I read in Classic Cars magazine that the Ferrari F40 has increased in value by almost 50% in the past year, with truly concours-worthy cars commanding well over two million pounds.
This does not come as a surprise. Even if your analogue supercar of choice is the McLaren F1, you cannot deny the impact the F40 had - and still has - on the motoring scene. It was the last car to be personally signed off by Enzo Ferrari before his death. And whereas today’s supercars are often criticised for being too complex, too heavy, and overburdened with power-sapping electronics, the F40 is rawness defined. Prioritising light weight, speed, aerodynamics and pure driver involvement, it encapsulated absolutely everything for which Ferrari was known.
It is, therefore, only to be expected that even merely ‘good’ F40s command price tags of £1.2 million. But there’s an elephant in the room. Once you’ve paid that weighty sum and you have your very own F40, what do you do with it? Take it to the supermarket and risk someone denting those expensive carbon fibre panels? Not likely.
You could, of course, take it to the track and experience that famed Ferrari DNA as you battle power oversteer and feel the delicate steering wheel writhing in your hands. Again, though, you’d risk damaging a £2 million supercar - and not someone else’s £2 million supercar, but yours.
It’s a similar story with super-luxury SUVs such as the Range Rover or Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Magazine road testers have proven their off-road capabilities, but it isn’t their £100k-plus investments that risk getting their underbellies scraped. Small wonder that the majority of today’s off-roaders spend most of their time firmly on tarmac.
That brings me back to the question of what to do with our hypothetical Ferrari. Ultra-rare, ultra-exclusive and ultra-expensive motor cars are invariably stored in aircraft hangar-style air-conditioned ‘homes’, safely tucked up away from the wild and whirling world, their paintwork gloriously free from stone chips and the like.
And it makes me sick. Be it an F40, F1 or a Mercedes 300SL, these cars were designed and engineered to be driven, and driven hard. Many of them gained their reputations on the racing circuit, and you need robust mechanicals and staying power to succeed there. Yes, they are works of art (well, automotive art, anyway), and just spending time in their company is enough to make any petrol head go more than a little weak at the knees. But it is such a shame to see cars buried under wraps in storage, even accounting for their values.
So please, if you are in the fortunate position of being able to acquire a classic supercar, please do enjoy it to the full and exercise it regularly. You wouldn’t invest in a natty piece of designer clothing just to leave it in the wardrobe, would you?
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