Ferrari as an investment - which one?

I love how everybody clamors about a car not being an investment. Haven't any of you guys ever made a bad investment? I watched many stocks evaporate into thin air in my time. With a car at least after the run, you still have a car sitting there.

 

Ha....you are soo right!!

My wife wouldn't agree to me buying a 365GTC or similar (I probably would have bought more than 1 car or maybe a Lusso if it was just one) just before the GFC, we invested elsewhere (diversified) and lost our shirts. Had I bought the GTC/Daytona/Lusso/whatever....I would have been laughing now.

It is ironic....not that I'm complaining, life is good and I do love my 348.

 

Testarossas might be good..

 

Maybe the 308 in fibreglass, but I wouldn't bank on anything after the Daytona/Dino era other than the supercars: 288 GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo. None of those are available in the OP's price range. For GBP 50,000, I would go with the glass 308.

The 599 GTO is more "souvenir car" than "super car". Not even close to the collectibility of the real GTO or the hardcore 288 GTO. Think 348 SS (100 made) or 355 Serie Fiorano -- designed to lighten wallets before a replacement model is introduced.

 

Here is some advice I got a long time ago about how to keep your powder dry when buying older sports cars:

1. Buy the first year production (even though this can be dangerous with Ferraris from a reliability standpoint).

2. Only buy a 100% original car.

3. Only buy a no stories/no drama car. A repaint is a killer.

4. Look for a car that has a hook, e.g., the first 911S, a glass 308, a 365 BB.

5. Be patience. Sooner or later the right car will come along.

6. Be ready to pay up for the right car. The most expensive older sports car you'll ever buy was the one that was the cheapest.

Dale

PS It will take about another 10 years before any of the Luca di Montezemolo era Ferraris, i.e., starting with the 456, to become collectible.

 

I can see a lower specified Italia going for that amount within the next five years.

 

Best buy for the money, but better have a good independent shop near by to work on it.

 

Good point, TRs are near fully depreciated but buy a really nice one or repairs can gobble up any future profit

550s are probably nearly depreciated also

 

Buy a 250 GTO...oh sorry I see that you're missing some zeros in the number

 

Nick Mason bought his in 1978 for a mere $70k... I reckon he made out quite well indeed!



Jedi

 

I must admit that I do sometimes lamment my decision in putting $ into these cars rather than into the market...or gold...or... But then I go for a drive and realize that a coupla bricks of gold doesn't have four popping Webers singing behind my head, and that I ain't gonna live forever, and who knows if I'll even make it to retirement (I hope I do, and I expect to and then some, but ya never know...), and that one doesn't choose his/her passions but, rather, just the opposite, and that "life should be measured not in the number of breaths one takes, but the number of moments that take one's breath away". (Pat Riley).

I wish I had more (actually...any) investing acumen, and that's really not easy for me to "put out" to the "public". It is definitely a shortfall (among many) of mine, and I commend those of you with this expertise and savy. Anyway...I am getting quite off topic...

As some of you have noted, if I were the OP and I wanted a cool car that would have at least a chance of modest appreciation, I would say the Euro dry sump glass cars IF he could even find one at his price, which would be very doubtful.

 

He should find one for less than GBP50,000 (not USD$50,000) there is what looks like an excellent one for sale here (though price not listed)

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C149238/

 

If you believe in the theory (fact) of 'peak oil', and that we've already crested it, I'd imagine almost all cars will decline in inflation-adjusted value in 20 years, much less 50 or 100...

When gas is $double digits/gallon or more, and no longer sold at the corner stations which will have been converted to supply electricity or hydrogen or whatever, I'd bet there's a lot less demand for gas-powered cars, and a pretty horsey won't change the equation enough to matter.

Buy for fun, not for gain, and you'll always come out ahead.

Cheers,
Tad

 

You might be right. Obviously the biggest drop is the first year when owning a new Ferrari.
It would not be too big of a surprise of a drop from $280k to $220k or so in the first year.

Once there, it won't take long to descend down to the $190k level.

The pace will slow quite a bit from then on, but it will depend on 2 things:
- how the 430's (Coupes, Spiders, Scuds, 16M's) do underneath the 458 cars on the market, and
- how much the dealers charge for the new 458's and the later replacement for it. If the factory follows the 360/430 trend, then the next car will share a lot with the 458 architecture.

Whether it takes 5 years or 10 years, it is highly likely the 458's will descend to a price somewhat above the current 360 Modena prices (and slightly above where the 430's will end up holding their value), maybe $120k or so, before the 458's will hold at that level.

Such is the fate of a car made in such large numbers, no matter how great it is.

 

Real investments have earning power behind them such as interest, dividends or rental income. Speculating on non-income producing assets can be very risky. And you have to look at the liquidity of the investment (how easy is it to sell?). Cars are not liquid compared to many stocks, bonds and futures.

Some math. If an asset doubles in price in 10 years that is a 7% compounded annual rate of return. You have to subract inflation to get to your real return. So is the increase in price (less maintenance and selling costs) a real gain compared to other investments?

Mass produced cars including Ferraris are typically depreciating assets. You may find some older mass produced Fcars that have bottomed. You might be able to get your money back less maintenance and insurance expenses. And you will have the fun of owning and driving the car. But not an investment in my understanding of the concept.

 

Exactly. The thing isn't when will the first 458 hit a number of $120k, but the crazy thing is all the Ferraris that will be at under $90k!!! Ferrari will continue the way is going and this is with an economic low and I don't care much for the Ferrari mystique anymore, but the Ferrari sightings and exoticness is becoming less of a "wow". I don't know if that will affect sales in the future with new car buyers paying such a high premium to be the first in line.

 

What he said.

Buy the mass-produced Ferraris to drive. Anyone banking on a TR, 550, 360, etc., to become collectible is, to put it kindly, optimistic.

 

Buy the one of you Dreams, Drive her have fun with her.You'll never enjoy her if it's for an Investment,you'll curse every Bird,Rain cloud,Dump Truck,People getting too close for comfort.Buy Property ,Gold, ETC for an investment Just my 2 pennies worth.

 

70K was still some righteous bucks in 1978.

 

Yes, $70k in 1978 is worth $236,435.74 in 2011 (according to web inflation sites).

You know, since I'm a nice guy, I'd even pay Nick Mason an extra $50k profit for his 250 GTO.

 

True.
288 GTO 6 years later had MSRP around $80k.

 

I agree 100%. With the 550. Will be $250,000+ in 10 to 15 years and you will get 15 years of smiles out of one.

But a 328 GTB. Is the undervalued steal of the century! Sorry bias. But I always put my money where my mouth is!

 

By the time you pay for insurance, maintenance, repair, taxes... are you really making a profit? And, heaven forbid some idiot smash into it.

In most cases, I don't think there's much money to be made. All the big collector cars of the 60's and 70's are already over priced garage queens.

Buy it because you love it. It's a hobby, not an investment. If you do make a little money on it, consider yourself lucky.

 

288 GTO. As expensive as they now, they will have seemed like a bargain in ten years time. The 288 and F40 are IMO the pinnacle of the sports car world.