile hugely.
Much as I respect Mel and Peter, I can't agree at all with the observation that values are going down. Maybe I should post this on the main Values post but that one's a rather scary place at the moment. I have asked my main dealer who is also working on my Testarossa (1987, 21000 miles, all original, see my GQ stories) to value my car every couple of months since purchase last year for insurance. I'm travelling right now and don't have all the notes but what I do have from them for this same car (assuming all fixed and good, it needed some suspension parts replacing and a major) is: December 2014: 90,000 GBP February 2015: 100,000 GBP April 2015: 110,000 GBP May 2015: 130,000 GBP July 2015: 145,000 GBP I am no statistician but I don't see a drop in value there. Is my dealer trying to s**t me? Why would he, when the final write up in GQ awaits, and anyway, a Testa is small fry to Macari. And I have valuations from several other proper UK dealers that concur. People who sell these cars regularly. What you may have seen is some slightly crap cars in continental Europe being marketed hopefully on the backs of good ones, at unrealistic prices. Anyone can stick a car on the market for any price, and you see this with appreciating cars; some people fly kites. Mel, maybe that's what you have seen; some cars being offered for silly prices and then these become more reasonable. But good cars are definitely not going down. My personal observation: if you want to buy a good Testa or 512TR (512M seems to be entering its own market) you will have had to pay more each month than the previous month for the same car, for at least 18 months now. Maybe that rate of increase is slowing - that's unclear - but it's not flat, let alone reversed. Offer a good Testa or TR to a dealer on consignment and they will bite your hand off to sell it. I am not a trader, but if someone offered me a TR for fair market price right now, I know it would be more than last month's price. And very likely less than September's.
This is looking to be quite telling. When the stocks started to fall on the 24th, the art market was the first to react Art Collectors Were Busy Looking for Liquidity During Market Rout - Bloomberg Business http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20150903/NEWS/150909932/taubmans-500-million-art-collection-to-be-sold Looks like the fine art market leads the way on the way up and on the way down.