Europe’s classic buyers are feeling more confident – even though the wider economy is fragile
The big story
Classic specialists on the continent are saying that the market is feeling more confident and that prices are starting to rise – but it all depends on the fragile wider economy and, in some cases, world events.
Traders at the recent Techno Classica Essen show reported brisk business – albeit not quite at the buoyant prices seen before 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic – but added that buyers are placing more of an emphasis on quality and originality with their purchases than was the case in previous years.
Jani Tulja of Finnish Porsche specialist 9XX-Auto said that enthusiasts were getting more confident following a few years of economic changes blunting demand for classics: ‘The market was relatively healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic but the rise in interest rates afterwards really affected demand. A lot of classics, particularly those over €100k, are purchased with finance, and consumers who were used to a 1.9 per cent interest rate were suddenly having to deal with it being 6.9 per cent, so the cars became a less attractive proposition.
‘However we’re now seeing buyers becoming more accustomed to those higher rates and being more confident and we’re seeing that reflected in stronger demand. Originality and condition are very important now, though – if a car doesn’t have the right history, it can still be a hard sell.’
The rather more confident mood among dealers echoes comments from French specialists at the Rétromobile show in Paris back in February, where smaller classics in particular were seeing some encouraging year-on-year price rises.
Kraein Mengers, who runs Mini-Mengers, an Oldenburg-based specialist in classic Minis, with her husband says that enthusiasts are increasingly feeling more confident, but tha
