A vintage Alfa Romeo racing car has been auctioned for almost £6 million, a world record for the marque.
The £5 937 500 (R93.7 million) paid for the ex-Tazio Nuvolari 1935 supercharged Alfa Romeo Tipo C 8C-35 smashed the previous Alfa record of £4 245 118 (R67 million), achieved when a 1933 Alfa Romeo eight-cylinder Monza 2300 was sold in California in 2010.
The sale at Bonhams Goodwood Revival Meeting at the weeked was the latest in a year marked by booming prices paid for classic cars as collectors indulge their passion while picking up a valuable rising asset.
In July a Formula One Mercedes driven to victory by Juan Manual Fangio in 1954/55 was sold for £19.6 million (R309 million), the highest price for any car yet sold at auction.
But it is not just racing legends that are proving to offer attractive investment opportunities.
Over the past six months classic cars such as Ferraris, Bugattis and Bentleys, have shown the strongest growth of any alternative investment, rising 21 percent.
Chris Routledge, managing director of international car auctioneer Coys, said demand for classic cars as an investment was at an all-time high.
“For example, the Aston Martin DB4 average global auction price before the recession was £135 000 (R2.1 million) and after the recession it went up to £207 000 (R3.3 million),” he said.
Another world record set at Goodwood was for a standard road-going E-Type Jaguar. The 1961 E-Type 3.8 Series 1 flat floor roadster that had been owned by one family since 1963 went for £225 500 (R3.56 million). - The Independent