QNUPS drives wealth up the high road

Classic cars can help canny investors scale the road to riches, new index tracking prices have revealed

Some investors may turn their nose up at vehicles as an investment option, pointing to cars as being no more than a garish status symbol. Indeed, the world’s most famous investor Mr Warren Buffet once chose to pass up the opportunity of buying a fleet of classic motors for a sum of $1 million.

However, in this instance Buffet was proved to have acted in error, as mere years later just a handful of cars from the whole collection were sold off for $69 million.

Expat investors who have transferred their pension into a QNUPS (qualifying non-UK pension scheme) should pay extra attention as they can utilise the tax-effective investment wrappers that allow for taxable properties just like classic cars.

Investors who have their retirement funds in a standard UK pensions may find that they are penalised for investing into these ‘taxable property’, an umbrella term that includes such as cars, wine, art and antiques.

Luckily for expats, this does not apply to QNUPS pension transfers.

Recently, the Historic Automobiles Group Index (HAGI), revealed that the market size trades at an incredible £1 billion a year against a market size of £10 – £12 billion.

Only 50 types of classic cars are tracked by HAGI, and to qualify there must be no more than 1,000 vehicles manufactured in the vehicle range, also they must be worth no less than £100,000 per vehicle and have an established presence amongst the collector community.

HAGI have been monitoring sales data for over 30 years to compile index.

Some of the cars most desired amongst collectors and investors include- Aston Martin DB5, worth £10,000 in 1980 but now worth over £300,000, a Ferrari Dino 246GT originally sold for £9,000 in 1980 but now goes for £150,000m  and the mighty Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, originally prices £25,000 in 1980 but now commanding a price of £500,000.

News.