cor blimey, Graham, it's surely taken you a fair time to follow my instructions of three weeks ago, to the day! ;-) seriously, a very wise decision, IMHO. If you had not already your 3 pedal 575M in an extremely appealing hue, different story. But that's way-ay too much of a premium to pay for not so much added value. And once you've completed the FHP or HGTC mods your driving pleasure will be equivalent. and isn't that what our cars are all about? Congrats!
we're trying to grab our dreams when the whales aren't paying attention (or wrecking things) and for sure second the thoughts about enjoying these machines as intended. what would steve mcqueen do? drive, of course.
Back on post No.419 I provided a link to "tributo Borussia Dortmund edition Superamerica F1 HGTC" that I spotted for sale in Switzerland with 18'645 km recorded at a CHF 278'000.- ask. (e.g. EUR260k). The same car has now reappeared in Germany and is now offered at EUR420 net (call it EUR500k with EU taxes paid). https://home.mobile.de/EXCLUSIVEFAHRZEUGE#des_212559592
This SA is about 25 Km from my home. He has also 3 550 Maranello (giallo, rosso, blu) I was interested in a 599 which was for sale 4 weeks ago. He said, he will sell only to dealers or company owners (then you don't have to give warranty) Last monday i visited a 2nd 599 which is there this moment (car is from Czech) Now he sells to end user also. Does they know what they want ??? But now it's to late : I would not buy a car from there anytime. Daniel
Back to the original subject, there are currently no fewer than 47 550s (not 575s) for sale on Autoscout alone, ie on one European website. As a 550 owner I have no wish to depress the market but the reality is that right now there is plenty of stock around.
Anyone interested in the fact that last evening at the Mecum's Pebble Beach auction a 3-pedal 575M rosso corsa/beige sold at hammer price of $385,000.? Assuming a normal buyer's commission of 10% buyer paid $423,500. Anyone care to guess what this will do to the Maranello market?
It's correct that an offer of 55k euros last November would have bought the equivalent of one of the cars listed at (though I don't know if they are selling at) 110-130k euros now..I suspect they are not all selling quite at these asking prices though. Maybe Monterey will change that though it's a bit of a way (conceptually) from a three pedal 575 in California to a 550 in Italy. Anyone here bought or sold a 550 in Europe very recently can enlighten us?
By the way, please don't get me wrong. Prices of 550s in Europe are definitely up, anything between 50-100 per cent in the past year. But the OP was about stock "disappearing", and I'm saying there's plenty of stock just now. Completely unscientifically I agree with Johnny's implication, this stock is on the whole higher mileage than what was around last half of last year, when I went to see a couple of Euro cars in France/Italy - judged purely on mileage and photos. November/December 2014, a 50,000 km 550 at a main/reputable dealer was typically 50-60k euros according to my notes. Same car double price now. But the 550s are around.. 575 F1s also up, though I think not quite as much (yet), and some stock around too. So Maranellos not disappeared at the moment.
Having monitored the market as well during the past 12 months, Darius is right, cars in central Europe actually are offered at a higher price than some months ago but it seem's, there's not too much movement in the market. Most car's are offered for a quiet long time - but, they all have some shortages, even visible at the pictures published....�� Most have higher milages, which is o.k., if well cared for, but there are also many unloved cars offered, especially in Italy. According to my experience, the shown faults are just the top of the "iceberg". Honestly spoken, if I havn't found my car yet, I wouldn't find one reasonable priced on the ones offered now in Europe. Most probably I would go for a 575 F1 or a 456. Especially on the later ones there are still some interesting cars around.... So, Darius, which of the actually offered 550 Maranellos would drew your interest? Having seen pictures and the descripion of your car, there are no alternatives actually at any price..... Saluti, Jürgen
You are spot on, Juergen. Nov/Dec last year there were at any one time maybe 5-6 550s that looked great. Now, I wouldn't be tempted by any of those, either the price is wrong or the car doesn't seem right, or both. But that's just me, and I don't wish to cast aspersions on anyone reading this who goes and buys one of these. A similar thing happened with 308s and 328s about 12 months earlier, loads of them popped up in Italy just as prices jumped and they were..."unloved", mainly. 575 F1s, still some great looking cars around. Haven't been following 456 market But, just my view!
