The Veyron: Has the Market Got This One Wrong?

I think the Bugatti Veyron might be one of the most undervalued important cars of the last 25 years.

Which sounds ridiculous when you're talking about a car worth well into seven figures. But look at what it is, what it achieved, how few were made and what has happened to the values of the cars around it, and I think there is a genuine argument that the market still hasn't caught up.

There are cars you buy to drive. There are cars you buy simply because you love them. And then there are cars you buy because you think everyone else is eventually going to realise just how significant they are.

For me, the Veyron is increasingly in that third category.

Twenty years ago, Bugatti built a 1,001bhp, quad-turbocharged, sixteen-cylinder road car capable of more than 250mph. Today those figures almost need context because we’ve become so accustomed to 1,000bhp hypercars. In 2005, they were absurd.

The Veyron wasn’t another supercar. It was Ferdinand Piëch and the Volkswagen Group effectively deciding that the normal rules didn’t apply.

The brief was outrageous. It had to have 1,000 horsepower. It had to exceed 400km/h. It had to be four-wheel drive. It had to be luxurious enough to cross Europe in. And it had to be civilised enough that its owner could drive it through Monaco without it overheating, throwing a tantrum or requiring a mechanic in the passenger seat.

That combination is what made the Veyron remarkable.

There had been more dramatic cars and arguably more engaging cars. The McLaren F1 was purer. The Ferrari Enzo was more visceral. But neither attempted what Bugatti did.

The Veyron effectively created the modern hypercar. And yet, look at where values have gone elsewhere.

The McLaren F1 has disappeared into another universe. Enzos have risen enormously. Carrera GTs have moved dramatically. Even cars considerably younger than the Veyron are now being treated as serious collector pieces.

The Veyron, by comparison, has spent years being held back by one fairly obvious problem.

They are bloody expensive things to own.

There’s no getting around it. The numbers associated with servicing, tyres and maintaining a Veyron can be frightening. It’s one of the reasons values have historically looked surprisingly low relative to the original price and significance of the car.

But that becomes a rather different equation when you’re looking at one as a collectible rather than something you intend to put thousands of miles a year on.

And that is exactly why this particular car caught our attention.

Not just any Veyron

The Car Crowd spent considerable time looking at the Veyron market before buying this car for the Supercar Driver Modern Classics Collection.

There are 16.4s, Grand Sports, Super Sports, Vitesses and countless special specifications, and the difference between buying a Veyron and buying the right Veyron is enormous.

This is a Grand Sport. Only 58 were built.

That immediately puts it into a different category from the standard coupé, but it’s the history of this particular example that makes it really interesting.

Finished White over Black, it wears effectively the specification in which the Grand Sport was originally presented. It has the optional sports seats, piano-black air intakes and those extraordinary factory Pur Sang chrome wheels. It has also covered just 3,700 miles.

More importantly, this wasn't simply a customer car ordered in an attractive specification.

It was the first Grand Sport displayed by Bugatti, appearing on the company's stand at the Geneva Motor Show. It was subsequently UK delivered before heading to Monaco and spending much of its life in Europe.

So you have one of 58 cars, tiny mileage, a great specification and genuine Bugatti provenance.

That matters.

The investment case

This is where collective ownership starts to make a lot of sense.

The reality is that very few people can own a Veyron, and even among those who can, plenty probably wouldn't want the responsibility that comes with one.

The purchase price is only the beginning. Storage, insurance, servicing, tyres and the potential for some fairly frightening bills are all part of Veyron ownership.

But owning a share in one is a very different proposition.

You get exposure to a car that we believe is still undervalued and the opportunity to benefit from any potential upside in its value, without having to store it, insure it, maintain it or write the cheques when it needs servicing.

In this case, the car also comes with a service package through Furlonger, making the maintenance position far more of a known quantity.

And importantly, the car is being held in bond.

That means it remains globally liquid when the time eventually comes to sell, rather than being unnecessarily tied to the UK market. With something as rare and internationally desirable as a Veyron Grand Sport, the eventual buyer could be in London, Monaco, Dubai, America or anywhere else in the world.

For me, that's a significant part of the appeal.

You can have an interest in an exceptional example of an important car and participate in any potential appreciation, without taking on everything that normally makes Veyron ownership quite so daunting.

And the timing is interesting.

The Veyron is now over 20 years old. Its place in automotive history is beyond much debate and, for an entire generation, it was the poster car. That generation is now becoming the collector market.

Would I want the responsibility of owning and maintaining a Veyron myself? Probably not.

Would I want a share in one of the best Grand Sports we could find, with 3,700 miles, exceptional provenance and the opportunity to benefit if the market continues to recognise what these cars are?

Absolutely.

That is really what the Supercar Driver Modern Classics Collection with TheCarCrowd is about. Finding important cars where we believe there is still potential upside, then making it possible to own them collectively without all the baggage that normally comes with ownership.

For cornerstone investors, there is also the opportunity to see and experience the car in Monte Carlo – a pretty fitting place to get properly acquainted with a Veyron Grand Sport.

Find out more and invest with TheCarCrowd: https://thecarcrowd.uk/syndicates/

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