The Bank of England announced today that UK interest rates are remaining at just 0.5%. Great news if you have a mortgage, but worrying if you have savings. Indeed, with inflation running at some 4%, your stash in the bank is actually devaluing.
No wonder people are looking at other places to invest.
I recently spoke to an investment fund manager who told me that the best performing investment at the moment is fine wine, followed closely by classic cars. Apparently the Chinese are particularly keen on wine, which seems odd to me. You can enjoy driving a classic car and, at the end of your run, you still have a classic car. Drink your wine and your investment goes, literally, down the drain. Still, at least you can drown your sorrows.
Now, my investor was into high-end classic cars and generously set up a fund but this required a minimum investment of £500,000 – more than most of us can afford. So what can us mere mortals put our money into?
Well, I’ll put my neck on the line here, and say that I believe any aircooled Porsche – 356, 912, 911 – is a safe investment. Buy a good example and it will at least hold its money. If I was to more specific, I’d suggest a good, original 911SC (if you can find one that hasn’t been messed about) or a 964 Carrera 2 or 4 – cars which I think are undervalued at present. Just make sure you buy the best you can – you rarely make money on a restoration project.
As for modern Porsches, a 997 Speedster should hold its value, as should a GT3 RS 4. 0 – the trouble with the latter is that you’d just want to drive it. And quite right, too!
I know someone who is stockpiling Porsches, mainly 964s, for the very reason he believes they’ll perform well as an investment. He has 60 Porsches and counting!
