Quentin Willson on a buoyant affordable classic market
Don’t panic! Now that the weather’s picked up and the Beast from the East is just a blast from the past the old car market has regained its former health
How quickly things have perked up. After a shaky start in the first quarter when we all thought we’d spotted a downward shift, business has settled down nicely, helped by a break in the rain and some badly needed sunshine.
May saw Silverstone and Historics post 60-plus per cent sale rates with some strong prices for exceptional cars. Historics’ £73k for an ’82 Rolls-royce Camargue was a decent result, as were £26,880 for a 1960 Frogeye Sprite, £33k for a ’67 Alfa Spider Duetto and £35,840 for an ’86 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Targa.
Silverstone returned some impressive numbers too, with £105,750 for a ’67 E-type Series 1.5 roadster, £36k for a ’91 BMW Z1 and an epic £112,500 for an ’87 Sierra RS500 Cosworth.
Brightwells didn’t disappoint either, drawing £34k for a Bentley R-type, £31k for a Jensen C-V8, £30k for a Ferrari 308GT4 and £27,500 for a ’54 MG TF. These are very creditable results in a market that looked like it had gone strangely wobbly.
Notice that as soon as the sun came out so did buyers and prices rallied. Despite a general falling off in consumer confidence from January to April we seem to have seen off yet another potential threat to market confidence. This is an encouraging indicator of long-term strength. Auctioneers are clearly tempering seller reserves, dealers are pricing competitively and the supply of fresh stock is keeping pace with demand.
As in every other buying and selling arena, we’re seeing highs and lows triggered by external factors such as weather, spending patterns and consumer optimism. This is healthy, predictable and normal. If everything stays expensive and doesn’t ebb and flow it all feels very artificial and tight. The odd seasonal hiccup in dealer and auction sale rates means buyers are taking a relaxed view of opportunities and not rushing in where angels fear to tread. That’s very telling because it means the bulk of transactions are by enthusiasts rather than hysterical investors, which most of the time brings stable prices you can predict. My barometer for market health is measured by the prices of three cars – average Mercedes R107s should make £15k, very nice Rolls-royce Shadow IIS should make £20k and any fine sensible-mileage mint Porsche 944 needs to make £10k. All is well with the world if this trio are regularly running at these price levels.
June brought more sunshine and buyers fought for CCA’S selection of low-mileage everyman classics. The £10,120 paid for a poverty spec three-door 1976 Golf 1.1 L must be a new record but it did have 22,000 warranted miles and continuous history from new. An ’86 Merc 107 500SL with just 11k miles made £31,900, an ’85 BMW M535i with 40k drew £24,200, and just to prove the fast Ford market is still cooking, an 8000-mile ’83 Escort RS1600I found a new home for £46,200.
Here’s another interesting signpost for 2018 – mint tiny mileage classics of all types are still making top money. When irreplaceable, one-off quality classics fall in value we all should worry. But right now demand and values for exceptional specimens looks as strong as ever.