The Historic Automobile Group’s indices of transactions showed that in the year to October, its HAGI Top index, its overall measure, rose 18.31 per cent, but fell by 0.43 per cent from September. Even so, performance over 12 months to October remains strong, with a gain of 18.26 per cent, ahead of the S&P Global 1200 index of shares, up 10.86 per cent.

Certain marques of car have continued to put in a fast performance: the HAGI F index, measuring prices fetched for Ferraris, for example, is up 29.77 per cent between January this year and October; the HAGI P index for Porsche cars is up 14.79 per cent for the year so far.

Interest in such “real assets” has grown at a time when the appeal of some mainstream assets, such as bonds, cash and equities, has suffered since the 2008 financial crisis and due to concerns about inflation. However, unlike stocks, investing in cars and other collectables is typically less liquid and can require higher fees and levels of expertise from the investor.