I've got a client who ownes a rare and very expensive car.  Years ago it was featured on the fronts of many of those care buff magazines and he won numerous car shows.  He has been my client for ten years now and I've only seen pictures of the thing because he keeps it in a giant wooden crate of sorts in his garage never taking it out.

Can you imagine that?  He never even touches it.  I prefer a top notch horse.  You can touch it, ride it, talk to it and you don't have to worry about it getting scratched.  

[quote=Greenhills]

I've got a client who ownes a rare and very expensive car.  Years ago it was featured on the fronts of many of those care buff magazines and he won numerous car shows.  He has been my client for ten years now and I've only seen pictures of the thing because he keeps it in a giant wooden crate of sorts in his garage never taking it out.

Can you imagine that?  He never even touches it.  I prefer a top notch horse.  You can touch it, ride it, talk to it and you don't have to worry about it getting scratched.  

[/quote]

My in-law buys rare Aston Martins which he rarely drives (approx 6-times a year).  He keeps them for a few years and sells them at a large profit.  He tells me that he is averaging over 20% a year in profits.  I would love to own a $250K car and call it an investment.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[quote=WealthManager][quote=Greenhills]

I've got a client who ownes a rare and very expensive car.  Years ago it was featured on the fronts of many of those care buff magazines and he won numerous car shows.  He has been my client for ten years now and I've only seen pictures of the thing because he keeps it in a giant wooden crate of sorts in his garage never taking it out.

Can you imagine that?  He never even touches it.  I prefer a top notch horse.  You can touch it, ride it, talk to it and you don't have to worry about it getting scratched.  

[/quote]

My in-law buys rare Aston Martins which he rarely drives (approx 6-times a year).  He keeps them for a few years and sells them at a large profit.  He tells me that he is averaging over 20% a year in profits.  I would love to own a $250K car and call it an investment.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[/quote]

Your client is playing with fire. Look at what happened to the Ferrari F50 market years ago. These fine cars topped out in the million dollar plus range. Then collapsed to less than half that. And then down from there. Exotic cars are truely risky business. Fun to own and drive, but never as an investment.

Today the big movers are muscle cars from the sixties and very early seventies. Hemi Cudas going for 2 million plus at auction, with run of the mill 350 Chevelles getting 50K plus. A recession will drop those prices in a heartbeat. And they will decline naturally over time. Classic car prices are linked generationally. My father wanted an early 30s Ford coupe in the worst way. It did nothing for me. I had a GTO convertible as a teenager and have a special place in my heart for 67 goat convertbles. I'm at the peak of my earning years, college for kids, retirement and other life obligations are behind me. I've got the 60k or so it will take to buy a GTO if I want to buy one. So do a lot of people and that's driving up prices. However, I won't buy one, at least not a super clean resto. Why? Because the Goat isn't even on the car love radar of the generation behind me. It's a nice car but it's not "It" like it is for my generation. Todays 20 and thrty somthings won't pay up for my dream car. So the car makes a lousy investment. Of course it's hard to believe that ten or fifteen years from now cars like the 85 Mustangs will be the top dollar getters. Man, we gotta talk.

Another observation about the car world. Notice the design trend of new cars? Wheels to the corners, high beltlines, big tires and wheels?  Do they look like anything you've seen before? Like maybe 30 years before? They do. They look like Hot Wheels toy cars. Why? Because today's designers were kids when Hot Wheels were, well, the hottest toy out there. Think obout it. Tell me a Chrysler 300 doesn't look like a Hot Wheels car.

[quote=doberman]

One of my "C" clients is auctioning his used car. It has low mileage and is in great shape. I told him if he gets me 5 referrals of $100k or more plus a free lunch at Dairy Queen, I would post the link on these boards.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn :newsml:reuters.com:20060821:MTFH99826_2006-08-21_22-27-09_N 21183734&type=comktNews&rpc=44

Note: Buying this car would net you twice the amount you paid for it in the free advertising you would receive from the media.

[/quote]

 It sounds like it might be a lemon Dobe. But keep your fingers crossed for those referrals....(ask him to throw in a blizzard too!)

Gee, nobody noticed that I mentioned this guy as one of my "C" clients?

Yeah, yeah, no one has ever accused me of being a comedian.

[quote=doberman]

Gee, nobody noticed that I mentioned this guy as one of my "C" clients?

Yeah, yeah, no one has ever accused me of being a comedian.

[/quote]

I heard he has all of his money with (2) local guys in Omaha.

One at Ed Jones, the other is at Ameriprise.

I heard the same Rugby. Also that he’s a big fan of EIAs’.<!–
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Dobe - I got it. I was there man. You're rollin Ron Carson style.

Speakin of THAT guy...nearly fell out of my chair at his coaching seminar rep & I got to go to (courtesy of Lord Abbett) when he said his account MINIMUM was $5 mil.

He talked about how he had hired his guy from comedy central that does presidential impersionations for a client appreciation event, and that "You JUST HAVE to hire him for your next event!" Rep leaned over and whispered...."on our budget we could afford to hire Jiggles the Clown!"

Carson recently had a big falling out with his partner (Feltz) and they went their separate ways.  Saw an ad for Feltz’s company this past weekend and it was fairly bland.

[quote=tjc45]Your client is playing with fire. Look at what happened to the Ferrari F50 market years ago. These fine cars topped out in the million dollar plus range. Then collapsed to less than half that. And then down from there. Exotic cars are truely risky business. Fun to own and drive, but never as an investment. [/quote]

I agree that it's risky business.  Fortunately $250K won’t make or break him.  What’s even better is that I get to go to car shows with him and meet a bunch of perspective clients.  I’ll be at http://www.radnorconcours.org/ next week.

--WM<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[quote=WealthManager]

[quote=tjc45]Your client is playing with fire. Look at what happened to the Ferrari F50 market years ago. These fine cars topped out in the million dollar plus range. Then collapsed to less than half that. And then down from there. Exotic cars are truely risky business. Fun to own and drive, but never as an investment. [/quote]

I agree that it's risky business.  Fortunately $250K won’t make or break him.  What’s even better is that I get to go to car shows with him and meet a bunch of perspective clients.  I’ll be at http://www.radnorconcours.org/ next week.

--WM<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[/quote]

Yeah, you can't play on that field with any worries about money. Good luck to both of you. Happy hunting at the show!