As Iain Robertson explains, tapping into a very rich seam is the Hagerty way…
It has never been my way to ‘cut-and-paste’ press release materials, because I prefer to delve somewhat deeper than most PR normally allows, yet I am giving you Hagerty’s most recent investigation into the classic competition car scene in almost unedited form.
You may have spotted the Hagerty name in any one of the few motoring magazines that still populate supermarket shelves. Leaning more naturally towards the classic car scene, Hagerty is a bit like the ubiquitous meerkats that have developed a life of their own considerably beyond the ‘Compare the Market’ website. It is an insurance company but it is also an enthusiastic supporter of classics. If you really want to know what Hagerty is all about, then check out its website.
On rare occasions, I do write about modern classics. You may have read some of those stories. However, I am utterly fascinated by the sky-high valuations attached to Land Rover Defenders, which has put them out of the reach of the casual collector, with some near-wreckers suddenly being worth upwards of £15,000. Crazy. While the fascination with exotica (Ferrari, Bugatti, Porsche and so on) is marginally understandable, the development of ‘Classische’ departments has grown within those carmakers awake to the potential.
However, one sector of the classic motoring scene has been setting the heather alight in recent years. It is the competition related stock. Helped by a charted history, preferably of race, rally, or championship victories, amazingly enough, even cars possessing an etch-a-sketch history, along with their road-going equivalents, are known to present a price and double it, should they be on sale, or not! Apart from some pertinent changes made by me, the following is what Hagerty has despatched to the media…
‘Hagerty monitors the global classic car market providing insight to the car community and media alike. John Mayhead, its Head of Automotive Intelligence for Hagerty UK, shares his thoughts in the latest market report on homologation specials from the 1980s and 1990s. They were the decades that divided opinion. Were they really ‘absolutely fabulous’, or do we look back at our youthful years with a sense of misguided nostalgia? For petrolheads, one thing is beyond doubt: this was the era of some of the best motorsport ever seen.
While the regulations may have changed, one thing remained constant: proposed competition cars required a road-going version for homologation purposes. This spawned some of the most stripped-out, turbo-charged, box-arched cars ever to hit Britain’s roads. These cars are reportedly in great demand among the speculating 45- to 65-year-old audience and the most recent update of the Hagerty Price Guide shows their attraction has translated into upwardly mobile prices.
Take the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth as an example. It has added an average of £20,200 to its value over the past year. Rare, in unmodified form, the very best examples are now demanding significant prices, with both Bonhams and Silverstone Auctions valuing examples recently for a scary £75,000. Yet, market analysis for Hagerty also shows that values of less-special Cosworth examples have also risen overall. In February, ACA sold a car that Hagerty condition rated as #3 (‘good’) for £59,400 and this month the trend has continued, with Morris Leslie selling a significantly modified but unoriginal car for £49,500.
The Audi Quattro Sport is another significant riser in Hagerty’s books. A year ago, an ‘excellent’ example of this shortened, box-arched Group-B homologation special had a value of £265,000. Today, Hagerty’s value is £284,000 and the very top, concours examples are valued at upwards of £404,000. The rise has been due mainly to high value achieved prices but the recent auction of the final model Quattro Sport S1 gives a great example of the fervour that exists for these cars. In early February, Artcurial sold a motorsport-prepared, ex-Race of Champions, Sport Quattro S1 for a staggering €2.016m, more than twice its pre-sale low estimate.
Fifteen years ago, the Lancia Delta HF Integrale, especially in end-of-the-line Evo II specification, had a top guide price of £7,500. Values then shot up over the next decade, with Hagerty valuing an ‘excellent’ example at £40,300 by 2015. By late 2019, this had risen, but not by the same rate as the Audi, to £50,200. However, in the past year, values have risen sharply again, with the Guide now listing that model at £64,500 and top examples as high as £85,400. That valuation is now under review as a number of sales have occurred at Hagerty’s top level, including an Evo II selling at an extraordinary $131,600 (£95,800) in Scottsdale during January.
Values of the standard BMW M3 (E30) coupe have risen significantly over the last few years, but it is the special editions that attract high sales prices. Average values of the Evo II have risen from £57,575 to £64,025 in the past year. Another intriguing option, just as other hot hatch values rose, the prices of the Clio Williams remained relatively stable. Yet, in the past year there has been a surge of interest in the original batch of homologation cars. Although you can still buy a rough Williams for under £10,000, values of the very best are very much on the up: Hagerty now rates an ‘Excellent’ example as worth £18,100 and values across the board have risen by an average of £5,700 in the year.
John Mayhead, Head of Automotive Intelligence UK, stated: “Hagerty Price Guide values of many high-performance 1980s and 1990s modern classics have been rising rapidly. We spotted a trend: that homologated cars seem to be exceedingly attractive to buyers at present. Our company believes that the combination of low production numbers, high performance and solid motorsport credentials gives these cars exactly what the market wants.”’
When I reflect on some of the many cars I have owned over the years, I wish that I had clung onto my Mark Two Ford Escorts and even a lovely Toyota Celica 1600ST, as they are all worth considerably more now than I could have ever envisioned then.
