I felt this message was highly appropriate for Christmas as it is one of love, care and financial stability.
So you never considered the Christmas message to be one of financial stability? Surely that must be because you never gifted anyone a classic car. I did. Several, in fact.
While it should be pretty obvious that such an act would always be one of love and care, the thing about the finances is much less well known. But it has rarely failed for me that the initial outlay for the gift was just about equal to what the car could (and would eventually) be sold for several months or years later.
Usually this is not really an important factor with a gift, but when it comes to classic cars which I’ve bought as Christmas gifts, it is of some significance: Firstly the initial outlay for a complete and running classic car can be quite substantial, and secondarily I was myself the recipient of said gifts.
Before anyone starts complaining about selfishness, please consider: Who would ever actually gift you a classic car besides yourself (and then show this little article to your wife, deleting this exact sentance)? I’ve wished for this to happen several times but even my parents never did, so I came to the conclusion I clearly had to do it myself. And to cut a long story short, this has subsequently done a huge amount of good for the world and myself – and has harmed absolutely no one. In fact, it is not even illegal. In that sense, it is perhaps even the purest of Christmas messages, just (and this is the incredible part) much cheaper.
Think about it: What is the resale value today of all the gifts you gave away last year? I reckon the very best of them might still be worth 70% of their purchase price, while the worst are already trashed by now, as they broke by summer and were forgotten even before that. It’s obviously not what you want to see when you gift someone a present, just as it’s not what the recipient wants either, nor is not what the world needs.
Gift a classic car, and everyone will be happy for years to come – even your financial adviser (although you should note that bankers will in fact not understand any of this before you actually sell the car again). Add to that how you will in the process become a wiser, fitter and generally more pleasant person, and will (because of the car, not those advantages just mentioned) also gain new friends and opportunities, and it should really be clear to everyone that a classic car is just about the ideal gift for the modern man or woman.
But (unless you are extremely well married or have really super great friends) you might have to start by gifting yourself a classic car, just as I did. In fact you might have to continue gifting yourself cars, just as I did. Eventually I’d expect others to chime in, although this has unfortunately still not happened for me. Will it be this year? I’ll let you know.
