Getting a Great Ride From Your Investments
By JENNIFER KAIN DEFOE
Any financial planner anywhere will tell you how important a diversified portfolio is to ensure long-term gains. Until recently, the Dow was seemingly on a constant upswing, making stocks more tempting than ever. But triple-digit daily losses and dot-com busts do happen and will certainly happen again. To what extent, no one can say.
As certain as death and taxes are stock market fluctuations. And really, how much fun is it to hold a piece of paper that says you own shares in some blue chip company? It’s not pretty, it’s not shiny and you certainly can’t climb into it and tool around Cape Cod. Not as you can with a well-chosen vintage auto. Not only can you be the envy of all your friends and feel the breeze running through your hopefully not-too-thinning hair as you drive, a vintage car more often than not maintains a steady track record of double-digit annual increases in value over time.
If there’s any doubt of the allure of classic cars, you need only make a quick trip to take in the stunning collection of 44 flawless specimens on display at Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich. Originally the brainchild of J.K. Lilly, the collection is considered one of the finest in the country and continues to attract a rising number of visitors each year.
As a museum, Heritage does not necessarily keep up to date on resale value, according to Assistant Curator Steve Hatch. Heritage Museums does not sell the automobiles, so current market price is not a consideration, but when a survey of the finest cars in the world was released in 1984, 13 of the 15 autos on the list could be, and still can be, found here. You need only glance at the glistening yellow and green 1931 Duesenberg that originally belonged to film star Gary Cooper to be absolutely awed at the marvels, and marvelous value, of vintage autos. According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, “it is not uncommon today for a Duesenberg in good condition to sell for over $1 million dollars, and a few sell for a multi-million price.”
Other standouts in the Heritage Museums and Gardens collection include a 1909 presidential limousine used by President Taft and a 1915 Stutz. The presidential limo is a so-called “one of one,” says Hatch, meaning there is only one known example in the world. “There are lots of pictures of Taft in the limo,” he adds. “A lot of people say it’s why America got hooked on cars.”
There are a handful of bona fide private or semi-private collectors in the area, too, meaning multiple cars and a massive passion for the hobby. We spoke with Bill Putnam, whose 50-plus car collection is also available for public viewing at his Toad Hollow Museum in Hyannis, and Ron Sears, who comes from generations of “car people” and continues the tradition with his private collection.
Putnam likes his cars of the English and red variety. If it’s not red when he buys, it quickly becomes red. Ask anyone, even Putnam himself, and they’ll tell you that this is not a good idea when it comes to resale value, but Putnam is in it for the fun of it. He has a passion for his collection, and it just so happens he’s able to make a little money from it. Much of the value of his collection comes from quantity. Rather than buying just a couple of cars in the high five- or low six-figure range, many of his autos were purchased for $10,000 or $20,000 and have easily doubled in value in fewer than 10 years.
Strolling through the antique barn with row after row of shiny red cars all lined up in perfect symmetry, Putnam is able to fire off some impressive figures from the top of his head. A 1955 Austin Healey 100-4 purchased for $25,000 eight years ago he now estimates would sell for around $50,000, about a 13 percent increase per year—certainly a better return than any CD or money market account. Another notable is the Jaguar XKE with a similar pricing history. With a touch of awe in voice, Putnam refers to this Jag as “the prettiest car ever made.” Who ever looked at a stock certificate and said it was the prettiest anything? Putnam estimates that his 1958 MCA Coupe has recently tripled in value because of its rarity and a 1964 Porsche 356 bought for $15,000 five years ago would now net at least $25,000, perhaps $30,000.
It is fun to walk through the rows of cars at Toad Hollow in Hyannis and just look at the collection. The real fun is that Putnam actually drives many of the cars, enjoying joy rides on the Cape. Ron Sears, owner of Nantucket Auto Sales, also sees the joy in collecting. He likes that you “can see what you’ve got” when it comes to cars. And he likes the control. “You have no control over stocks and bonds,” he says.
Sears’s passion is a lifelong one. His family owned Sears Auto Sales on Route 6A in Sandwich, so he grew up immersed in the world of autos. He says the family “always had English cars around” when he was growing up. Now he “buys and sells selectively, always trying to improve what” he’s got.
One of his most impressive holdings is the 1967 Mulliner/Park Ward Rolls Royce Limited coupe. He purchased the car at a show in Hershey, Penn., the largest antique car event in the world, he says, about four years ago. He says this model would be worth between $40,000 and $45,000, without the “celebrity value.” The celebrity value of this particular auto? It was purchased new by none other than Sonny and Cher. And Sears has the original bill of sale to prove it. He also says that said celebrity value is fickle, “France not so much, Pebble Beach where they’re from, much more.” Because of the Rolls’s origin, it is difficult to put a current price on it. It’s also nearly impossible to put a price on another star of Sears’s collection, an Allard Palm Beach Mk 2, because of its rarity. He may not know its current value, but Sears seems pretty confident that he’s making money on his holding.
Unlike buying a stock, vulnerable to market conditions and corporate fraud, the value of vintage autos is in the vintage…they’ve already been produced, there’s only so many and that number will only go down. The price is certainly subject to market factors, such as the current craze for the muscle cars of the ’60s and ’70s, which is pushing prices through the roof, but there will be no earnings warnings and no unexpected flooding of the market—just a shiny ride out in the garage that you can actually take for a spin.
If there’s any doubt of the allure of classic cars, you need only make a quick trip to take in the stunning collection of 44 flawless specimens on display at Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich. Originally the brainchild of J.K. Lilly, the collection is considered one of the finest in the country and continues to attract a rising number of visitors each year.
in perfect symmetry, Putnam is able to fire off some impressive figures from the top of his head. A 1955 Austin Healey 100-4 purchased for $25,000 eight years ago he now estimates would sell for around $50,000, about a 13 percent increase per year—certainly a better return than any CD or money market account. Another notable is the Jaguar XKE with a similar pricing history. With a touch of awe in voice, Putnam refers to this Jag as “the prettiest car ever made.” Who ever looked at a stock certificate and said it was the prettiest anything? Putnam estimates that his 1958 MCA Coupe has recently tripled in value because of its rarity and a 1964 Porsche 356 bought for $15,000 five years ago would now net at least $25,000, perhaps $30,000. 
One of his most impressive holdings is the 1967 Mulliner/Park Ward Rolls Royce Limited coupe. He purchased the car at a show in Hershey, Penn., the largest antique car event in the world, he says, about four years ago. He says this model would be worth between $40,000 and $45,000, without the “celebrity value.” The celebrity value of this particular auto? It was purchased new by none other than Sonny and Cher. And Sears has the original bill of sale to prove it. He also says that said celebrity value is fickle, “France not so much, Pebble Beach where they’re from, much more.” Because of the Rolls’s origin, it is difficult to put a current price on it. It’s also nearly impossible to put a price on another star of Sears’s collection, an Allard Palm Beach Mk 2, because of its rarity. He may not know its current value, but Sears seems pretty confident that he’s making money on his holding.