Dyed-in-the-wool speculators refresh their investment portfolios often, and in the process, sometimes wager a bet on a startup with an offering that is wrapped in novelty and tied with a convincing RoI-math ribbon.
Now, how about buying equity shares in a collectible classic car that is rapidly rising in value? How is that for novelty?
In mid-2018, Rally Rd, a startup in the United States, launched an app that would allow people to invest in collector’s cars, with a unit price pegged at just USD 50 (investment is open to those in the US only).
Doing a roundup of 2018 on the heritage car circuit, for me, this sounds like the most innovative concept to emerge this year.
Vintage car restoration expert CS Ananth believes, “it is unlikely to come to our shores, and it has its job cut out even in the West.”
In the FAQ section on its website, the company makes it clear that no investor can drive the car, as it has to stay shimmering and fetching. To ensure they are in fine fettle internally as well, these collectible cars will be taken out for a ‘jog’ regularly by trained personnel. Ananth’s take: “A major part of the reason for owning a collectible car is to flaunt it. If this concept were to be introduced in India, I think the notion of a collector car as merely an investment metal may not be appealing to many.”
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The year marked the 50th anniversary of Hot Wheels. As expected, there were special offerings, which included an assortment of 1:64 scale cars, based on a striking matt-black and gold theme.
Significantly, this year, the disappointment that set in, in 2014, when Danbury Mint discontinued its line of diecast cars, continued to deepen for scale model car collectors. “Since the discontinuance of the line, there has been a 100% increase in the price of some of the out-of-production diecast car models. Offering intricate details, the 1:24 Danbury Mint cars have charmed generations of scale-model collectors,” says Srivardhan Srinivasan, who has parked vintage and classic vehicles as well as automobile scale models at Retro Moto Galerie, a private museum attached to his home in Chennai.
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A member of staff displays a diamond-encrusted Hot Wheels car at the Mattel Inc. office in New York, February 15, 2008. This one-of-a-kind car, the most expensive in Hot Wheels history, was made to commemorate the production of the 4 billionth Hot Wheels vehicle. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES)
Sometime ago, in these pages, we discussed Osian Group’s foray into the vintage and classic vehicles market. The new automobiles wing of Osian’s Auctions conducted an auction relating to these historical vehicles in Mumbai. On the heels of this development, AstaGuru, another Mumbai-based auction house, conducted an auction of such vehicles. In February 2019, Osian’s will hold an auction of historical vehicles in New Delhi.
“This development will make the heritage vehicles circuit in India more organised,” says CS Ananth.
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This year, the Volkswagen Group announced that the New Beetle would stop buzzing in 2019. If one factored in the life of the Volkswagen Beetle Type I, that would signify the end of an 80-year-old saga.
Though modern and technologically different, the New Beetle derived its aura from the Type I.
However, if we were to read into its CEO’s qualifying line “But, I would also say, never say never”, as reported by Agence France-Presse, the door has been left slightly open for a future re-entry of the adorable bug.
Or, the dear Vochito, as the Mexicans call the old Beetle.
