2019 MARKET
WHILE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE AFTER, THE GUIDE GIVES GREAT GUIDANCE ON KEY CONDITION CATEGORIES WITH APPLICABLE VALUES
WILL THERE EVER be another year in t he histor y of AussieClassicCarLand to top 2018 ? This countr y’s f irst f ull year in decades without a new motor vehicle being made still saw sa les records being wrought and others blow n to bits.
The pages of this magazine over the past 18 months brought non-stop news of extraordinar y cars achiev ing unheralded prices and t he dispersa l of some ver y signif icant vehicle collect ions.
Milestones included the highest amount ever paid in the open market for an Austra lian competition car. Other ex-racers were sold as well but nothing came close to eclipsing t he $2.1 million out laid by t he new owner of a ver y special HDT Commodore.
The year a lso car ved another notch on the belt of the Falcon GTHO Phase 3 when a car with some cricketing celebrit y in its histor y f ile stopped t he clocks wit h a bid of $1.03 million. It a lso set a record for t he highest price paid to date for a road-spec Austra lian car a lt hough perhaps t hat is open to dispute given the $2M subsequently paid for a racespec GTHO Phase 4.
Other records were set by a variet y of loca lly-made models. Most had not been seen in an auction sa le before and set the rooms buzzing due to ultra-low k ilometres or ot her attributes t hat made t hem ‘must haves’ for dedicated collectors.
What we did not see during 2018 and hopefully will not see this year was an unruly stampede of the k ind that drove prices to unsustainable levels back in 2005-07. The fact t hat such a situation didn’t recur was a bit surprising given t he low numbers of some models reaching the market which normally would spark a clamour to secure any car that did become available.
Prices for a wide range of ‘collector’ models are wit hout doubt increasing and some movements won’t be sustainable in t he short-term. However t he buyers most likely to be disadvantaged by a short-term slump are speculators. Genuine ‘hobby’ owners who invest in a qualit y car with the intention of long-term ownership will rarely lose money.
Performance and competition credentia ls are factors t hat certainly make a vehicle attractive to t he market. Yet some with no performance kudos at a ll have sold for exemplar y prices. One such car was an EH Holden Premier station wagon with rare manual transmission that had been the centre-piece of a t hemed collection for many years. Other vehicles from t he same collection couldn’t match t he attributes of t he Premier and made quite rea listic sums or didn’t reach t heir reser ves at a ll.
Any tips for intending buyers? Follow the smart money and buy cars with complete, documented histor y and with as much of t heir original equipment in place as possible. If you can’t f ind or afford one of t hose, choose a model t hat as a child you were desperate to own because plent y of others will have grown up wanting one as well.