Recently in the Financial Times a number of assets were analysed to see which gave the best growth over the last 10 years. A high-end New York residential property has increased in value by 72 per cent, whereas a similar property in Hong Kong has risen by 220 per cent, a figure more in line with the performance of fine arts, stamps and rare coins. None of these investments have, however, come close to the 395 per cent return on classic cars which, along with gold, continue to be the market with the best investment growth.
Classic Ferraris are leading the trend, in recent years regularly occupying the top slots in the list of 10 most valuable cars sold at auction with two examples of the 250 Testa Rossa having been sold at over $12 million, the second going under the hammer for a record $16,390,000. But this underlines a more general trend with all classic Ferraris as can be seen from the value reached by a long-wheelbase 1959 250 GT Berlinetta in 2003 – $1,195,691 – compared to a similar car which was sold in 2012 for $6,710,000, an increase of over 400%.