How To Buy Classic Cars

Three of the savviest car collectors in the business give their advice on investing with confidence in vintage and exotic cars.

- Daniel Bentley

JAY LENO NEARLY DIDN’T BUY his McLaren F1, a 627horsepower hypercar that held the title of world’s fastest production car for more than a decade. It turned out to be a sterling investment. “I was the second owner. It was for sale at McLaren, and it was close to a million dollars new. They were asking $800,000 (Rs 5 crore at current rates), and I thought, ‘Well, that’s crazy. It should be worth a lot less than that.’ But I came back two weeks later, and I bought it.”

Twenty years later, his concerns about the price are a distant memory. The last offer Leno received for the car was $12 million. Of course, he’s never selling.

Not all car buyers are going to realise such returns. Most are lucky to sell a car for half of what they paid for it. But there’s real money to be made in this most thrilling of asset classes.

To help you avoid some key mistakes, Fortune spoke with Leno, host of Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC; Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. CEO and chairman Craig Jackson; and Bradley Farrell, CEO of the Finest Automobile Auctions. Their advice:

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