Hagerty launch a new Classic Index

Tony Lake spotted a news item from Hagerty saying they have created a series of indices that show the trends in classic car prices. The first of these indices, launched in December 2015, is the Hagerty Classic Index which monitors the values of 50 classic car models including the MGBGTV8 and Midget. What have been the trends so far in Q4 2015? Hagerty feel the UK classic car market has flattened-off since the Summer. The new Hagerty Classic Index (which tracks 50 popular classic car values including the MGBGTV8 and Midget) has shown a rise of just 2.8% in the three months to December 2015, down from 7.7% in the previous period. Some of this is seasonal - a dip is normal after the flurry of September auction sales - but we have seen a slow-down in the rise in value of cars that had previously been on a steep upward trajectory. How are Hagerty's prices calculated? More Posted: 151205 The UK Hagerty Price Guide for classic cars has been available for a while as a classic car valuation tool in the UK that is freely accessible. But monitoring well over 1,500 classic car model values is difficult, so Hagerty has created a series of indices that show trends, both in the market as a whole and in specific sectors. The first of these indices, launched in December 2015, is the Hagerty Classic Index. The Hagerty Classic Index monitors the values of 50 classic car models that were chosen to be representative of the enthusiasts’ market in the UK - only one model has an average value of over £100,000 and the vast majority are under £25,000. Hagerty say influential models were also chosen - for example those that have recently risen to prominence. Included in that group of 50 cars monitored by the guide are the MGBGTV8 and the MG Midget. The full list of models included in the Hagerty Classic Index is shown in a table on their website. Values for the Hagerty Classic Index are taken directly from the Hagerty Price Guide. Updated quarterly from a combination of auction results, private and dealer sales, plus insured values, Hagerty believe it is "the most comprehensive classic car valuation tool in the UK". But how good is the Hagerty Price Guide? How good is the Hagerty Price Guide? We ran tests for both chrome and rubber bumpered MGBGTV8s to see how the Hagerty prices for an MGBGTV8 compared with the V8 Register's MGV8 Price Guide updated in August 2015. In making that comparison it is worth noting the guide prices do not include the 2.8% rise Hagerty say they have seen in the Hagerty Classic Index in Q4 2015 since August 2015 when the V8 Register price guide was last updated. As the Hagerty Classic Index includes the MGBGTV8 it's interesting to see their comment on a photo of an MGBGTV8 in their Q4 2015 market report noting a "1974 MGBGTV8 saw a 0.8% rise in value" presumably over the period from Summer, so a lower increase than the 2.8% for the index as a whole. What does the comparison reveal? Well it is not that easy to judge because the definitions of the condition classes used by Hagerty differ from the condition classes used in the V8 Register's MGV8 price guide available on the V8 website. It seems Hagerty's Condition 1 "excellent and near concours" class is between our Condition 1 class and our indicative "exceptional and concours" price. The comparative analysis is interesting but Hagerty's view that prices have "flattened off since the Summer" is interesting although in many ways the market often cools when many classic cars go into a lay up period for Winter.

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