Is the market topping out?
Discussion
Those of who remember the boom and bust of 1990 will know what I am talking about. Being a Jaguar person I keep an eye on cars for sale out of interest and suddenly found, amazingly, three Lynx cars for sale, one XKSS, one long nose D and one short nose. Asking prices? A cool £200,000 for the D-types and add 50% for the XKSS!!!!! This seems way out of line but time will tell if they sell or not. Meantime I am talking to my insurers............
I've been wondering the same thing, but I'm not so sure.
Did you read Quentin Willson in August's CC? I think he may have a point in saying that this time around, the money going into the market is 'smart' money - people who understand and appreciate the cars. Last time, it was all about speculation and quick profits.
I do think that an increase in interest rates (globally) will have an effect, because at the moment, people with money to invest don't have much incentive to put it elsewhere.
We do seem to be seeing an apparently disproportionate increase in the values of certain makes and models - the Jaguars you cite being a perfect example. But if these cars are being bought to use rather than to move on for a gain, then they shouldn't see big declines in value in the near future.
But as I say; I do think that some of this 'boom' is being fuelled by the lack of alternative investment opportunities, and maybe a change there will trigger a change in the classic car market.
Did you read Quentin Willson in August's CC? I think he may have a point in saying that this time around, the money going into the market is 'smart' money - people who understand and appreciate the cars. Last time, it was all about speculation and quick profits.
I do think that an increase in interest rates (globally) will have an effect, because at the moment, people with money to invest don't have much incentive to put it elsewhere.
We do seem to be seeing an apparently disproportionate increase in the values of certain makes and models - the Jaguars you cite being a perfect example. But if these cars are being bought to use rather than to move on for a gain, then they shouldn't see big declines in value in the near future.
But as I say; I do think that some of this 'boom' is being fuelled by the lack of alternative investment opportunities, and maybe a change there will trigger a change in the classic car market.
Edited by Doofus on Friday 2nd July 13:25
I was thinking the same thing today, following a couple of Loon's submissions.
275K for a Proteus?
http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/find/4100_results....
275K for a Proteus?
http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/find/4100_results....
As far as the dancing donkeys are concerned, its a good time to sell, but only if you happen to own the right car (no stories, provenance etc) or early original / resto project.
There are a couple of cars that are on the market at the moment, that made record amounts at auction over the past couple of years, for significantly less than when the hammer fell a year or two ago, which IMHO is a combination of auction fever, bad professional advice and a market that doesnt like cars that have been pissed about with or over hyped
There are a couple of cars that are on the market at the moment, that made record amounts at auction over the past couple of years, for significantly less than when the hammer fell a year or two ago, which IMHO is a combination of auction fever, bad professional advice and a market that doesnt like cars that have been pissed about with or over hyped
If you remember Tony I posted something last year regarding valued copy cats. Seems to me that cars built by the Lynx/ John Gregson/ Peter Jaye/ Brian Wilkinson now have their own rising market. I reckon your C must be worth £200k at the right auction.More if it had some racing history of its` own.
I posted various comments on the "505" but now it has its` own unique history created by Nigel ,Win, Johnny Herbert etc.Its about time we saw yours raced in vengence, not pussy footing around some old fart`s birthday once a year.
A decent driver, a decent engine and away you go
I posted various comments on the "505" but now it has its` own unique history created by Nigel ,Win, Johnny Herbert etc.Its about time we saw yours raced in vengence, not pussy footing around some old fart`s birthday once a year.
A decent driver, a decent engine and away you go
Elderly said:
I overheard (so it must be true 
) at Goodwood today, that Lynx are now getting chassis & ali bodies
from Poland for £6K or £8K.
Wrong! Proteus bodies are made in Poland (the old John Gregson Proteus works but now with Jim Marland input) and since Lynx are now classified by the authorities as a small car manufacturer all their cars are subject to the IVA scrutiny. The Proteus cars are therefore now all fuel injected for emission control purposes. Lynx sell the Proteus cars through Legends - see here:-) at Goodwood today, that Lynx are now getting chassis & ali bodies from Poland for £6K or £8K.
http://www.legendsracing.co.uk/showroom/roadcars/
You'll also see that there is a Lynx (read Classic Chassis) C-type for sale at I believe £135,000.
Lynx have also been selling rolling Proteus chassis to the trade for building up and I heard one was for sale at Stoneleigh for £25,000
On the other hand, the Lynx C-type is now the Classic Chassis car to full FIA spec, unlike the old Lynx C-type (only five made) which was a pastiche. Their bodywork will be properly made in the UK. Andy Thomas, who ran Classic Chassis, was bought out by Lynx some months back and is now part of the team. Lynx are also proposing to build full-on D-types with FIA papers - at a price.
But, as I hear it, if the DVLA are clamping down on the old trick of buying a log book from Ebay and "rebuilding" a car based on it then where that leaves the true Lynx ethos I don't know. For me a Lynx is triple Webered, not fuel injected. Of course, when I built my C-type it was based on the wreck of a real 1952 XK120 with brown log book to verify
Oh, did you know that the DVLA do not acknowledge that an "XK120C" ever existed and it isn't mentioned on their list of known cars?
And Ken, my engine is more powerful than the originals at about 230bhp, up 25 on the 1952 car. Here it is being used in anger last weekend:-
Edited by lowdrag on Friday 2nd July 22:46
Its interesting in the market at the moment thats for sure - there are some cars which do seem to be improving their values still and it will be interesting to see how this continues or changes over the coming months.
Like you Lowdrag being a Healey owner I tend to keep tabs on my own brand, and Big Healeys have certainly increased in value over the past couple of years - no doubt pushed by a couple of specialist/dealers squeezing up values - but then I don't have a problem with that as ultimately thats good for me too - one for the attractions of the Healey to me was that I always felt it was under valued for a quintessential classic. I think the end of the market you are in is somewhat different, but even then there is the 'super classic' end of the market - the £million+ bracket and that seems to be holding strong.
Like you Lowdrag being a Healey owner I tend to keep tabs on my own brand, and Big Healeys have certainly increased in value over the past couple of years - no doubt pushed by a couple of specialist/dealers squeezing up values - but then I don't have a problem with that as ultimately thats good for me too - one for the attractions of the Healey to me was that I always felt it was under valued for a quintessential classic. I think the end of the market you are in is somewhat different, but even then there is the 'super classic' end of the market - the £million+ bracket and that seems to be holding strong.
Skyedriver said:
Ignoring the 60's & 70's Ford escalating prices I can confirm that the asking price for things like TR4 TR5 & TR6 seem to have gone up by around 40% over the last year. Should have got one then as I cannot afford one now. Similar with Imps etc
Same with 964 Turbo's ! 
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