Dealer View
Manor Classics
‘A car has to have a story to tell’
How did the first half of the year go, and how do you think the second half will perform?
The signs were evident in the last two quarters of 2017 that 2018 was going to be a tricky trading environment for all businesses, not just those in the classic car scene, and it’s fair to say that it’s been more of a struggle than many would like to admit. That said, there’s still appetite in the market for classic cars at all price points: we just have to work a little harder to get them under the nose of the right audience.
Is it a buyers’ or a sellers’ market?
Both. It’s a marketplace, and accordingly, you have to have both willing buyers and willing sellers to have any activity at all. Buyers have choice, of that there’s no doubt, but those genuine sellers with motivation to move on or trade-up from whatever it is they have in their garage are receptive to dealing, if all parties remain fair.
Are only the best cars easy to sell, or is patination prized?
A car has to be wholesome, has to tell a story and has to have supporting documentation. If, like in the case of the 175,000-mile 1976 Porsche
911 2.7 that we recently sold, the documentation accounts for every mile, and monies have been lavished in the right manner then there’s no shortage of knowledgeable buyers willing to pay these cars the respect they deserve despite, as in our recent case, a high mileage, or perhaps a nonoriginal engine or colour.
Are original examples more in demand than those that have been restored?
That’s impossible to judge. It’s horses for courses, and if you’ve got the right car priced sensibly – whether it’s fresh from the paint-shop or wearing its original paint with pride – you still have to find the right family to adopt it. Reliability and fitness-for-purpose would seem to be the overriding factor, but for my money, I’d plump for the deeply original in any condition, warts and all.
Do you have calls for modern classics?
A little, yes, but modern classics are not what we’re passionate about so we’ve resisted an intentional shift towards this marketplace. Moreover, if we were to intentionally align our stock offering toward any particular era, it’d have to be the opposite end of the scale with ‘pre-war’ because they’re all just so beautiful!