Future Classics for £275,000

I was recently approached by a contact of mine who had a predicament for me. He is a fairly wealthy man who I have come to know via the car showroom industry and he asked me the question, "What is the best classic car to buy for around £275,000 which will increase in value over the next five years". Now, this intrigued me because he was essentially asking me to find an investment car for him to buy. That is a fairly big decision so I had to think very carefully about my options, whether to go for established classics, future classics or modern classics. After 48 hours of scrolling through Autotrader, Car and Classic and various other sites I came up with this list of what I believe to be the best investment cars currently on the market.

1987 Aston Martin V8 Volante - £195,000

The first car that made the list was a listing I spotted in Classic and Sports Car magazine but it brought me immediately to attention, despite it being surrounded by a Bentley Blower and Bugatti Veyron. That car is the 1987 Aston Martin V8 Volante which upon first glance does not seem like a £195,000 car but this car is a lot more than meets the eye. It was supplied new to Monaco and is therefore left hand drive but also features that have become more desirable as time has gone by such as the European spec chromed bumpers. This specific example was delivered new to the Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo to Mouna Ayoub, a French socialite associated with the principality's Royal Family. As a Euro specced car, it is one of only 22 Series II V8 Volantes to be built, meaning this car has rarity on its side to increase its value. At £195,000 it is significantly below the budget specified but has the potential as current auction prices hold them at £250,000. 

2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - £239,990

The next contender does swing significantly towards the modern classics division but for a car this glamorous, it is worth making an exception. This is a 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C and it is one of the prettiest Alfa Romeos ever built. It is based on the platform of the original Maserati Granturismo, sharing the same body layout and engine, with the 4.7 litre V8 and 456bhp. What is really unique about the 8C is the rarity of them, similarly to the rarity of the previous Vantage Volante. Being a one of only 500 car, it is limited series which holds the value of the car fairly high, as well as the low mileage at only 9,500 miles from new. But it is the beauty in which most of the price becomes worthwhile as the 8C has always been applauded for the styling and Italian charm laying within the body panels. This particular car does sit near the top of the price budget at just shy of £240,000, but monitoring recent auction prices could prove this car is a bargain. The last 8C to sell at auction went for just over £340,000 which is already an increase of at least £100,000 upon the original investment and that in itself says something as a future classic and future desirable car. 

1956 Alfa Romeo 1900 CSS Touring Superleggera - £189,000

Sticking with the Alfa Romeo theme, the next car is a lot more vintage but provides a lot more of an interesting history. The 1900 CSS is a beautiful looking car, much like the previous 8C, with typical 50s Italian styling and coachbuilt by the legendary Touring Superleggera who also designed such cars as the original Alfa Romeo Disco Volante (around the same time as this) as well as the Aston Martin DB5 and the Lamborghini 350 GT. This car though used to belong to Jean Rondeau who's self titled team won the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans before Mr Rondeau was sadly killed in a road traffic accident in his other Alfa Romeo. This car was passed through different ownerships where it competed multiple times in the legendary Mille Miglia road rally, in which it recorded four finishes. It is also likely that this car was used in some light competition racing, as it had £15,000 worth of race conversion done to it. It is a bit hard to mark the pricing of this car as there have not been many examples come to auction or come to sale, but the similar era Alfa Romeo's, especially the coachbuilt cars, are looking to be around $220,000 at the moment but that price will increase as time goes on. 

1995 RUF BTR2 - £249,995

In terms of unique cars that I found during this job, I don't think there is a more unique car on the list than this RUF BTR2. When the Porsche 993 Carrera launched in 1994, RUF were quick to create their adaptation of it, featuring RUF branded front and rear bumpers, the larger rear spoiler similar to the later 993 Turbo and the predecessor 964 Turbo and a K27 turbocharger which gave the car close to 420bhp at 5000rpm. The original BTR was designed to be like a road legal Group B Porsche and so the BTR2 does not share the same racing beauty as the original but is significantly rarer. It it believed that only 19 of these were made and only 3 were built with right hand drive, like this example. With a top speed of 191mph in 1995, it was one of the fastest cars in the world at the time. The value of RUF cars have often been overlooked besides the Carrera GT based CTR3 but in recent years, as more RUF cars have come up for sale, the prices have slowly been increasing. In the past only two BTR2s have been offered at auction, one of which sold for £600,000 as it was the prototype and the other, a left hand drive BTR2 which sold for £220,000. Given that this car is the rarer right hand drive specification, it is fairly easy to see the price will rise maybe even above the £275,000 already. 