Agree, just a personal point of view, there might be very interesting cars amoung the offered, they just don't fit to me personally (colour, interior, condition, milage, history) as well. Having followed the market and the price development the tendency shows only one direction.....up! Time to buy your personal big V12 Maranello, I wouldn't expect them to drop in value and they create an even bigger smile on your face while driving them....�� Saluti, Jürgen
bought my black 550 3 months ago-RHD car with 61k miles on it,paid 68kGBP for it.had looked at a couple of lower miles cars but condition was average but when i went to see my car it just looked and felt right.i had wanted a 550 for years so decided it was now or never... i tend to use my cars pretty frequently so i would expect the mileage to keep climbing!
Does anyone remember this thread? It was one of the most popular ones from March through August last year. I dug it out because this evening a check revealed 67 550 Maranellos alone on just one Euro website (autoscout). If they are all real, that's more than 2% of the entire production of 550s for sale, right now, on just one website. To put that into perspective with a contemporary car: imagine searching on that one website for 996 Carreras (not turbos or GT3s or C4Ss or GT2s) tonight and finding 2500 cars listed. For me (and this is just a gut thing) the majority of the cars look like quick buck jobs, not the greatest or always the most honest examples eg sold by original or long term owners. People who bought when prices jumped last year and now want to cash in, but they bought quite cheap/not the best cars and now want to make their profit. I think this means the best/lowest miles (I know the debate about that but the market values low miles on these) cars long term will still be valued. But it's probably a good time to make an offer on a 60,000 km Maranello being sold by a small dealer who's starting to sweat somewhere in Europe. Anyways..Maranellos have reappeared. Catch them while you can.
Darius, having followed this thread closely, the market now seems to be full of 550's for sale. Sure, you're also had a closer look on the offered cars, you discovered two issues: The price level is still completely different from nearly one year ago. Starting prices have nearly doubled, to enter the 550's world, you now have to spend between 85-100.000 €. Low milage cars with some history (even some expensive cars are offered with just one service within the last 15 years....) are more frequently sold than their cheaper counterparts. If you have a closer look to nearly all offered cars, you easily discover the short comings even by looking at their pictures. Worn driver seat bolsters, shrinked leather, wavey carpet behind the seats, sticky parts. Wondering, why dealers are offering theses cars without first have them prepared. The trend seems to go for the best cars with low milage, even at higher prices.... Saluti, Jürgen
Yes, they have reappeared, but at double or triple the price. Same dynamic with the 575s - I remember seeing some of the cars advertised by dealers 18 months ago. They then disappeared for several months (some up to a year) and are now back up for sale. Easy to tell if it is the same dealer, harder to tell in some cases where cars appear to have been bought in Italy and are now being sold by dealers in Germany, NL and Belgium. Dealers from the latter countries were 'sharking' around in Italy in 2014/15 (very similar dynamic on the Dino GT4 market). I think we're also seeing a similar trend with 456s, albeit with a 6/12 months delay and lower price levels/slower appreciation. There used to be always around 80 (all versions) for sale on autoscout at anyone time. Now it's 41. Let's see what happens next Northern summer....my bet is on significantly increased numbers, too. Maybe not double or triple in price, but up by 30-50%. Big question is: will this trend last, and for how long? I think it will for a while as both the 550/575 and the 456 have some way to travel to meet their value relative to other vintage /sports cars.
I guess I'm pessimistic about values going forward from here (in the short term). Global markets have had an ugly start to 2016. If it's half as bad as 2008...collector cars will take a big hit, especially mass produced cars such as the 355/550/575 etc. The uber rare will hold their values fine...and super low mileage examples. As I've said time and time again...you're not taking the cars with you when you kick the bucket so go out and enjoy them.
Fabio, I want that 1-owner argento/blu scuro 575 FHP with 29.000km/full service history....for 55K € at Motor in Modena ��...hahaha
IMPO the markets going they way they are is the very reason the classic market has gone the way it has and further depression tends to fuel the car market further. That combined by collectors speculating on the rarity of manual cars.
What's the Chinese equivalent of autoscout24.com Darius? https://www.credit-suisse.com/ch/en/news-and-expertise/economy/articles/news-and-expertise/2015/11/en/here-comes-the-young-changing-consumption-behavior-in-china.html
Funny you ask, I have just been asked to write a story on classic cars in a Chinese magazine. Interesting article. Wonder how they shot that Maranello with a 997 front end!
