Marketplace

The latest market news, plus a visit to Newton Commercial.

As it is PC nostalgia month, I thought I’d dig out an old Price Guide. Not from issue No 1 territory, but from 1996. That was when I first wandered into the PC office and started taking the guide over from Peter Simpson. As no one else wants to go near it, I’ve been updating it ever since.

The first thing I noticed was what a rod I had made for my back. In ’96 the guide covered seven pages. It now stretches to 12 and a half pages. Beyond that, it’s not only amazing just how high some classic prices have rocketed, but also to note those that remain unmoved. We’ll come back to those as they may now look like bargains.

Taking Condition One values, the surprise big winner is the Escort Mexico. A paltry £3750 back in 1996, the same car is now £24,000. That’s 6.4 times as much. Bet your wages aren’t… E-type 3.8 fixed-heads are more than five times what they were, despite recent drops, my dream Alfa GTV 1750s 4.5 times higher, and even the dear old Anglia 105E is four times what it was. But there’s been a bit of wizardry on that. Other PC stalwarts like TR4S, Minor Travellers and MGB GTS have almost tripled over those 24 years.

But which ones haven’t? Well, they may have travelled a wavy up-and-down line between then and now, but in 2020 we still have the same C1 values for the ‘wedge’ TVR Tasmin, Bentley T2, Lancia Gamma Coupé and Morris Marina 1.8 saloon. Midget 1500s have risen by just £300 in the same time, as there are lots of them and most folk prefer the earlier ones.

It goes to show that you just never know with markets, which is what makes them so interesting.

‘In ’96 an Escort Mexico was £3750 – now it’s £24,000’