We visit Modern Classic Collective – one of the newest classic car traders in Cape Town, to admire the dealership’s stock and chat with one of its co-founders.
IMAGES: Wilhelm Lutjeharms
As the industrial shutter door to Modern Classic Collective opens, I enter the world of one of the latest classic and modern-classic car traders in Cape Town. To my left is a Lamborghini Diablo – which is not for sale. Even without the characteristic rear wing (or perhaps, because of that), it is a sight to behold.
Along the walls, all neatly reverse-parked are a variety of other tantalising sights. There is a 2015 Porsche Boxster S and a 2006 Porsche Cayman S, as well as a 1980 Corvette C3 T-Top.
Further along the back wall is an adventure-ready air-cooled 1973 Porsche 911 T and a 2014 Mercedes-Benz G-Class – a G350d. There is also a Porsche 911 3.0 SC, a Jaguar E-Type and a neat yellow 2000 Ferrari 360 F1 with a beautiful blue interior. Indeed, a great variety of cars!
Dave Blackman is one of the business’ 2 co-founders. He sits down with me to talk about their approach.
“We decided a few things upfront. We don’t want to do storage, because then you are married to a place. We thought it best to rather get relatively small premises where we can focus on current stock and ‘marry’ each new car we receive with a new owner. There are enough storage places around so we can direct our clients to those companies, and that freedom allows us to focus on sales.
“We are in the position where we can buy most cars ourselves before we put them up for sale. With my network, Brad’s (the main business owner) contacts and my work ethic, we believe we can achieve a lot and we think this space works perfectly for us.
“Brad has been involved in the muscle car scene for some time and is embedded in the Porsche market as well. I’ve also been in the industry for a number of years. Because of Brad’s contacts, we’ve found new homes for 15 Porsches since we opened our doors at the start of this year.”
“When we first get a car in, the first step is to have a technical inspection done. We’ll then look at the report to understand the condition of the car. We then price the car according to this report. Ideally, we prefer to buy the car, do the necessary recommission work and then list it for sale.”
As is the case with nearly all classic and modern-classic specialists I’ve spoken to, Dave and his team try to not export any cars. There are exceptions, however.
“In some cases, there is a stronger demand overseas for a specific car, an example being a Shamrock Cobra. There is a guy in the Netherlands who is buying many pre-2000 run-of-the-mill units, and then, of course, they leave our shores. Sometimes these things are not in our control. A client could buy a left-hand drive Porsche and then later export it…
“Sometimes there will be limited interest in a certain model, like our Ferrari 360 F1 at the moment, but a lot of interest is coming from Australia, which is also a right-hand drive market. There seems to be little interest in the standard F430 and 360 Modena models. The 360 F1 we are selling has a Tubi exhaust system and 360 Challenge Stradale gearbox software. I honestly think it is a good buy.”
Dave and I further discuss the 360 Modena and the pros and cons of owning such a vehicle. At this price bracket (just under R1.3 million), it does present a great level of modern classic performance and design. The only drawback would be running costs compared to other modern classics in this price bracket.
Modern Classic Collective intends to offer a greater variety of cars: “For example, we’ve done a couple of SUVs and we are quite specific about what we stock, as we want to offer the right car at the right price.
“We are also working with a company that can provide finance for cars older than 10 years. The result is that a buyer could apply for finance on a car such as a Ferrari 360 Modena and even a Jaguar E-Type.”
“We also own most of the cars. The benefit of that is that our co-founder and I can drive these cars, test them and identify issues they might have. Then we try to rectify these problems before someone comes to view the car or we add it to the list of things to be done before the new owner takes delivery of it.”
Give the Modern Classic Collective a follow on Instagram or visit their website for more information.
