Looking for a passion asset? New investment platform touts stakes in classic cars

From art to watches, wine, and whiskey, passion assets are nothing new, although Autobahn Alpha is preparing to offer investors a slice of the high-end classic car market without shelling out a seven-figure sum.

“We’re an investment platform allowing accredited investors to take fractional ownership in investment-grade classic cars,” Glenn Harwood, Autobahn Alpha’s founder and managing partner, told InvestmentNews. “This falls into the category of alternative assets or passion assets.”

 “I think there's a place in portfolios, whether it's for an individual or a family office, to have some exposure to alternatives,” he added. “Art's the big one that people tend to think of first, but you've got cars, watches, whiskies, wines, or racehorses.”

Certainly, classic cars are big business. The global classic car market was valued at $39.7 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $77.8 billion by 2032, according to Credence Research.

Autobahn Alpha, which was launched earlier this year, will unveil its first Special Purpose Vehicle before the end of 2026, according to Harwood. This, he explained, will offer investors a fractional ownership in an extremely rare Ferrari.

“Once the offering's ready to go, we'll release all the details, but the minimum investment will be from $10,000,” he said.

The SPV will be focused on a 2002 Ferrari 550 Barchetta open top roadster, only 448 of which were made, according to Harwood. “It comes with racing helmets,” he added, noting that the car is in Europe. “This first Ferrari we've acquired in Europe and it's going to be stored for the next 5 years until it's sold in Europe.”

The Autobahn Alpha CEO did not divulge the value of the limited edition 550 Barchetta, but he noted that two of the cars were recently sold at the Monterey Auction for collector’s cars in California - one for $1.2 million and the other for $1.6 million.

“What we're offering is an investment product first and foremost, so it is about maximizing return on investment,” he said. “Returns aren't correlated to the S&P 500. Whatever's going on in the Strait of Hormuz doesn't affect the second-hand price of 25-year-old Ferraris - it's a good hedge and a good diversification for a portfolio.”

A Ferrari, of course, is a different animal to a typical used car. The average used Ferrari sells for $435,075, according to data from CarGurus, a whopping 1,413.46% higher than the typical pre-owned car. As of Monday, CarGurus said that Ferrari prices have improved by 2.27% over the past month and are trending positively, whereas overall used car prices have declined by 1.11%.

While Autobahn Alpha is offering investors partial ownership of a classic car, there are many owners out there who love to actually drive their high-end vehicles. To this point, Harwood counters that his investment platform lets investors get involved in the classic car market without the high capital costs involved in outright ownership. “That's what we're able to offer people, as well as without the heartache of having to do maintenance, insurance, annual servicing, storage, all of these things,” he said.

As for the actual thrill of driving these cars, Autobahn Alpha will offer owners an annual “drive day.” For cars purchased in Europe, these drive days will take place in Europe, whereas cars purchased in America will have drive days on this side of the Atlantic. “Depending on the mileage of the car, if the car's done under 5,000 miles, it won't be driven,” he said. “But if it's slightly higher miles, an extra 100 miles on the odometer is not changing its value.”

And will future classic purchases be in the U.S.?  “We're looking, you know, we're already working on the next car after this one that we're going to bring to market,” said Harwood. “And we're geographic agnostic wherever the opportunity is, but we're primarily focused on Europe and the States.”