High-end cars are beloved trophies for collectors and for wealthy consumers. These cars are frequently the daily driver. Many collector cars and luxury cars will not ever be driven more than a few thousand miles a year and you never see them out in the rain. The top luxury car brands are hard to compare against each other because there are many which target different audiences.

Luxury cars in August 2021 had several exciting events for collectors and investors to take notice of. Will these events affect the future enough to remove Ferrari from the top positions of car collecting? Perhaps the highest praise of Ferrari is the understanding that they dominate auctions like Mecum and others, with car sales routinely seeing multi-million prices.

Luxury car markers like Aston Martin and Lamborghini want their share of the luxury car market, and not just for car collectors who are attending auctions. Several issues were being seen in luxury cars all at once.

On August 12, 2021, Aston Martin Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll announced on a CNBC interview that “all the risk is behind us” as a company. On August 16th Lamborghini unveiled a hybrid classic with a familiar name at Monterey car week in California. Ferrari sees three of the top ten sales at the August 12 – August 16 Monterey Car Week.

Aston Martin’s executive chairman has added $1 billion to the company over the prior year and a half.  He exclaims that all the risk is behind them in the company and that they are on track to hit their numbers this year of 6,000 plus units. The company Aston Martin in the announcement made known that they have a road map to reach 10,000 units in the next three in a half to four years by 2025.

The sales are led by the Aston Martin DBX which is the brand’s SUV model. The chairman goes on to give the SUV credit for matching and eclipsing its sports car sales. Without considering the endless customization, the Aston Martin Palm Beach site shows prices basically from $150,000 to over $300,000.

The Lamborghini Countach was an iconic car since it was first unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1971. On the heels of the Monterey car auction, Lamborghini unveiled its new $2.6 million 2022 Countach. The car has not been produced since 1990 and it was reported by CNN that only 112 cars will be produced in its first year back.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means collectibles, including vehicles that cost hundreds of thousands or over $1 million, are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds. Collectors have a passion to own a collectible for years, but investors own these cars just to make a profit in the future.

Monterey Auction results for the August 12 – 16th show had familiar winners. The 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari was the big winner selling for $3,410,000. Is it fair to ask if the changes from Aston Martin and the Lamborghini Countach hybrid can flip the car show scripts ahead? Ferrari had 3 of the top ten sales listed below in lowest to highest order:

• #7 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso Berlinetta Scaglietti sold for $1,760,000
• #6 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast sold for $1,875,000
• #1 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari sold for $3,410,000

Ford’s Shelby Cobra also had its days with multiple top-10 sales from Mecum. In fairness, that probably deserves more than an honorable mention.

Something else which will deserve more than an honorable mention is the coming trends of hybrids and electric vehicles. This has not been the focus of the top performance luxury vehicles targeted by collectors and investors, but it is a trend in cars that is only growing and is becoming the largest theme in all auto sales.

The future has not been set for luxury car collectors, but these events in August are a steroid shot in a year dominated by COVID. The luxury industry news was able to be interpreted and exist free of 2020 headlines towards a normalcy of industry giants like Aston Martin and Lamborghini making stronger moves for the future.