The vintage car market, it seems, continues to survive despite the financial crisis. Antique cars come in three varieties: classic, vintage, and veteran, though the terms are not strictly interchangeable. The youngest generation is the Classic, whose birthday typically falls between World War II and the early ‘80s. Vintage cars, meanwhile, are those which emerged between the wars, while Veterans refer to the first gas-powered spiders ever to have scuttled on four wheels (think Ford’s groundbreaking Model T).
But quite apart from the question of mileage – which in the case of high-performance cars like the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camero can be on a par with the fuel consumption needs of a Saturn V – the question continues to be: Are these cars a good investment?
Those in the know will tell you it’s a bit like putting your money in gold or silver. Basically, the investor gets a solid and reliable asset that can’t disappear overnight in the manner of a fragile ‘dot-com’. Rather, classic cars possess intrinsic value, and since by definition they are limited in quantity, their value follows a much steadier graph than that of the troubled stock market.
I pose the investment question to Pavel Lacina, owner of Bohemia Classic Cars in Prague.
It depends, Lacina says, on a number of factors: the make and model, how many were produced in a particular year, condition, whether you want the car to sit in a showroom, or whether you want to drive it regularly or just on weekends. It depends on whether it’s an original, and how heavily or not it has been restored.
For Lacina the question is not about doubling your money in five years but about enjoying the car for the bold style and performance of bygone days. He assumes you already have the money.
“In the old days,” he says, “only a few tinkering enthusiasts could enjoy these cars. Now the number of service centers stocking rare parts has increased. So now if you take out your Skoda Roadster on the weekend and it breaks down, just call us. We’ll come with the replacement part or a tow truck.”
Like automotive alchemists turning base metal into gold, Pavel Lacina’s team of restorers turn forgotten relics into machines so shiny they make your eyes hurt. With a flourish, they banish rust, straighten dents into smoothness you want to lick, and flute doors in ways only thought possible on ball gowns.
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