In the last 10 years, Classic Cars have delivered an average annual return of 18.5% for investors. It is the second-highest-performing asset class and remains resilient against inflation.

This time last year, it was reported that nearly every metric in the UK classic car market had increased in 2022. Despite the climbing cost of living, growing economic uncertainty, and almost weekly political leadership changes in the UK, nearly every segment of the classic car market continued its post-Covid boom. It seemed that collector vehicle values were immune to the realities of the world.

But of course, they weren’t. Throughout 2023, we tracked a correcting market where sellers’ expectations were not often met by potential buyers’ willingness to part with cash that had become more expensive to borrow.

The demographic needle has also shifted rapidly to point toward millennials as being the new driving force behind the classic car market, fuelling the rise in new market segments and more vocal concerns about sustainability. The result was a year of correction, something that many people argued was long overdue.

In the long term, classic car investments are still a very good bet as they cannot go bankrupt nor be taken over, and the value is extremely unlikely ever to collapse due to ever diminishing supply. The returns beat wine and watches hands down and are far more fun as they can actually be driven.

You could start a small or large collection, or you could join a syndicate, of which there are many around, such as The Car Crowd or Jolly Cars. There are also guides that can greatly assist the new collector, such as the Historic Automobile Group International (HAGI), the first serious player in the guide sector, and the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index. Hagerty is an American player which specialises in the index and insurance, and K500, a Geneva-based consultancy firm that analyses data from some 30,000 worldwide auction results, scoring them between 1-100 to denote how often the model is bought and sold. Cars with high scores are considered particularly desirable.

A new Aston Martin DB5 looks a bit of a bargain when its original price of £4,175 is compared to our current “excellent” condition value of £604,000. However, just over four years ago, that value was £851,000, a loss against the grain in recent terms of the classic car market, but a rare, timeless vehicle all the same.

The Lotus Elan has seen a less inflation-defying rise in value, but with prices surging by over £10,000 during the past five years, it has been a far better short-term investment as early examples are rare.

Another vehicle with increasingly rare early examples that has followed a similar pattern is the Triumph Spitfire. A rise of £11,660 has been seen over the past five years; interesting when compared to its new price of £550. A current value of just over £22,000 makes it a very attainable way to enjoy classic British hood-down motoring.