How’s your lockdown going? I’m going to assume you’re living in a region where you are indeed locked down because most of the world seems to be in the same boat. More accurately perhaps, we may be on the same voyage but the nature of your boat may vary. We may not even be on the same voyage come to think of it. Yes, the world is a disparate place at the best of times and although there’s lots of talk of us all “being in this together”, you know that only goes so far. At some point things will return to the equivalent of normal.
I’m quite enjoying my own lockdown, truth be told. We have a comfortable house and enough food to eat. From where I am sitting I can see and hear the birds flapping between the trees and generally making bird noises and doing bird stuff. One of the pigeons has become quite ambitious and has been gathering what I would assume to be nesting materials, but on a grand scale. He’s learned to violently dislodge branches as thick as my finger clean off the tree, and sometimes manages to fly off with them too. The sheer destructive force is quite impressive but it goes way beyond what is required to build a nest. I can only imagine he’s misread the scale on his plans. The pigeon isn’t affected by lockdown and continues with his business just as he has always done, with the exception of his current civil engineering project which is clearly unusual. But whatever’s going on in his pigeon head is probably pretty familiar to him. Or her. I’ve just realised I’ve assumed the pigeon’s gender which is probably deeply offensive. But I digress…
At the risk of sounding like a newly self-aware hipster, I ponder what the pigeon can teach us in these strange days. The pigeon can’t teach us anything of course, it’s a bird of indeterminate gender, but at least it is free to use what it collects which is more liberty than we have currently. I last filled the petrol tank of my daily driver six weeks ago. In the interim I’ve barely used an egg-cup full, because we’re taking the isolation rules seriously and working from home. The other cars in my modest fleet are all parked up for the duration. I’ve seen six weeks of glorious spring weather stream in through the window, but the interesting cars haven’t turned a wheel. With no events to go to and carefree travel off the menu, they’ve effectively become static ornaments with no value to be gained from their primary function. To all intents and purposes, they’re temporarily irrelevant.
It’s important to remember that what we are currently experiencing will be temporary. It’s the after effects that I am more curious about. There’s a load of blather about how people are refocussing and realising there is more to life than grinding away at a desk just so they can afford to live relatively near their desk. They proclaim that their eyes have been opened and this is the first day of the rest of their lives. No more commuting, no more rat race, no more squandering money just to Instagram yourself in the latest trendy bar, less time spent fixating on the accumulation of goods and more time spent with their families. If I’m being charitable I could say they are well meaning, but it’s more accurate to call such people delusional. A few weeks in your back garden doesn’t change your core values unless you are unbelievably shallow, and the unbelievably shallow won’t be ditching any of the above distractions any time soon. On the same subject of abandoning discretionary purchases, some people expect we will shortly see a significant correction in the classic car market. However, as much as I would like to imagine that all manner of fancy stuff will suddenly be available at bargain prices once the curtain is lifted, I just don’t think it’ll happen. I expect the virus effect may take the wind out of certain models that were never that good in the first place or those which survive in large numbers so cannot be considered particularly rare; but proper cars will still be worth a few quid. Annoyingly.
For all the people who feel the squeeze from disruption to employment, there will still be those who see that interest rates are as low as they’ve ever been and access to money remains cheap, assuming you have a bit to start with. Others will come to the conclusion that the right time to act is always now, and be eagerly waiting the advent of now as soon as the chains are released. If we enter a worldwide depression and 20% is knocked off the value of mainstream youngtimers such as the Porsche 964 or BMW E30 M3 I wouldn’t be too alarmed. A modest decline in demand may result but I don’t believe the virus alone will mean the end of days for the classic car trade. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket right now you can still buy a car. Auctions are still happening and respectable sale prices are being achieved, it’s just that business has moved online and this puts a different spin on things. Fortune favours the bold and there may be relative bargains to be had but it takes a certain confidence to buy blind. Perhaps the answer is to look at the sort of cars that are habitually bought sight-unseen, cars that are often bought as art rather than as a mode of transport. In other words, exactly the kind of car that is ideal for a lockdown purchase.
The above wordscramble (tenuously) explains my selection for this week’s Prime Find, our regular feature where we showcase an affordable classic that you really shouldn’t miss. If I apply a flexible approach to the term “affordable” and don’t make any assumptions as to how much cash you’ve amassed since the pubs have been closed, perhaps the time is right for a Lockdown Lambo? Listed in the forthcoming 27th May auction at Fontainebleau organised by Osenat is this 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S, impressive enough to be featured on the front page of their virtual catalogue. Bought new by Swiss industrialist Otto Wild, curiously referred to in the auction listing as being “a tasty man”, the Miura has been in the same ownership for 38 years, comes with a stack of documented history and can claim significant originality. The mileage of 54,550km is preferable in my eyes to one that’s never turned a wheel and the listing includes a few pictures of it taking part in various tours and jaunts. It’s lived a bit and that’s a good thing. Of course, it’s presented in fabulous condition and the lime green paintwork (for which there’s probably a proper Italian name but that’s what Google is for) really shows off the legendarily low and lithe lines. Here are a few pictures we have borrowed from the auction listing:
It’s lovely, and although it is admittedly out of my league, I hope it goes to someone who’ll actually drive it, and specifically not to anyone who shortens its family name to “Lambo” because that’s just knuckle-draggingly moronic. But can I justify it as a Prime Find? Well, given the normal rules of life don’t seem to apply at the moment, I think I can. In any case, there seems to be little point in showing you a car you could feasibly buy and drive around in, because non-essential journeys are not allowed anyway. If you’re not free to use what you collect you might as well collect something that has an alternative utility until you’re free to turn the ignition key again. Its estimated value is €700,000 to €1,000,000. My top tip is to cite the effects of the virus and offer them €100,000 for a quick sale. Let us know how you get on.
Here’s a link to the auction site: 1969 Lamborghini Miura S
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk