If the sight of Daniel Craig zipping through the streets of Rome in a bespoke Aston Martin DB10 in Spectre inspires you to invest in an Aston Martin of your own, there a few points worth considering first, says Nicholas Mee, London’s only official Aston Martin appointed Heritage Specialist dealer
Budget
The budget for a classic Aston Martin is broad and can range from £35,000 to £10million. For the price of £100,000, for a collector’s car, you could get a 1970’s DBS 6-cylinder car or maybe a V8 engine car from the later 1970’s. There are also the Virage-based cars (pictured above) which, historically, have not been collected but now that they are 20+ years old, people are beginning to invest in them.
At the more expensive end of the spectrum, a DB4GT Zagato (pictured below), one of the 19 Italian DB4GT’s that were competition cars in their day and raced against Ferrari’s at Goodwood and so on. Also, the very rare and competition-orientated cars such as the DB3S from the late 1950’s, that competed at Le Mans in the days when Le Mans cars had to be road-registered.
Vehicle checks
When focusing on the physicality of the car, you need to look at the condition of the chassis and engine, as these are both very expensive to put right. These cars have steel chassis, which can corrode if not looked after properly. Then you need to check the rest such as the condition of the paintwork and interiors. You’ve also got to look at the history: who has looked after it? Has it got any particular detail in its history that is interesting? For instance, did it belong to Peter Sellers or someone similar?
Value
You’re going to lose value if it’s in bad condition and the engine or chassis need re-building, for instance. If someone has spent a lot of money having it restored a few years ago, then the value of that work will have to be accounted for in the sale or purchase price. If the car is in a good condition with lovely paintwork then that will only add value.
Insurance
Most of the larger insurance companies have a classic insurance scheme. This would probably limit you to a certain amount of miles per annum and insist on the car being garaged when it’s not in use. You would also have to submit some photographs of it with either a condition report or valuation report. They will then insure it on the basis you’re not going to do many miles and keep it in good condition. For a premium, it’s normally 50% less than a normal road car, on the assumption that you’re not going to be using it up and down the motorway on business.
Storage
You need to keep the car out of the harm of sun, rain and extreme temperatures. There are lots of facilities across the country that offers different levels of storage. Either something basic like a ventilated barn, a tented chamber with a circulation of air through it or de-humidified storage which takes all the humidity out of the air in the environment. Humidity is one of the things that does affect cars over the years because it can corrode steel and aluminium.
Maintenance
When you have a classic car, you are going to need help and maintenance from time to time. You need to find and build a relationship with a specialist source, someone with a good reputation and who you can trust to look after the car in your best interests.
If you’re not going to use it very much, you should at least make sure that it is driven every 6-8 weeks for 10-15 miles and that the engine is run regularly and the tyres turned. When a car isn’t moved on a regular basis, the tyres will go like 50p pieces. Or the alternative is to jack the car, get the wheels off, keep it in a de-humidified area and disconnect the battery so it’s a completely inanimate object. Most people would try to stay on top of the car and use it regularly because it keeps everything working; it keeps the fluids mixed and the rubber elements, suspension, brakes and tyres flexible. You do have to look after a car even when it’s not being used on the road.
Nicholas Mee is Managing Director at Nicholas Mee & Company who specialise in pre-owned, classic Aston Martins from the iconic DB4 to the current models such as the Vanquish. For more information, visit Nicholas Mee & Company
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