Restomods Outpacing Supercars_ Here's Why Collectors Are Obsessed

Why collectors are spending millions on Restamunt builds. Most people will believe that with 1 million dollars you would be purchasing a new supercar like a Ferrari or Lamborghini among many of the other top hyper cars money can buy. However what many of the richest car collectors around the world are doing today is spending several million dollars buying 30 to 40 plus year old cars that they are not restoring but instead they are completely rebuilding the car from the ground up. Cars that just a few years ago were sitting in someone's garage or sold for very little have now become such valuable cars that people will wait many years to own that vehicle. The question is why would someone want to spend several million dollars to purchase a car that has already been manufactured and sold. The answer is that it has nothing to do with the car itself. It has everything to do with something far greater than the value of the car. Something you as the average person will not even notice. Once you learn this secret you will never look at these pieces of machinery the same ever again. Section 1 the shift. Where's the issue when the world's elite all own the same or very similar limited edition Italian supercars in London or Los Angeles. The newness wears off quickly and they become commodities versus being sought after as prized possessions. This path from impeccable engineering has produced a weird type of boredom with regard to driving vehicles. The engine sound is modified by sound specialists while the steering response slash feel is modified using technology via computers. Technology has altered the soul of these vehicles. In an attempt to build the fastest vehicle possible along with generating the lowest possible emissions automobile manufacturers have inadvertently removed the passion from the experience of driving a vehicle. A brand new Ferrari is something that an individual with many material possessions would consider to be merely a high-tech appliance and hence does not represent a trophy value. A sense of certainty exists about the car so there is no longer uncertainty involved and as such in the ultra luxury realm there is nothing worse than certainty. Collectors began to notice that even though manufacturers were producing cars with a high degree of mechanical precision those cars lacked the relationship with their owners in the same way as older cars had. As an example the presence of gasoline on the body of the car, the smell of oil and the overall experience of driving could not be duplicated by the newer cars. As a result of their desire for character of the past and performance on the same level as the future collectors were in search of a type of vehicle that was not yet available in the marketplace. They desired a vehicle that would provide the same sense of life that their older cars had provided but at the same time they would also prefer to have a higher level of performance than that provided by the older cars. Traditional manufacturers of automobiles were too large and too established in the marketplace to manufacture a car that met the aforementioned criteria. It has become apparent that someone else needs to enter the automobile market to redefine what an automobile means and therefore redefine what expensive means. Section 2 the rise of the unattainable. This transformation of the automotive industry has created a new realm of collectibles. The ultra limited Restomod. Companies such as Singer Vehicle Design and Alphaholics not only restore old cars they also produce an entirely different investment class. In times past you could spend money to obtain the finest automobiles however now the cost of entry is simply an income. The real currency in this marketplace though is access. For instance when purchasing a modern-day reimagined Porsche automobile you are not only paying for the car's carbon fiber chassis or its hand-stitched leather interior. You are also paying for access to a select group of people who own them. These companies rarely produce more than 50 cars each year and sometimes they build even fewer than that. This limited supply gives these vehicles an emotional connection with buyers. No mass-produced Ferrari will ever give you the same level of emotional connection as a Restomod unique from all others. A manufacturer who produces 10,000 units of a supercar has produced a product whereas one that produces an individual car by hand having utilized 4,000 hours does produce an artifact. The waiting lists are a big reason why there's a growing demand for Restomods among wealthy collectors. There are collectors who would be happy to wait three, four or even five years until they can get their new custom-built vehicle. The long wait time is not considered a deterrent. In fact it signifies prestige and success because it means that the buyer has the patience to wait, has a vision of how great the end product will be and has the ability to purchase a unique one-off build. These buyers now expect to be a part of the process of building their custom vehicle and they are willing to wait. In a world where everything moves at lightning speed, collecting a vehicle that can't be built any faster than its current pace is the ultimate luxury. However, once the sticker prices of these custom builds began to reach millions of dollars, the way in which buyers evaluated their builds began to change. Buyers began to evaluate how the build would look when they was behind the wheel rather than how it would look on a seller's sales sheet slash sales brochure. Section three, identity not transportation. When you purchase a typical new sports car, you get to choose things like paint color, wheel type and how the interior is made from a list of options approved by the dealer or car manufacturer when you order your vehicle. You may spend a considerable amount of money on the car. However, at the end of the day, you'll be driving the design and vision of the manufacturer and not your own vision. With a $1 million Restamod motor vehicle, the roles of the manufacturer and the owner are reversed. You now have a blank canvas and the owner is now the artist. When building or commissioning a Restamod vehicle to a customer's specifications, personalization is an understatement. A