THE 2022 MARKET & AUCTION SCENE

Brexit, Covid… and now more economic uncertainty – where does it all leave the classic market in 2022?

There’s little doubt that Brexit was bad news for many parts of the classic car trade here in the UK, both for imports and exports, with particularly punitive tax on cars up to 30 years old, significant handling charges and extra red tape. Covid appears to have been less of an issue because buyers had more disposable cash and dealers and auction houses were able to adapt to the rules around social distancing, etc. But now there’s a fresh wave of uncertainty, fed by the conflict in Ukraine, gloomy economic forecasts and the eye-watering price of fuel.

So where does that leave the market? Many of the specialists we spoke to – including those dealing in Aston Martins, BMWs, Ferraris, Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Jaguars and Porsches – reckoned that the majority of prices were largely unchanged since last year. Some prices had softened, but there were also a significant number that had piled on the £s – and these reveal one of the key current trends.

‘Brexit nearly killed our business,’ says Dan Norris, boss of BMW specialists Munich Legends, ‘and there’s an ongoing effect because we’ve cut ourselves off from a lot of classic cars that were predominantly left-hand drive. But oddly enough we were saved by Covid. People couldn’t spend on all the usual things, so they bought the classic car they’d always wanted to buy. I’m now convinced classic cars are an asset class that’s here to stay.’

But the focus is shifting, he says. ‘Seventies cars are falling out of fashion. The booming market now is cars from the mid-80s into the ’90s. Older cars are great for polishing and driving to the pub. Later cars, youngtimers if you like, are genuinely useable for a lot of people. And they’re the poster cars for a generation who are now able to afford to buy a classic.’

Homologation specials are also on the up. ‘The E30 M3 is the obvious example,’ says Norris. ‘Standard cars are fairly static, but specials like the Sport Evo and Ravaglia Edition are flying.’ From the more modern era, the E46 M3 is also soaring, especially the CSL, the very best now topping £100k. ‘A manual is a real cult car,’ says Norris. ‘People see that car as the end of an era.’

Andy Heywood of McGrath Maserati concurs: ‘There has been a lot of change this year and when you look at the pattern it is clear

that the traditional classics have generally lost some value and the youngtimers have appreciated. I also think that the gap in values between the UK and EU has grown. This affects Maseratis more than some other marques as there are so few RHD examples anyway, so the reliance on the continental market to buy and sell LHD was a big factor. But the B word has made that more difficult and expensive.’

The generational thing is also evident in the Lamborghini world. Mike Pullen, of Lambo specialists Carrera Sport, tells us: ‘The Countach Ss are really flying, not so much the early “Periscope” cars. The people buying them now had the Ss with their wings and flared arches as their poster cars when they were growing up; the Periscope is just that bit earlier.’ Pullen reckons an LP400S is now up to £450,000 (fifty grand more than last year) while the rare Series 1 can now command as much as £600k.

That said, the real blue-chip models like the Miura are still proving a good place to put your money – Ferruccio’s masterpiece marches on, the best right-hand-drive SVs now commanding £2.5 million.

Another youngtimer racing ahead is the Lancia Integrale. ‘Limited editions can command crazy prices,’ says Andrew Cliffe of Omicron Engineering. At time of going to press, one dealer was asking £225,000 for a Final Edition version, though this had a mere 3500 miles on the clock. A Dealer Collection version with fewer than 50,000 miles was up for £136,900 at another dealer.

Rather more affordable is the boxy but very characterful Alfa 75 V6, with Richard Norris of Classic Alfa saying the best cars are now fetching up to £18,000 where they were closer to £10k a year or two back. Meanwhile the attractive front-drive GTV coupes from the late ’90s have a growing following, the 3-litre ‘Busso’ V6 versions breaking through the £10k mark.

In the Jaguar world, XJ-Ss are fetching strong money, reports marque guru Jeremy Wade. Very early cars can fetch as much as £40k, while a really nice V12 Convertible could be £45k now. But it’s not all over for the oldtimers. ‘The barnfind phenomenon is still with us,’ says Wade. ‘A RHD Jaguar 150S Roadster sold at auction for £90k and it was an absolute wreck, whereas a good car went for £170k. The wreck could cost £200k to restore. Go figure.’

So what effect is the conflict in Ukraine and rampant inflation having, if any?

Aston Martin specialist Nicholas Mee describes strong trading at the end of 2021 and start of 2022, ‘but then we had the invasion of Ukraine and the media full of the cost of living crisis and inflation, and there’s no denying it’s

had an effect. The net effect is hesitation – there’s no lack of appetite, and people have savings, but they want to see how it pans out.

‘But there are others who don’t want the money in the bank and want to put it into assets and they tend to be bright sparks with a lot of disposable income, which is why the top end – say above £200k – is still going well.’ In Aston terms, that means DB4s, 5s and 6s, and classic V8 Vantages.

James Cottingham, of DK Engineering, sees something similar in the Ferrari market: ‘There are a lot of people with £1-2million to spend on a collectable car, amazingly,’ he says. ‘But the Ferrari market is quite saturated today – buying cars elsewhere is probably a bit smarter right now.’ The Bugatti EB110 has caught the attention of serious collectors, he reports, two examples selling at the £1.5m mark, and another modern era supercar going great guns is Porsche’s Carrera GT, which is making similar money at auction this year.

At the more affordable end of the market, Fords continue to fly – RSs and Cosworths obviously, but also the more prosaic models. Mk1 Escorts – just completely regular models – are now £8k for a nice example. If you fancy a Twin Cam you’re looking at £55k. The Escort RS Cosworth has leapt from £35k to £55k, with pristine super-low mileage cars now pushing over £70k at auction.

Cars with a cult following, particularly those built in limited numbers, always look a very decent bet. Renault’s Clio V6 is a good example.

The more desirable Phase 2 cars have gone from £55k to £70k-plus (indeed one sold at auction for £90,000). And Japanese performance cars continue to thrive. The 1990s Supra Turbo has been galloping away, up from £18,500 to £30,000 for a nice, unmolested one. And we’ve added £10,000 to the price of an R32 Skyline GT-R , taking it from £35k to £45k for an excellent car. Add 50 per cent for a V-spec, and double it for a Nismo!

ON THE AUCTION SCENE, as with every aspect of our lives over the past two years, buying habits have changed considerably due to the pandemic. Although 2020 turned everything upside down, 2021 saw a significant amount of balance restored, with many more of the larger live auctions back on the calendar. At time of going to press in mid-May, 2022 is off to a very strong start – but it’s certainly not back to business as usual.

RM Sotheby’s reported a significant $406.5m in total auction sales in 2021, with a 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato sold in Monterey for $9,520,000 (£7.6m) topping its sales. Of the 25 auctions held, 13 were live, with the remaining 12 offered as ‘Open Roads’ online sales. These accounted for revenues of $33.3m, which demonstrates just how important live sales are for RM and the top end of the market.

Gooding & Company sold the most expensive car of 2021, hammering the 1995 McLaren F1 for $20,465,000 (£16.4m) at

‘The Bugatti EB110 has caught the attention of serious collectors’