Every car has a story

A few weeks back I received an email highlighting the upcoming Coys (http://www.coys.co.uk/) auction and the car that stood out for me was a 1969 Porsche 911 S/T with a price estimate from £700K to £900K (A$1.2M to A$1.5M). http://www.coys.co.uk/cars/the-frohde-1969-porsche-911-st

What makes a car command this sort of price?
With so much money at stake, how can you be confident that everything checks out?

Coincidently, this week a customer of ours, Peter Bosland, contacted us regarding a new venture.

Peter Bosland (owner of Blondie the ‘77 Carrera 3.0 we’re restoring) is someone fascinated with vehicle provenance and authentication, so much so that together with business partner and fellow Porsche owner Glenn McEldowney they have created verumachina. It’s a bit like an ‘ancestry.com’ for cars. If you’re interested in chatting to Peter about uncovering your car’s unique story click on this link for more information verumachina Provenance Research & Protection Services.

I asked Peter for his thoughts on why the Coys Porsche was so valuable.

“Fundamentally, the value of a collectable car comes down to the 3 pillars of Provenance, Condition & Desirability. Contrary to the Meatloaf mantra, where “2-out-of-3-ain’t-bad”, you really do need all 3 of these covered for maximum value.

Provenance: Essentially, the chronology of ownership, Provenance allows the car to be traced back through its’ history to the time of manufacture. The greater the quantity & quality of available documentation, the stronger the provenance.

Condition: Of the 3, this is the one upon which a car’s present owner can have the greatest impact. To rate highly on condition, the owners should have undertaken properly documented regular mechanical and cosmetic maintenance, avoiding any urge to ‘improve’ upon the factory specification.

Desirability: Unlike Provenance & Condition, Desirability can be rather more difficult to quantify. It varies from person to person, location to location, but also from day to day. Today’s unwanted car can easily become tomorrow’s darling.”

So, to the Coys car. The Coys portrayal of the car as: “the ultimate of the ultimate”, is obviously sales spiel, however it isn’t too far from the truth.

It apparently has Provenance, Condition & Desirability in spades.

Despite Coys’ good reputation and the comprehensiveness of the information provided, such a purchase demands caution. As a minimum, a very close inspection by an expert in the marque, not only of the actual car, but also of all the documentation provided.

Given:
• The large sums of money involved,
• The extent, quality, and sophistication of the re-creation market,
• The fact that a number of these cars were destroyed in racing, It would be prudent (or even crucial) to absolutely rule-out a re-creation.

Should the above-mentioned concerns prove unfounded, this can only be seen as one very solid investment. Testament to that is that Porsche themselves recently undertook the full restoration of a 911 S/T. They too are keen to ensure the integrity of these important Porsche classic cars.”

Thanks to Peter for sharing his knowledge and passion.