customer who is commissioning a restoration of their vehicle will not only select the colors of their choice, but will have input on every mechanical and aesthetic aspect, such as the type of carbon fiber weave and or whether interior cushions will be firm, medium or soft. Building a Restamod is an intimate collaboration between the builder or manufacturer and the customer, which can take several years to complete. For that reason, owners of Restamod cars are considered to have the best taste in automobiles. In other words, while anybody can buy a fast car, it takes a specific type of person with an interest and appreciation for historical significance, as well as design and how to build a car correctly in order to build or commission a Restamod. For the collector, their automobile goes beyond just a means of transportation. It becomes an extension of who they are as individuals. When they arrive to attend an event, show or a private gathering, rather than coming as a representative of an organization's badge, they come to show off their ability to perceive fine details. They display an understanding of how to interpret the nuances of different eras of automotive production and how they can be melded with today's technology to create a unique vehicle to their own exact specifications. In essence, the collector's automobile is comparable to a custom-made, tailored suit from Savile Row. A suit like this has only one owner, and as such, the bond between an owner and their vehicle is far greater than that created by any mass-produced vehicle. However, in addition to pride in ownership developed through fine materials, leather, custom paint, etc., there is something far more significant inflating these multimillion-dollar sticker prices, something that even the most sophisticated of modern technological process have long since lost. Section four, the real value, time, craft, and analog soul. The final question you need to ask yourself about a vehicle is simple. How is there any vehicle that can be priced at one million dollars? The common answer to this question is not in some flashy brochure or some amazing top speed. Rather, it lies within the hours of assembly required to build a car or supercar, the elephant in the room, as those of you who own an expensive vehicle know. To assemble most cars manufactured today, namely supercars, the average car manufacturer spends 60 to 100 man-hours per vehicle, excluding direct labor, overhead, food, rent, etc. On the other hand, if you try to build an historic, reimagined vehicle using builders like Singer or Alphaholics, it is 4,000 plus man-hours of manufacturing time and labor from your typical, average, everyday person building a car or an exceptionally expensive modified car, as in the case of the Singer DLS. That's 4,000 plus man-hours spent building a car that is made by hand or nearly entirely manufactured with hand tools. The promise made, a car you can put your hands on. A company that manufactures cars in any type of corporate setting could never ever complete their task of building a car with such the amount of detail. Building a supercar takes an unbelievable amount of time and effort. Take, for example, the Singer DLS. You're not simply looking at a modified Porsche. You are looking at a car where everything, every bolt, washer and nut has been optimized and or re-engineered. Its body panels are all made from military-grade carbon fiber. When fully assembled, the engine can go from a block to essentially producing well over 9,000 revolutions per minute. What gives these vehicles the heart of the cars is that they lack what many will have within five years. Many of these vehicles do not have digital displays that may go out of date in five years. Many do not have fake engine sounds or numb steering. Many of these cars offer an industrious, visceral and passionate driving experience. A feeling that has been removed from the modern automotive world. Car collectors are investing millions of dollars into cars because they see the writing on the wall for the automotive industry. The next generation of automotive innovation will most likely be electric, silent and autonomous, which are not the attributes that make driving enjoyable. Car collectors are purchasing a return to a time when car driving was an art form, not a chore. Ultimately, these vehicles are more than just playgrounds for the wealthy. These vehicles are a protest against today's sterile perfection. They signify the reality that the most valuable aspects of life are not the ones created in seconds by machines, but the ones created by humans in thousands of hours of unyielding and passionate work. And while you can buy a faster car, you will never own one with a Conclusion, the future of the icon. With the automotive industry slowly moving towards electrification and total automation, these million dollar builds continue to not only grow in terms of price, but also have become increasingly important. They have become the last bastion of the internal combustion engine and the pure mechanical bond between a driver and the road. For the collectors that are investing millions in these vehicles, this is not a gamble on a car. Instead, it is an investment in a feeling that society is progressively moving away from. It represents a belief that as technology continues to advance, the value of a human touch will continue to rise. As a result, in a future where every car is completely quiet and every drive is absolutely perfect, it will be the loudest, most imperfect machines that will be the ones we cherish the most. I really hope you've enjoyed spending some time discovering the many facets of high-end, one-of-a-kind, customized Restamods. If you had to spend a million dollars on one car, would you choose the very latest and fastest production supercar on the showroom floor? Or take the chance to wait five years for a fully custom-built, bespoke icon? Please leave your comments below. For more documentaries on the engineering, the history and the passion that has gone into the creation of some of the most well-known machines in history, don't forget to hit subscribe and turn on your notifications. This is the best way to support the channel and make sure you do not miss the next documentary. Thanks for tuning in and I'll see you in the next one.