1990 BMW E30 M3 Sport Evolution - £189,995

A future classic to finish off the list accumulated, a homologation special. In the last few years, homologation limited series cars have significantly increased in value and has even led to cars such as the Audi S1 Quattro reaching prices over £1,000,000. Though this car will not be anywhere near that price anytime soon, the M3 Sport Evolution, in most people's eyes, remains as the ultimate BMW M3 even surpassing the E46 M3 GTR. This particular M3 is one of the 50 UK delivered M3 Sport Evolutions, finished in either red or black and one of the 600 produced to homologate this generation of M3 for the Touring Car championship and DTM. This is also the fastest E30 M3 with a top speed of 154mph and a 0-60 time in just under 6 seconds, quicker than a lot of modern cars. After recording close to 154,000 miles, the car went through a full nut and bolt restoration but still retains its original parts as well as documentation from when this car was initially sold. At nearly £190,000 this is by far the most expensive M3 Sport Evo currently on the market but as a UK supplied car, that makes it exceptionally rare. As the much more common left hand drive variations of the M3 Sport Evo is getting close to £220,000 at auction plus the rising value of homologation cars, it can be predicted that this car will be a future investment for sure. 

2020 Bentley Continental GT Speed Review

It has been four years since the Bentley Continental GT received its facelift from the previous 12 year old design and, still it remains one of the top GT cars on the market. In 2022, the market for GT cars is fairly saturated at the moment with Aston Martin having the DB11 and DBS, Ferrari with the Roma, Rolls-Royce have the Wraith Black Badge, and even BMW with the M8 Competition are in with a shout in the grand touring market. 

The new Bentley Continental GT Speed has recently re-entered this market as a fast, executive version of the standard Conti GT and it is a very special car. The Continental GT Speed is over 50kg lighter than the standard Continental, and though the car still weighs just over two tonnes, the weight deficit makes a huge impact in the performance factor of the car. With a raised top speed up to 208 mph up from 199 in the standard car, makes it one of the fastest road going Bentley's ever made. Power is up too from 542bhp in the standard Continental up to 650bhp in the Speed. This is due to the Continental GT Speed having the 6.0 W12 engine rather than the older 4.0 twin turbocharged V8. This uprated engine also has an impact on the torque figures with 900 newton metres of torque compared to 770 in the V8 Continental. The final performance statistic is the 0-60mph time which, once again, is faster on the GT Speed with 60mph achieved in 3.6 seconds which is extremely impressive considering it weighs 2.2 tonnes. Performance wise, the new GT Speed rivals even some supercars which is amazing considering Bentley is a luxury performance brand. 

The design of the Continental GT Speed is still debated on the exterior as it follows the modern trend of cars to have quite large grills. Personally I don't mind the grills but they have been compared by other people to cheese graters which could be a negative but in my opinion the new Bentley shape is stunning. The GT Speed has slightly arched rear fenders which accentuate the wide but sleek Bentley shape as well as the striking 22" rims which show the cars sporty history within its luxury body. It also features Speed exclusive details such as special trims on the interior and badging as well as the Bentley logo lit up under the door as it opens which as a little luxury element is very fun to see. The interior is immaculate as a Bentley is expected to be. The leather and stitch work on the seats is nothing but perfection as it is fitted with the Mulliner Driving Specification as standard, which was only an option on the standard Continental GT. This allows the car to feel like a proper luxurious Bentley as well as having all the performance elements of a sports car. Every single minimalist element of the interior was also stunning, from the chrome on the centre console, to the carbon fibre weave fitted into the dashboard rather than using wood to save weight. When sat inside the car, I felt special as a person, like I had made it in life to be sat in a car of such luxury, luxury I have only seen before on a car such as the Rolls-Royce Ghost. And when price is brought into the debate, the fact it shares a similar interior quality as a Rolls-Royce is a significant factor.

At the beginning of this article, I listed a few cars that would rival the GT Speed in terms of performance, luxury and overall in the GT car market. Price is the final key factor for a car like this as the customer would want to get the most they can with the money they spend. Beginning on the cheaper end of the scale with the BMW M8 Competition. This car does not have the same luxury or performance as the Bentley and has a price of £153,220 for a top spec car. Aston Martin come next with the DB11 and DBS which pride performance over luxury in this debate and the price of a DBS (best rival to the Bentley) is £225,000. Ferrari's Roma is pretty much fully performance based as the interior shares a lot of features with the 488 and F8 supercars and the cost of a new Roma is £170,000. Finally is the Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge, a car 100% focused on luxury but including some performance as well, which costs £286,000. The Bentley, with its perfect blend of performance and luxury costs £170,000 for a base car but with options, an average car would be sitting around the £220,000 price bracket. Comparing it to its rivals on price, it can be seen as a no brainer because it is 'cheaper' than the rival cars as well as providing a lot of kick for that price.  

I believe that this car, is the turning point for Bentley in terms of their target market. Bentley has always been the 'Gentleman's Racer' car, even since the Blowers of the 1920s, through the HJ Mulliner Park Ward cars of the 60s and 70s, to the current VW ownership. However Bentley know that they need to expand their market away from the older generation to appeal to the younger target market to turn their attention away from Bentley's rivals such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. To do this they seem to have modernised the current line up, especially in the GT Speed to make it more desirable and, despite the high price of the car, make it more like a dream car for younger people. With the Continental GT Speed it certainly has the appeal of a dream car to younger audiences, as having a real in depth look at this car, it made me fall in love. Despite not having a Ferrari badge or the Spirit of Ecstasy adorning the front end, the Bentley Continental GT Speed is a fantastic car and one of, if not the best, grand touring cars currently on the market.