A More Calculated Approach To Motoring
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday May 17, 1989
BY NOW, Sydneysiders must have exhausted all the novel ways they know to pass the time on wet weekends. Well, here's one you might care to try.
Grab a copy of The Sydney Morning Herald car classifieds plus a pen and paper and try to work out which of today's cars will be worth 10 times its current value by 1999.
That's a pretty tall order but it has been accomplished - and even surpassed - by a number of models built during the 1960s and 70s.
Ferraris, Lamborghinis, sporty Mercedes-Benzes and even a few Jaguars fit the bill, along with more mundane models from the likes of Ford Australia and Holden. Remember that EH Holden which your dad sold for $1,000 back in the 1970s? A good one of those can now top $10,000 and is destined for greater glory as the years roll by.
In this era of "plastic, plastic everywhere" and throwaway mechanical components, many of today's family models won't even survive to see the 21st century, let alone become a revered collectable.
A few, like the Brock-built Commodores and the new HSV V8, probably justify locking away in heated garages to minimise deterioration, but taking such pains to preserve more common models simply won't be worthwhile.
Looking to the more prestigious sector in the classified pages, you will find models which may justify preservation - if you can afford them.
Again, the names Porsche, Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz appear, with models like the Porsche 944 Turbo, Ferrari Testarossa and Mercedes-Benz 300E Coupe ranking high on the list of collectables.
But before you start phoning the bank manager to check your account balance, it might pay to establish what a car of this type will cost. And the alternatives.
The Porsche and Benz are priced almost identically at a tad under $130,000, but a used Testarossa was recently advertised at $450,000.
Even a more mundane Ferrari - if such an animal exists - will cost around$170,000 while a new Lamborghini Countach, with on-road costs and insurance paid, will leave little change from half-a-million dollars.
At the lower end of the new car scale, Toyota's MR2 sports should maintain its $33,000 value even after the Ferrari-inspired model arrives. For a similar price, the last Bertone X1/9s to be built are now in Australian showrooms and destined to appreciate. Just keep them away from air, water and any other elements which promote rust.
For those with up to $80,000 to spend, convertible versions of the Mazda RX7, BMW or Saab merit consideration. But none of these is likely to achieve the magical "tenfold appreciation in a decade" which can be expected by owners of some older classics.
Put simply, most of today's cars don't rate in the excitement stakes. With few exceptions, they are all competent at what they do. Some verge on brilliance, yet they perform their functions with so little effort that it is hard to distinguish the spark of greatness which will make a future collectable.
Certainly a car like the 325 km/h Ferrari F40 was stamped with greatness from the day of its conception, but owning an F40 is beyond even the dreams for most of us.
Twenty years ago, Australia built the fastest four-door sedan in the world- Ford's GTHO Phase 3 - and a string of other affordable high-performance models. In the late 1960s young drivers could aspire to owning a real sports car for the cost of an ordinary family sedan. Today, the cheapest new sports cars are in the vicinity of $30,000.
And so we come to the inevitable conclusion - anyone who wants affordability, true character and the potential for real capital gains must look to cars which were built 20 and even 30 years ago.
For the price of a new MR2 or X1/9, the choice of older sporty models is staggering. A very good Lotus Elan will cost around $30,000. So will an Australian-built Bolwell Nagari, an early 1970s Chevrolet Corvette or a classically styled MG.
The same investment will buy a sleek BMW 3-litre coupe, a top-class Falcon GT, Jaguar Mark 2 or 1960s American muscle machine. All are appreciating strongly, offer good spare parts availability and exude the imagery which is sadly lacking in so many of today's prestige models.
Sacrificing the obvious social advantages of owning a new BMW convertible may not seem so bad when you see what can be bought for the same money.
Priced at around $80,000, you could have an immaculate Mercedes-Benz cabriolet with V8 power and plenty of interior room. Sticking with V8 power and classic names, this price range also covers late 1970s Aston-Martins, the four-seat Ferrari Dino and a range of Rolls-Royce saloons.
Between $100,000 and $200,000 are the small but perfectly formed Ferrari Dino 246GT, Jaguar E-Type V12 roadster or a 260 km/h Porsche 911 Turbo.
In the rarefied atmosphere above $250,000, the range of potential collectables thins out, but their investment potential is virtually cast in gold. You may need to look long and hard to find one, but a 1960s Ferrari 275GTB or 1970s Boxer will cost somewhere above $300,000 and is currently appreciating by about 50 per cent a year. In the Ferrari-mad United States, older Ferraris currently bring more than $1 million and prices show no signs of abating.
Taken to its logical conclusion, the collectable car market will soon equate to the market for fine works of art. While newer paintings and sculptures may languish on the walls of galleries in the hope of attracting interest, the works of acknowledged masters multiply exponentially in value.
At a recent auction, one of Bugatti's extraordinary Royales just failed to make the reserve price of $US15 million. Two years ago, a similar car sold for$A11 million. In Australia, Ferraris which sold four years ago at under$50,000 have recently come back on to the market with price tags approaching$200,000.
Certainly, such cars are too rare and valuable to be used as everyday transport, but the world will be a poorer place when the early-morning tranquillity of country roads is no longer shattered by the sound of a European V12 - or even an Aussie supercar - doing what comes naturally. Get yours before some museum beats you to it.
© 1989 Sydney Morning Herald
