🚗 Let’s take the CarCrowd out for a spin

Hey all.

If you’re anything like us, you’re just counting down the days till you can cruise down the M1 at the wheel of your very own Lamborghini. But until then, you might just have to settle for buying into one of the top-end sports cars via The CarCrowd. 

Just keep in mind that this isn’t investment advice: it’s a breakdown of the market and the opportunity to help you make your own mind up. So while we’ll give you our opinion on whether we think the investment’s a good one, we can’t promise we’ll always be spot on. 

🚗 The opportunity

The CarCrowd – which unlocks the investment potential of classic cars – is offering a stake in a 1998 Lamborghini Diablo SV with 17,000 miles on the clock. The car’s market value has risen £65,000 from its original sale price to £275,000 today, which the CarCrowd has broken down into 500 shares (365 are still available) at £550 apiece. 

🚗 The market

The classic car market was going full throttle between 2000 and 2018, with the K500 market average – which tracks the average sale prices of 500 classic car models – having climbed around 400% in that period. 

That explosive growth was driven primarily by blue-chip vehicles like pre-1958 Ferraris, which almost doubled in value between 2010 and 2018 alone. Trouble is, the market seems to have plateaued since then, which on the face of it doesn’t necessarily bode well for the Diablo SV.

🚗 The car

Even though the market’s been taking a breather for the moment, there are still individual models that are appreciating in value. The Diablo family – including the SV, the VT and the SE – fall into that category: data from car auctioneer Glenmarch shows that the average sale price of the models has gone from around £147,000 in 2018 to £211,000 this year. 

It’s worth noting that the broad gap between minimum and maximum sales prices is pretty typical of classic cars, whose prices are swayed significantly by the condition of the car, the mileage on the clock, the year of production and so on. 

There’s not as much data available for Diablo SVs specifically, but last year saw one stand-out sale of £250,000. That’s especially relevant because it was a 1998 model like the CarCrowd’s pick, and had similar mileage too. Still, there were only 20 models ever produced, while there are 33 of CarCrowd’s choice in circulation in the UK model.

🚗 The final verdict

CarCrowd’s Diablo SV seems like a genuinely good buy for a blue-chip classic car: £275,000 is a fair entry point in the context of the wider market, and all the more so when you consider the high price of storage, transportation and maintenance. And while the market has slowed down, the fact that it hasn’t fallen at a time when most traditional investments have is an encouraging sign. 

That said, you need to go into this opportunity fully aware that your money might be tied up for a while. Classic cars are a long-term investment, and the average sales price of individual models can fluctuate from year to year based on any number of factors. So you might need to grit your teeth if – like in 2019 and 2020 – the Diablo SV has a poor year. 

That’s all from us this week.

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The Relic Team