Dear Classic Car Enthusiast
Although these are the craziest times we have all experienced throughout the world, affecting the classic car industry (as they have every other business or hobby), we are dutybound to ask the question: have the wheels fallen off yet?
We saw a strong June for the classic car market; auction houses reacted strongly to the lockdown and achieved surprisingly grand results in the process.
One has to wonder whether, being in lockdown, the average classic car enthusiast has whipped out his/her web-surfing fingers to look for the car of their dreams. After all, we are living in an increasingly digital era.
Our discussions with other dealers and colleagues have brought up news of collectors exchanging or swapping cars, new buyers hunting for that elusive bargain and the old campaigner building on their collection. Whichever way you look at it, it has been good news over the last few months.
The auction houses are filling the empty rooms with armchair viewers bidding over the web and on the telephones. We have never seen so many excited auctioneers in our lifetime, running sales for three, four and even five hours at any one time, waving their gavel at empty rooms. One could say that they have never worked so hard for their commission.
A very large number of cars have been going through auctions; the offering has been a little bit of everything, with an astonishing range of models, but are they all what they make out to be?
When owners write up the profile and history of the car for sale, it can work well, but it can also go very wrong… Should we really trust what we read? As a seasoned expert in these matters, it is easy for us to see that a lot is quite ‘sketchy’!
We are all suffering withdrawal symptoms from the lack of physical events. I am sorry, but personally… virtual concours just do not work for me!
Fear not, though: we should be seeing a few events open their gates and doors to the car-starved enthusiast soon, so we can all enjoy some car-related ‘torque’ amongst like-minded people putting the market to rights. Let’s hope it will all come together quite soon.
We have to make classic car buyers and sellers alike aware of scammers. While we have all been very busy with legitimate activities, the scammer has been hard at work planning new ideas on how to con or swindle you out of your car or otherwise trick you with other underhand methods.
Please beware. If you are unsure of any transaction, do make sure you know your rights: it is a dangerous world out there… don’t lose your dream because of a lack of understanding of what’s happening.
If we can be of assistance with buying, selling or just damn good advice let us know, we can help with transport, storage and trustworthy valuations, as well as restoration management service.
Happy motoring.
Keith
+44(0)1908 270672
+44(0)7889 805432
