COMPANY PROFILE: Modern Classic Collective in Cape Town

We visit Modern Classic Collective, the latest classic (including "youngtimers") car trader in Cape Town, to admire at their stock and talk to one of its co-founders. 

Words and photos: Wilhelm Lutjeharms

As the industrial shutter door opens, I enter the world of the latest classic and modern classic car trader in Cape Town. I’m greeted on my left by a beautiful and rare Lamborghini Diablo – which is not for sale. Even without (and perhaps, because of that) the rear wing of other Diablo models, it is a sight to behold. 

Along the walls, all neatly reverse-parked are a number of other tantalising sights. There is a 2015 Porsche Boxster S and a 2006 Cayman S as well as a 1980 Corvette C3 T-Top. Further along the back wall is an adventure-ready air-cooled 1973 Porsche 911 T and a 2014 Mercedes-Benz G350d. There is also a Porsche 911 3.0 SC, a Jaguar E-Type and a neat yellow 2000 Ferrari 360 F1 with a beautiful blue interior. Indeed, a great variety of cars!

Dave Blackman is one of the two co-founders of this business and sits down with me to talk about their approach. 

“We decided a few things up front. We don’t want to do storage, because then you are married to a place. We thought it best to rather get a relatively small premises where we can focus on current stock and "marry" each new car we receive with a new owner. There are enough storage places around so we can direct our clients to those companies, and that freedom allows us to focus on sales.

“We are in the position where we can buy most cars ourselves before we put them up for sale. With my network, Brad’s (the main business owner) contacts and my work ethic, we believe we can achieve a lot and we think this space works perfectly for us. Brad has been involved in the muscle car scene for some time, and is embedded in the Porsche market as well. I’ve also been in the industry for a number of years. Because of Brad’s contacts, we’ve found new homes for 15 Porsches since we opened our doors at the start of this year.”

“When we first get a car in, the first step is to have a technical inspection done. We’ll then look at the report to understand the condition of the car. We then price the car according to this report. Ideally, we prefer to buy the car, do the necessary recommission work and then list it for sale.”

As is the case with nearly all classic and modern classic specialists I’ve spoken to, Dave and his team try to not export any cars. There are exceptions, however. “In some cases, there is a stronger demand overseas for a specific car, an example being a Shamrock Cobra. There is a guy in the Netherlands who is buying many pre-2000 run-of-the-mill units, and then, of course, they do leave our shores. Sometimes these things are not in our control. A client could buy a left-hand drive Porsche and then later export it.

“Sometimes there will be limited interest in a certain model, like our Ferrari 360 F1 at the moment, but a lot of interest is coming from Australia, which is also a right-hand drive market. There seems to be little interest currently in the market for the standard F430 and 360 Modena models. The 360 F1 we are selling has a Tubi exhaust system and 360 Challenge Stradale software in the gearbox. I honestly think it is a good buy.”

Dave and I further discuss the Ferrari 360 Modena and the pro's and con's of owning such a vehicle. At this price bracket of just under R1.3 million, it does present a great level of modern classic performance and design. The only drawback would be running costs compared to other modern classics in this price bracket.

“We want to diversify and offer a variety of cars to potential buyers. For example, we’ve done a couple of SUVs and we are quite specific about what we stock, as we want to offer the right car at the right price. We are also working with a company that can provide finance for a car that is older than 10 years. The result is that a buyer could apply for finance on a car such as the Ferrari 360 Modena and even the Jaguar E-Type.”

“We also own most of the cars. The benefit of that is that our co-founder and myself are able to drive these cars, test them and pick up any issues there might be. Then we try to rectify these problems before someone comes to view the car or we add it to the list of things to be done before the new owner takes delivery of the car.”

Give Modern Classic Collective a follow on Instagram or visit their website for stock updates and more information.