Future Classic Cars to Buy Right Now

Change is the only thing we can be sure of in life. We’ve all seen enough change in the past twelve months to last us several lifetimes, but that won’t stop more coming. There is the small matter of how the world is going to shake out after Covid, and for car enthusiasts, there is another seismic event scheduled for 2030 with the ban on new sales of new petrol cars.

So, what should you buy today that will still prove to be a canny addition to your collection a decade from now?

There’s certainly a lot of pent-up demand in the market at the moment. Many people have been fortunate enough to have been in a position to save money during lockdown and splashing out on a holiday doesn’t look like a feasible option any time with travel bans in place, so why not a car instead?

Everyone talks about the poster of the car on the bedroom wall. Those Athena prints of icons like the Ferrari F40, the Lamborghini Countach and the Porsche 959 lovingly Blu Tacked in place soon grew tatty. But, the works of automotive art they depicted never lost their lustre and went on to accelerate in value.

For me, it was the Ferrari Enzo, not, I hasten to add, because I had a poster of it in my bedroom at the age of 10! That was actually the Countach…But because it was the first car I financed when I came into the market in 2003. Since then, I have helped collectors acquire more than 20 of the 399 Enzos built.

Powered by 650bhp V12, designed by Pininfarina’s Ken Okuyama and developed by Michael Schumacher, the Enzo holds a very special place in my heart. But, crucially, it also made sense to the head. With a list price of £450,000 when new, today, a Ferrari Enzo commands a premium of up to £2 million today.

The Enzo is an extremely special car and very much a ‘future classic car’ that looks set to continue to hold enormous appeal – and value – even when all supercars are plug-ins. It’s also a car we can learn valuable lessons from too when it comes to determining what will do well in the future.

As with any future classic car, the checklist to watch for is as follows: impeccable providence and history, low production runs, class-leading credentials and iconic status are future success hallmarks. But in the current market we need to choose very wisely indeed as there is far more choice than ever. Many buyers have had their fingers burned over the last 12 months in the supercar market, faced with steep depreciation on models that are produced in their thousands and are not as ‘special’ as their makers would otherwise claim.

That’s why we’ve put together our own ‘magnificent seven’. Ranging from £50,000 to a whole lot more, these cars are all genuinely special and should continue to be held in high regard come 2030 when they become future classic cars.

Future Classic Cars to Buy Right Now

Alpine M2 A110

Bringing historic car brands back from the past is much in vogue, and none has executed it better than Alpine. The pretty little A110 summons up its eponymous predecessor’s spirit, which swept Alpine to the inaugural World Rally Championship for Makes in 1973. Light, agile, a joy to drive and produced in relatively small numbers, the modern Alpine A110 is likely to increase in desirability as the years roll by.

BMW M2 CS

Although not a limited edition per se, the 444bhp BMW M2 CS was only introduced last summer and production ends in a few months – so exclusivity is hardwired in. Some have hailed the M2 CS as a spiritual successor to the 2002 Turbo BMW launched in 1973. Today, immaculate examples of the 2002 Turbo are pricier than the M2 CS is new, so, if the latter’s value growth replicates that trajectory in years to come…

Ferrari 458 Speciale A

Today, even brands like Ferrari are now volume players, so not every model that the Modena-based company produces makes an ideal collector car. Instead, you will fare better with Ferraris built to a limited number. The 458 Speciale A is a prime example. The A stands for ‘Aperta’ – Italian for ‘open’ – and just 499 examples of this naturally aspirated V8 convertible were built between 2014 and 2015.

Jaguar XE SV Project 8

With nigh on 600bhp, the 200mph Project 8 is the most powerful road-legal Jaguar ever. With a limited run of just 300 cars worldwide, it ticks much of a collector car’s criteria. There’s also a whiff of madness about it. With its wailing supercharged V8 engine it most certainly does not go quietly into that good night of mass electrification. With Jaguar confirming recently that it will be all-electric by the middle of the decade, we will never see its like again – and there’s no better way to define a future classic than that.

Lamborghini Aventador SVJ

Sporting an SVJ – Super Veloce Jota – badge, one of the most revered in Lamborghini’s history, a gloriously old school unelectrified V12 engine, a limited production run of 800 and a Nürburgring lap record this most fearsome version of Lamborghini’s Aventador will continue to fascinate many decades from now. For ultra-exclusivity seek out the extensively carbon fibre finished SVJ 63, of which only 63 were produced.

McLaren Speedtail

With a £2.1m price tag, acquiring one of the 106 McLaren’s Speedtails built required deep pockets. But with a 1055bhp hybrid powertrain, a 250mph and an achingly beautiful body devoid of ugly wings, the McLaren Speedtail is a car unlike any other. And consider this, back in 1992 a McLaren F1 sold for £540,000, today, with the right collectors bidding an example could well reach £16m – a price increase of almost 1000%.

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4

Some cars unexpectedly obtain iconic status decades after their production ends. With others, their future appeal and the resultant increase in value they will yield, are evident from the start. The latter is the case with Porsche’s 718 Cayman GT4. Evo magazine summed up the car’s allure perfectly: “For a combination of pure driver appeal and value, the Cayman GT4 has no rivals. An instant modern classic if ever there was one.”