Blog – New Year Mutterings

Another year gone and what a year it was. Somehow in 2020, amidst a global pandemic, we thankfully managed to have our busiest year to date with a record 159 classic and performance car sales. The classic car market is well and truly alive, and the clientele keep getting younger and younger.

We had the joy and privilege of having some seriously special cars pass through the doors of Deane Motors in 2020 – from limited edition AMG Mercedes, M power BMWs, Ferraris, Bentleys and, lest we forget, Porsches. In fact, we sold an incredible 43 Porsches last year – all the way from 60’s 911s to our undeniable favourite, the Porsche Cayman S.

As you know, however, it’s not just big-ticket cars that we sell. A special mention to our super low mileage 1988 (2500 mile) one owner Fiesta, our beautifully restored Saab 99 Turbo, a pair of 205 and 309 GTI Peugeots and a handful of sturdy Volvos to name but a few. The beauty of the classic car scene is that you don’t have to spend big bucks to enjoy this passion. Some of our favourite cars are not the most expensive ones, but the ones that have the best stories attached.

It was also the year that we finally got our merchandise shop up and running at deanemotors.ie. We really enjoyed sourcing the very best products and will have lots of new lines and updates throughout 2021.

We’re already a month into 2021 and have had a great start to the year, despite the overwhelming confusion as a result of Brexit. As you may know, the cost of importing cars from the U.K. has dramatically increased, and we now have to pay 10% import duties on the OMSP (open market selling price) plus additional vat of 21% on all classics imported from the U.K. The only cars that do not incur import duties of 10% are cars originally built in the U.K. e.g. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Rover, MG etc

Thankfully, demand is as high as ever but, at this moment in time, it’s getting harder and harder to source and supply quality classics. Some classics, including modern day classics like E46 BMW M3s, are literally getting more expensive by the day, whereas some 80’s Ferraris like the 328 or Testarossa have become stagnated due to so many cars being released into the market. It’s a dangerous game buying classics as pure investments. As I tell all customers, buy something that you really like, and if the car goes up in value it’s only a bonus.

The current market has showed some slight softening in the €100k plus bracket but the bottom end of the market has strengthened by the day. A new wave of collectors and enthusiasts have hit the market and late 80s early 90s cars are in vogue right now. My advice to any customer is to buy the very best you can afford. The restoration of a car can sometimes outweigh the value, so choose wisely.

We can only hope that restrictions ease up soon as we have loads of plans for the Deane Motors fleet this year. Our Rover P5B will be getting some major work in the form of an engine and gearbox rebuild. The original units have never rebuilt so it’s exciting to get her fresh and ready for next season.

The Alpina will be going for some well-deserved suspension and brake set up as we plan on traveling to the Alpina factory in Germany this year with the old girl.The S70 AMG will hopefully be tagging along for this trip as we have been invited to the AMG factory this summer. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to do a video on these cars as we hit the Autobahn!

The Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet will hopefully get some use this summer. Recently fitted with a freshly upgraded sound system and a major engine out service, this is the car the wife, kids and myself will use the most this summer. It’s such a fantastic car to drive and a bonus that the whole family can enjoy it!

The Lambo has no serious plans except to sit pretty until the weather gets better. That car literally terrifies me every time I push it on in the damp! Summer can’t come soon enough for some special cars and coffee events that we will be hopefully hosting with our friends @3fe.

The M Coupe is an awesome car but might be leaving the fleet (I know, I know!)  as I always seem to find myself in something else. Only time will tell.

The GMC shop truck on the other hand won’t be going anywhere! It literally puts a smile on my face every time I drive it and turns heads everywhere we go. It’s a keeper!

Lastly, our little Fiesta ST race car (we kept that one quiet!) will hopefully hit the track this year. After some testing early in 2020, it’s off getting an engine rebuild so she will be in flying form…as long as I don’t crash on the first corner!

With Covid halting so many of our plans in 2020, hopefully 2021 will be kinder as we are making plans for the inaugural Deane Motors Road Trip! We will hopefully be releasing full details very soon but, in a nutshell, we’ll spend two nights in some of Ireland’s nicest hotels while driving in some awesome cars on some of Ireland’s best roads.

Elsewhere, we have been inundated with requests to start our own monthly podcast about the Irish classic car scene as well some general car chat, so expect to see an announcement on our social channels in the coming weeks! We’re looking forward to getting behind the mic with some special guests from the car scene at home and abroad. I’m very excited about this one.

Finally, it would be remiss of me to not mention that we have only two available spaces left this year for restoration projects this year! Each year we take on 6 projects for customers and, with a huge resurgence in trade, we are nearly fully booked for this year already. We have some beautiful Volvos, Porsches and BMWs that will be ongoing this year so follow our progress online for some tasty updates.

So, stay safe, keep those car batteries charged and #getoutanddrive – well, within your 5km, anyway 😉

Simon Deane