IS THERE VALUE IN CONVERTING A CLASSIC TO ELECTRIC?
The short-term answer is no, at least for now. If you remove the handcrafted engine from a 1990s Ferrari Testarossa and replace it with second-hand batteries from an accident-damaged Tesla, which is what many of the conversions use, then most people feel that what you have is a Tesla in a Ferrari suit.
Models officially classed as historic or vintage can even have that status removed. FIVA (Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens), the historic vehicle association that operates across Europe, was adamant on this when we spoke to its chairman, Lars Genild.
“To FIVA, having a historic vehicle is not a question of making things as easy as possible but to protect, preserve and promote our cultural heritage,” said Genild. “When changing the whole drivetrain of a historic vehicle, the vehicle no longer complies with the Charter of Turin and the technical code and loses the historic status.”
The organisation said it is important that conversions are reversible, in order to allow a future owner to return a model to its original state.
However, it’s clear that the market has not yet made up its mind about these vehicles.
“Generally speaking, conversions are somewhat negative for value, unless they can be converted back to original without any traces of major works and all original parts are kept,” said Dietrich Hatlapa, chairman of the Historic Automobile Group International. “Value-wise, they are totally different from their classic originals.”
Peter Haynes, marketing director for Europe at auction house RM Sotheby’s, said: “Currently, the used market for electrified classic cars is uncharted territory and we have no data that would allow us to make a judgement on values and demand. To electrify classic cars is a worthy cause that will cater for what is, currently, a niche market, although the output of newly converted cars from the specialists in the market seems to signify ready demand.”
That’s certainly what Dave Cummings of Aston Workshop hopes will be the case. He suggests that the rarity of a converted classic should actually make it more valuable to the right collector. However, until converted classics start coming up for sale and appearing in auctions, it’s difficult to tell what the real impact will be on values and whether the high costs of conversions is money well spent.