For many of us the perptual gloom of the media concerning stock markets and credit crunch is a bit of a downer. However at the heavy end of the market - serious collector cars are flying out the door. These cars are clearly selling to people who do not have the inconvenience of mortagages or other petty considerations - and probably see blue chip collector cars as an exciting alternative to under-performing commercial property investments etc
Hall and Hall have just added a "recently sold" page on their site as they are very busy selling cars that never actually reach the public stock pages of their site and they want to communicate the fact that if you want something as rare and exotic as an Aston Martin DB3S or an Alfa P3 - you might want to give them a call and ask them to open their black book and see what they can come up with.
These are the kind of cars which have 7 figure price tags and are sourced discreetly from collectors - who do not want it to be made public knowledge that they are looking at making changes to their toybox - and in turn want to realise the best price for their car or want to find a "proper" car with no "stories".
Case in point is this rather lovely Aston Martin DB3S which has just gone through their hands to a new owner. Price - well if you have to ask..but on the other hand this car will be eligible for just about ANY classic event you wish to enter - and lets face it is probably a bit more exciting than a sheaf of share certificates or property title deeds if you are looking for an investment.
12 years ago when we started building sites for dealers of heavy exotica - a lot of customers groaned that the Internet would be the death of their businesses as everyone and his dog would get exposure to just about every car on the planet - and the dealer's "specialist knowledge" and sourcing capabilities would be negated. This may be true for cars below a certain price threshold - but for heavy stuff - owners and buyers see trading through a knowledgeable and reputable dealer as a discreet way of buying and selling serious road and racecars and making sure the car they end up with really is what it seems.
For sure the dealer has to make a living - but they tend to stay in business based on the quality of reputation and knowledge they have in the market - and when you are dealing with heavy 7 figure cars - mistakes can be very expensive...
Anyway - even if for nothing else other than curiosity - because you do not have millions to spend at the moment - go and look at the Hall & Hall recently sold page on the link below - if nothing else to see how the other half are living in these financially straightened times!