Collector Car Investment Fund Announced

By Will Silk
Speculative interest in using vintage cars as a means of investment have been in use for decades, but recently a new, more organized approach, has been unveiled by IGA Automobile. 
Headed by Ray Bellm, the former president of Grand Prix Racewear and himself a racer having won the BPR GT Championship in a Gulf McLaren F1 GTR, the IGA Automobile LP Fund aims to purchase the highest quality collector cars on the planet ranging from the likes of Ferrari 250 GTOs and Aston Martin DB4GTs, to vintage Formula One and race machinery such as the Ferrari 312B and the Ford GT40. 
The Fund’s objective is to procure a number of high echelon collector cars and sell them for capital gain over the course of the next few years.  Those who have the required initial investment will be able to take advantage of a team of knowledgeable collector car professionals and be secure in knowing that these professionals, with their experience in the collector car market, will do their best to steer the fund to victory despite the apexes that an uncertain global economy may present.
Ray Bellm, Chairman of IGA Management Limited, commented to Sports Car Digest, “The fund will concentrate on the iconic end of the classic car spectrum, looking at Ferrari 250 GTO and Comp SWBs to Aston Martin DB4 GTs and McLaren F1s. We anticipate that our average purchase price will be $3-4 million USD.”
In addition to offering participation in an emerging asset class to its investors, the collector car investment fund will offer members the opportunity to partake in an exclusive events program that will center upon the Fund’s portfolio of assets. For obvious reasons, investors won’t be allowed to race the fund’s Blower Bentley at the Goodwood Revival, but they will be in the thick of the action when the same car is displayed at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and at proper vintage events the world over.
“The fund assets will be actively managed, meaning these cars will not sit static in a museum while owned by the fund. If invited, the cars will make the run up Goodwood hill, participate in the finest Concours worldwide, while being properly cared for and exercised by the finest mechanics,” explains Bellm.
Paul Lanzante has been appointed Technical Director of the collector car investment fund, and very appropriately so, as Paul started out at the age of 15 working as a mechanic and eventually rose to work for the Tyrrell Formula 1 team, crewing Patrick Depailler’s car.  Paul also has worked for Maranello Concessionaires in the past, and now provides technical services for a number of collector car clients.
Drummer Nick Mason of Pink Floyd fame has come onboard in the role of advisor which will see the veteran racer and car collector offer advice to Fund members.  Nick’s experience in motorsports covers a wide range since he began his career in racing in 1973, and over the years he has participated at the Le Mans 24 Hours race no less than five times.  As President of the Guild of Motoring Writers, Nick is regularly featured in Octane Magazine, as well as the official Ferrari factory magazine.
Also named to the advisory board is the man that designed the McLaren F1 GTR, Mr. Gordon Murray, who will offer a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Fund.  Now the CEO and Technical Director of Gordon Murray Design Consultancy, Murray made his name first with Brabham, and later McLaren where the South African native designed the McLaren MP 4/4 in 1988 which won 15 of that year’s 16 grand prix races and helped Ayrton Senna and Honda take the championship.
Provided the IGA Automobile investment fund stands by their word and agrees not to lock away the prestigious cars they aim to collect, their likelihood of success seems imminent in that one of the only markets that has seen appreciated growth in the last 30 years is that of the high-end collector car segment.  Cars like the immortal Ferrari 250 GTO have held very steady in the recent malaise, and the likelihood of them beginning to tumble anytime soon is not likely.  It seems logical with single unit prices soaring north of $20 million U.S. dollars that this concept of buying upper-end collector cars is possibly one of the best ways to go about preserving these iconic automotive masterpieces for future generations.
The IGA Automobile fund is only available to non-U.S. residents at press time, although plans are in place to develop a separate U.S. fund based upon the same principles.
For more information, visit www.igafunds.com. (Not available to US-based servers).
[Source: IGA Automobile; photo credit: Tim Scott / Fluid Images]