Surely Ferrari would be the Leonardo da Vinci of motoring then too

Drooles

Well, it does say he buys them as an investment...


In this particular case, I doubt if even he could. Because he'd effectively be 'spending' several million pounds. Because that's roughly what less it would be worth after they'd pulled out all the 'authentic' gubbins and put modern stuff in instead.


I disagree. The point is there are only a handful remaining of that car and 'that car' includes the mechanics as much as the bodywork. Without the original mechanics, what's to differentiate it from a kit car clone. if you bought the mona lisa (not that you could, but anyway), put a high quality colour photocopy in the frame and threw the canvas away, would it still be priceless? I suspect the more you fiddle with the car, the more you go from 'most sort after' to 'well, it's nice, but...'


If you want a car to use and drive, why stick with one that's difficult and uncomfortable and awkward (let alone unsafe)? What's the point of that, beyond masochism? I can absolutely see the point of collecting rare and beautiful objects, which that car undoubtedly is. I absolutely can't see the point in spending a literal king's ransom to buy a car to use that's a lot worse than a porsche boxter. You wouldn't buy a ming vase then put flowers in it. Some objects have value beyond their practical purpose and some very rare objects have have value so extreme that it makes their practical purpose impractical.


I have a feeling with this car, you'd be talking more in the region of £80,000 per mile all other things being equal. However it's most likely that it will continue to appreciate in general, so it would a question of what point the increasing line of general appreciation crosses the decreasing line of depreciation due to use. if you could stay on the right side of where those lines cross on the graph, you could do both without losing money.

Which means it'll be tucked up warm n snug, given a brief tootle around the block to get the fluids moving, and probably charity work.



I didn't mean that he could/would modernise it, but he could certainly afford a complete engine rebuild, coach work, electrics and upholstery.



Indeed, it's only original once, and if he's buying for an investment (as well as a love for the marque) I don't think he'll be sticking Brembo 4 pot calipers and huge discs on it with a modern servo. Given this particular model of car, I doubt that anyone who's likely to buy one would actually do that.
With the wider market, I don't see the harm in modernising a classic in order to keep it in use.



Because a Porsche Boxter is just a Porsche Boxter, and you could drive something more fun. You could have had something more interesting to drive and look at, but you instead chose something no more reliable or original. I've been to hill climb events and seen original Bugatti Type 32s being driven hard, and with purpose, as they were designed to be. Or a Napier-Bentley (one of two in existence - far rarer than a 250 GTO). Once you remove any object from it's designed purpose, you may as well put it on a pedestal and call it sculpture.




Indeed, and that's the knack. But ultimately, as I said, it's up to the owner as to what they want from the car.

I think you can leave a stash of money with Lloyds as a bond and therefore not need insurance.

Yes but that would have to be millions to cover third party risks.

If you can afford that car you can afford the bond.

http://www.specialistcars.aon.co.uk/fer ... rance.aspx

“So, from insuring your Ferrari 250 GTO to your Enzo, with Aon you can enjoy your car - and enjoy complete peace of mind.”

£1000 per month for car insurance is less than a doctor pays for his medical coverage.

I don't like the rear end. It looks like an old American muscle car.

That's only one part of it though. To drive on the road you need Insurance, MOT and VED paperwork. Insurance is tricky but as you say you could make a deal with Lloyds to get it underwritten, essentially get 'bespoke' insurance. It would be very costly but you could do it. VED is dead simple, that's a set fee and even so, I think it's old enough to be exempt. The MOT is something you'd need to be careful about, given other recent news stories.

Fundamentally though, to legally drive it on the road is quite a bit of hassle and red tape due to it's age and value. To be honest, if you were to drive something like that at all (and I actually doubt he is), you'd be driving it in parades on private land at events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and being on private land none of the legal restrictions apply. But you'd only ever be driving it at a bit mroe than walking pace, which is hardly what it was designed to do.

The thing is though I saw the comment about sculpture and, for cars of this age and collectibility, that's effectively what they are. People buy them for the same reasons they buy expensive rare sculptures or paintings. They buy them to display and to have the sheer joy of knowing they own such a unique object. Even cars worth a fraction of what that one is worth virtually never see the road.

Really? You shouldn't need go near Lloyds for 'specialist' insurance with a big bag of money.
If you can afford £12 million to buy it, you can certainly afford to insure it.
There's a few companies that'll give you cover on it. Given that I'd imagine none of the existing examples of the cars of that type have been stolen, written off, or involved in major accidents, nor do an excessively high mileage the only thing you're left insuring it against is the value.
And when was the last time you took a car for an MOT and it had to be driven by the mechanic? It'll be taken to either a Ferrari dealer or a specialist who know the cars.
VED? It'll be what I pay now. No big whoop, it's an old car.

When someone pays/can afford £12m for a classic prancing horse I dont think practicality and insurance are really considerations for the buyer.

Unless you are down to your last $12 Million.