Should you invest in cars, handbags or whisky? Axon’s Automotive Anorak

With bank interest rates presently at an all-time low, those fortunate few to have some spare funds swilling around could look into investing their hard-earned in a classic or interesting special car. And based on a few conversations I had with some well-known vehicle dealers and owners during Goodwood SpeedWeek presented by Mastercard, the collector’s car market is currently thriving, with many makes and models in demand, and values of vehicles in the popular sub-£100,000 and over £1 million-plus categories being uncommonly buoyant. Specialist niche car makers, such as Morgan and some premium kit car replica producers, are also seeing a welcome growth in demand.

The pending sale of a trio of important and exclusive 1950s Bertone-bodied futurist Alfa Romeo B.A.T. ‘concept’ cars could be an exceptional opportunity for investor enthusiasts with deep pockets; these three prototypes expected to fetch around $15 million to $20 million when they go under the hammer as a single collection/lot at an auction before the end of the month.

Rightly described to be amongst the most spectacular and memorable automotive designs ever presented, these one-off Alfa Romeos were commissioned to showcase the radical design engineering and pioneering aerodynamics of the early-1950s era, being offered as a single sales lot for the very first time.

Known as the B.A.T. 5, 7 and 9 for obvious reasons – thanks to their dramatic ‘wings’ and curves – these unique Alfa Romeo prototypes with differing coachwork were created by Italian designer Franco Scaglione and Carrozzeria Bertone and revealed to the public over a three-year period at international motor show exhibitions in 1953, ‘54 and ‘55, with the trio of cars never presented together in at the time.

As with many other breathtaking and memorable one-off prototypes, such as  Bertone’s own 1970 Lancia Stratos wedged concept and Pininfarina’s wild Ferrari 512 S-based Modulo of the same year, the three 1950s Alfa Romeo B.A.T. cars are a joy to behold, but probably a nightmare to actually drive, with cockpit visibility, turning circles and practicality being sacrificed at the altar of style, with function definitely losing out to form, and thankfully all the better for it.

So, if you are one of the very fortune few that might be able to afford to raise your hand, twitch you nose or press ‘enter’ on your keyboard to bid, and you are mercenary enough to callously look on these prototypes purely as a sound investment, rather than buying them for the sheer love of cars, then maybe you should be seriously considering other assets for a stronger return for your money currently, such as rare whisky and designer handbags.

Whisky and handbags? This combination might sound like a bun fight at a lively local W.I. meeting, but these are just two sectors that are enjoying immense growth in value. According to ongoing Investment Growth research by stock market watchers Knight Frank, handbags have seen a healthy 13 per cent valuation growth over the past 12 months (with a 108 per cent increase in values over the past decade), with rare whisky values growing by five per cent currently, but with an unapparelled 564 per cent climb over the last ten years.

By comparison, over the past year, collector car values have fallen by an average of seven per cent, although they have gained a healthy 194 per cent overall during the last decade, a growth only bettered by rare whisky in the same ten-year time frame.

As for other collectable asset categories, postage stamps have climbed by a useful six per cent over the past 12 months (up 64 per cent over ten years), with art gaining five per cent (up 141 per cent over a decade), collectable coins are up three per cent (up 175 per cent in ten years), watches up by two per cent (up 60 per cent in a decade) and wine up by one per cent (up 120 per cent in ten years).

The average value of collectable furniture has remained static over both the past year and decade, with jewellery dropping by seven per cent in the last year, in line with cars, and coloured diamonds dropping one per cent (though up by 77 per cent in a decade) with general stock market investments also reducing by one per cent in the last year, but up by 141 per cent over the past ten years.

If you are one of those who purchased a classic car during the 2012 to 2016 ‘boom’ years, you can still reassure yourself that your motorised pride and joy has achieved a welcome increase in value (varying between make and model), despite the more recent seven per cent decline over the past year, so you can toast your shrewd buy by raising a glass, though ideally not a drop or rare whisky or fine wine, given their growing investment potential (a bottle of 1926 The Macallan Fine and Rare fetched a record £1.2 million in October 2019!).

As for me though, I’m going to stick to motor cars, not as an investment, but to drive and enjoy them as they should be appreciated. Sadly, I don’t (and probably never will) have a spare $20 million to buy the three Bertone Alfa Romeo B.A.T.s, but I’d still love a rather more affordable Alfasud T.i., or an Alfa Junior Zagato, ES30 SZ, 101-Series Giulietta Sprint Veloce, Montreal, or virtually any other Alfa Romeo for that matter, with the exception of an Alfa-branded handbag, although I do have an unopened bottle of excellent Alfa Romeo wine somewhere in the kitchen. I wonder what it’s worth?