A website has a bright red Ferrari F40 car at the top, on what seems to be a desert road. Nevada or somewhere in the Middle East, maybe. Further below there’s a photo of a white and blue Ford GT40 (of the sort that won Le Mans in the mid-60s); there's a Porsche GT3RS, all in white with a blue logo along the side. Another photo shows a gunmetal grey Audi R8 V10 – all Germanic power and style – and there’s an Aston Martin V12 Vantage, of the sort that might be driven by James Bond. For those of a certain mindset, they make the heart beat faster.
But these cars aren’t going to spend all their time on the tarmac, although they won’t all be sitting idle. They’re investment vehicles, as it were, and part of a new twist in how people can make money through a fractional ownership model, as well as via direct property.
Created in 2019 by David Spickett (pictured), CEO, TheCarCrowd, based in the UK, says it provides a way for individuals to build a collection of cars on their own, or join with other members via a syndicate. In the latter case, a person can “take the wheel,” so to speak, for as little as £2,000 ($2,709). And with Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, eyeing how to squeeze even more revenue out of the UK public, it is notable that returns from classic car investments don’t – at least yet – carry capital gains tax. (A classic car is typically at least two decades’ old.)
With collectables such as fine wine, whisky, watches, jewellery, fine art, even first edition books and musical instruments adding colour to the sometimes dour business of investment, it was only a matter of time before collectable cars cosied up to the data-rich world of the internet.
Spickett, who has a background in finance and asset management – stints at Lloyds Banking Group, McKinsey, Capgemini and Unipart, and the logistics business – realises that what he’s doing seems like a dream job. But as everyone in this area ks, there’s a lot of hard work involved.
“It is very fulfilling,” he told WealthBriefing in a recent interview. “We have seen a lot of enquiries from people who want to diversify into something else,” he said.
In 2023, TheCarCrowd generated overall investment returns of 15.8 per cent, and in 2024, at 12.7 per cent. This performance is even more impressive when the wider collectable car market saw an overall shrinkage of around 6 per cent.
This is a large sector, although dwarfed by the mainstream equity market. For example, according to Statista in 2023, based on the US, UK and German sectors, it estimated that the global classic car market revenue was $31.6 billion dollars for 2022, with an expected growth rate of 9.6 per cent annually until 2026. Price performance can vary, and it appears that certain brands stand out. For example, HAGI (Historic Automobile Group International) produces indices of what classic cars fetch. Its HAGI Top Index in June was down 1.93 per cent since January; however, the HAGI P Index (this tracks Porsche cars) is up 5.95 per cent; the HAGI F Index (Ferraris) is up 1.64 per cent. When Ferrari and Porsche cars are stripped out, the HAGI Top Index is down 8.29 per cent.
Growth
Spickett, who works with a total of five full-time staff, said the UK-based business has a 16,000 square foot “museum” in Nottinghamshire which has raised £1.25 million in a capital-raising seed round. So far, TheCarCrowd hasn’t gone in for a noisy marketing campaign; much of the awareness generated is via word of mouth and business networks. “We feel a bit like it’s one of the best kept secrets” Spickett says, despite its platform now boasting nearly 1,000 active investors.
This year, TheCarCrowd re-launched to cater for demand from family offices and ultra-high net worth investors; it incorporates a new CGT-free syndication structure.
Spickett has motoring in his blood – his family forebears were car collectors and became involved in auctions. Starting in his financial sector career, Spickett worked in the US for a few years, and saw the success there of the Rally Road collectables investment app and the Masterworks online Art investment platform. He was inspired: Spickett started thinking about creating something linked to cars, and in the UK.
“There was just nothing like it in the UK,” he said.
After a baptism of fire through the pandemic, which forced Spickett to be more “online” with TheCarCrowd than he’d have wanted, the business continued, held its capital raising, and is in a new phase of growth, he said.
The firm argues that cars can be traded globally – these marques are renowned across the world, and car investments have low annualised volatility.
Services that are provided, depending on what clients opt for, include portfolio consulting, asset curation, setting up portfolios – for example using limited companies for that purpose – custody, asset realisation, and finally, the ability to drive the investor's car as much or as little as preferred.
There’s a 10 per cent fee based on the appreciation in value of a car – the “carry fee” – and an annual management fee of around 2 per cent to pay for keeping the cars in mint condition, storing them and insurance. The same fee structure applies for those investing directly on their own or in a syndicate.
All syndicated assets are held in a bare trust where the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) has an immediate and absolute right to both the capital and income of the trust. Typical holding periods for a car investment are three to five years; there have been instances where a person exited the investment sooner than that.
All syndicated assets are held in trust but private or direct owners working with the firm's private office can select from direct ownership, LLC, trust or within their limited company, depending on what is best for their financial planning and tax strategy.
“We are very data-driven…this is about trying to avoid the heart ruling the head,” he said.
“We look at wide factors and various sources and amalgamate them to see what marques are appreciating or depreciating,” he said. The firm then produces a car shortlist, then whittles this down into a small selection before purchasing starts.
A big “value-added” feature of this business model is the work that TheCarCrowd does in scrutinising cars, avoiding those that might have been tampered with, or even faked.
This is not a market for novices. As the firm says in the fine print at the foot of its website, it is a company registered in England and Wales and is also a Shariah Compliance Certified business – which shows how it has been set up to appeal to those from a variety of perspectives. The private syndicates and direct private investments aren’t protected by the Financial Conduct Authority. This is an area where those who want to get involved must understand the risks.
But for those who do, this is an interesting twist on enthusiasm for tapping into the glamour and fun of owning, fractionally or outright, some of the most beautiful automative machines around.
Ferrari Testarossa