Always wanted to own a Ferrari? You could be a part owner of your dream car from just £20!

One thing that car fans all have in common is the desire to invest in “the next big thing’ just before it is “the next big thing”. We can’t count the number of cars we wished we had kept, but can no longer afford to buy!

However, new start-up, The Car Crowd, might just be the way for you to invest your money in a rare classic Ferrari or old-school hot hatch even if you don’t have the tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds it would take to buy, store and insure one.

The Nottinghamshire-based company allows investors to buy a real equity stake in a classic car, and with shares in some cars starting from just over £20 it’s affordable for petrolheads everywhere, as well as making an unusual birthday or Christmas gift for the car lover in your life.

“TheCarCrowd is set to stop the trend of classic cars being reserved just for the rich and famous and bring them back to petrolheads everywhere,” said David. “I grew up in the hot hatch era and like many guys my age, there were cars I always wanted but never got.  We know our solution won’t be for everyone and those who can afford to own the classic cars outright will usually seek to own the whole thing not just a share. However for those who want to get closer to their dream car or feel like they can pick the next car to skyrocket in value, we hope our solution provides something new and exciting.”

Classic cars have returned 245.8%^[i] return for investors between 2005 and 2018 according to the 2019 Coutts Passion Index, yet access to these returns has been reserved for those who could afford to purchase, store and insure the whole vehicle. Over the past decade, there has been a surge in demand for quality classic cars. As their numbers diminish year on year and with growing interest from new markets including China^[ii] and India, prices have continued to rise for the best classics.

Here’s how it works: TheCarCrowd sources a classic or prestige car for sale and using its criteria of age, condition, mileage and pedigree it ensures the car will make a great candidate for investment.  Users then register with TheCarCrowd, pass some FCA investor tests and unlock the full details of the investment offering. Each car on offer is its own limited company with just 1000 shares, and once fully funded the vehicle is owned outright by its shareholders. It will only be sold if the majority of shareholders agree, but part-owners can still post their shares for sale at any point using a bulletin board should they wish to release equity.

Once funded TheCarCrowd takes care of everything from transport of the vehicle to secure storage through to ongoing maintenance and insurance. Every investor is invited to view their vehicle at the UK based storage unit and experience their car at UK-based events and shows when they reopen.

The concept has attracted praise from some big names in the automotive world including our own CEO Andy Entwistle who explained “What I really love about this is, as petrolheads, we always think about what’s the next big thing.  What’s the car I can buy right now that’s going to be worth £1m in 10 years time? And we usually miss out on them.  TheCarCrowd allows us to have that play, I don’t have to invest £10,000, £20,000 or £50,000 in a car that might not go up, I can instead invest a few hundred pounds in a few different cars – it’s a lot less risk for me and I love that.”

The technology that underpins the innovative new platform is developed by Nebulogic, which bring a strong track record of delivering cloud-based digital first solutions meaning TheCarCrowd will be able to offer users a simple, fast; online application and fulfilment journey to purchase shares. 

TheCarCrowd will use the Goji platform to provide the investor onboarding, client money and asset registration processes which power the solution. Goji provides investment technology to the alternative investment sector. It runs across 32 platforms and has £400m of assets under administration.

David Genn, CEO at Goji said: “Goji is delighted to partner with innovative companies like the Car Crowd that give clients access to assets that are typically out of reach for most investors. By leveraging Goji’s platform technology, firms like the Car Crowd can rely on our technology-driven, regulatory and operational capabilities.  This gives investors a great user experience and allows them to focus on securing the best investment opportunities.”. 

“This is an innovative approach to classic car investment that allows the masses to enjoy access to cars they may not otherwise be able to afford, as well as helping them access an investment class with a track record of delivering strong returns” added David.

If you want to find out more about The Car Crowd and see some of the cars that you can invest in, head down to The Pop-Up Motor Show in Basingstoke, where David and the team will be showing off a selection of great cars and be on hand to chat about their ever growing portfolio of investment classics.