Luxo-Cruisers: You Heard It Here First, Folks
From time to time I'll be posting my "hot picks," Ferraris that I feel are on the verge of a substantial increase in market value. The first two of these belong to a lineage of Ferraris that I call the luxo-cruisers, a line which extended from the 340 America of 1950 through the 365 California of 1966-67. My current hot picks are the 400 Superamerica and 500 Superfast.
Both of theses cars were the pinnacle of exclusivity in their day. In fact, they were so exclusive that they're about as rare today as the coveted 250 GTO. Take a look at these stats:
400 Superamerica
Number built: 47 (to include both coupes and cabriolets)
Power output: 340hp
Estimated top speed: approximately 175mph!
500 Superfast
Number built: 36
Power output: 360hp
Estimated top speed: approximately 175mph!
It's interesting to note that both the 400 Superamerica and 500 Superfast have better power-to-weight ratios than the later 365 GTB/4 Daytona!
So why are these two on my hot picks list? Because both are extremely rare, have attractive coachwork and are comfortable and highly useable, especially in comparison to their contemporaries, the 250 GT/L and 275 GTB and, in spite of this, their market values have remained flat for far too long.
Using Cavallino magazine's price guide for comparison, we see that the 400SA has enjoyed a normal, slow appreciation over the past couple of years while the 500SF has remained almost entirely flat during that same period.
400 Superamerica
December 2002: $275,000 - $500,000
December 2003: $290,000 - $500,000
December 2004: $350,000 - $450,000
500 Superfast:
December 2002: $270,000 - $375,000
December 2003: $280,000 - $400,000
December 2004: $270,000 - $400,000
Now look at what's happened to other models from the same era:
250 GT/L
December 2002: $115,000 - $200,000
December 2003: $130,000 - $260,000
December 2004: $240,000 - $350,000
275 GTB (long-nose, 2-cam)
December 2002: $200,000 - $250,000
December 2003: $200,000 - $265,000
December 2004: $375,000 - $475,000
With Lusso and 275 prices pushing their way up into SA and SF territory, the much more exclusive luxu-cruisers are due for a serious increase in value. Just remember, you heard it here first!
posted by L. Wayne at 1:35 AM
1 Comments:
134282,
Thanks for your comments. If you look closely at the numbers I provided (from Cavallino magazine), you'll see that, on the low end, 400 Superamericas have gone from $275,000 in 2002 to $290,000 in 2003 and up to $350,000 by 2004. A steady increase indicative of the market in general.
The high end numbers are a little confusing, remaining at $500,000 for two years and then suddenly being adjusted to $450,000 this past December. There is one thing, though, that we have to keep in mind when looking at Cavallino's 400SA numbers as opposed to those for the 500SF and other models; they represent the entire model range, including coupes AND cabriolets. This higher figure would obviously be representative of the cabriolets. To further put this into perspective, a very nice series II coupe changed hands in December 2003 for $367,500. Comparing that figure to Cavallino's numbers of $290,000 - $500,000 at the time it becomes clear that the top-end figure applies to cabs only (leaving one-off specials out of this for the moment).
Even so, wouldn't that only mean that the coupes have enjoyed steady appreciation, but that the cabs have, for some mysterious reason, taken a recent hit? Not really. These numbers are simply a guideline and are based on someone's opinion which, in turn, might be based on a whole slew of factors. Since I don't know when the last cabriolet changed hands prior to December 2002, I'm not really sure where that $500K figure came from in the first place and can't say what caused them to adjust their thinking two years later.
During the same period, these were the numbers supplied by Sports Car Market's price guide:
400 Superamerica
2003: $325,000 - $450,000
2004: $425,000 - $575,000
500 Superfast
2003: $300,000 - $400,000
2004: $300,000 - $400,000
Again, we see appreciation in the 400SA market and a flat 500SF market.
Which brings up a good point. How accurate are price guide figures in the first place and which one is more accurate than the other? The answer, they're all just specualtion, as is this entire blog. Often, like real estate, they're based on the sale of comparable cars. The problem is that, in many cases, there are so few of these cars changing hands at any particular moment that there's nothing to base one's estimate on and, even when similar cars sell, there are so many factors that might have an effect on the price such as location (US? Europe?) and venue (auction, dealer or private?).
What's my point, then? Maybe this blog needs its own price guide, based purley on my speculation, as is everything else here!
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