Florian Zimmermann, owner of a collection of more than 300 classic cars poses with cars in Lindau, Germany, on April 5, 2023.MILAN - In 1977, a Ferrari owner offloaded his 1962 250 GTO because his wife complained it was too noisy, recounts Andrea Modena, head of Ferrari's classic car division. It was either her or the car.Times have indeed changed. In 2018, the same Ferrari model became the most expensive car ever sold when it fetched US$48 million at auction.
"We've been monitoring the market for a long time," said Giorgio Medda, CEO and global head of asset management at Italy's Azimut. "The track record of the past 30 years tells us classic cars have become a financial asset class we want our clients to have in their portfolios." The Hetica fund, which is targeting returns of nine per cent to 15 per cent after seven years, has bought a dozen cars so far and aims to get to 30 to 35 cars by the fifth year, leaving the last two years to sell the vehicles and pay investors."We've seen more than 100 attempts at setting up funds in the past.
Indeed investment funds managing car portfolios can be a money-spinner for the classic car divisions of automakers, which not only provide repairs and parts, but also certify the authenticity of vehicles to take part in shows and competitions.