Techno Classica in Essen
“Return to rationality” – classic car market calms down
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Almost 900,000 classic cars are registered in Germany. But many rarely see daylight. And so the models, which are more than 30 years old, only have an average mileage of just over 1000 kilometers. Lovers of the old models are now making a pilgrimage to NRW again.
Highly polished classic cars for several million euros and former bread-and-butter cars with personal souvenir value for less than 10,000 euros – Techno Classica, one of the world's most important classic car fairs, has opened in Essen. More than 2,700 classic cars will be on display until Sunday – from top models such as the former Rolls-Royce of the Dutch royal family to the Golf 1 from the 1970s with a 70 hp petrol engine.
Owners of cars that are older than 30 years can apply for registration as classic cars with an H license plate. There are around 870,000 cars with H license plates on the road nationwide, said Ekkehard Pott from the Federal Association of Classic Cars and Youngtimers Deuvet. An estimated 100,000 vehicles changed hands every year.
Six or even seven-figure top prices for rare Ferraris, Porsches or Mercedes vehicles, for example, are absolute “outliers,” emphasized Pott. The average value of the vehicles in the association is between 12,500 and 14,000 euros. For the normal classic and classic car buyer, other points counted – such as memories of vehicles from their youth and a good supply of spare parts.
Overall, the classic car market has calmed down, noted the well-known valuation company “Classic-Analytics” from Bochum. “Stability has returned to the collectors market and the results show a less speculative nature.” Average annual markups have fallen to 10 percent from 15 percent last year, indicating a “return to rationality.”
Many classic cars rarely see daylight, and when they do, it is mainly on rain-free summer days: According to association spokesman Pott, the average mileage of vehicles in Deuvet is 1,100 to 1,300 kilometers per year.
