If you bought a Pagani Zonda supercar way back in 1999, you would have paid the handsome sum of $325000. If you sold it now, a good 20 years later you could get well over $3000000, quite a return on the investment.
Indeed, some cars can become investments, but it isn’t easy to predict, if you bought a Maserati back in the 90s it would be worth precisely nothing now. So, if you going to sink money into a car as an investment, go for exotics made in limited numbers, a Pagani Huayra Roadster BC for instance.
Only around 30 examples are made a year, and every single one is a rolling work of art. If you make a lot of money and love spending it on cars, here’s how to get one.
Cut A Check
As obvious as it may seem, the exclusivity of hypercars in this sort of price bracket is often mind-boggling. In some cases, cars will only be offered to existing clients, making it very hard to own even if you can afford it.
At least the latest Pagani doesn’t make it that hard for all the dreamers out there, entrusting the sales to a host of different companies including exotic car dealers in the USA. It is still fantastically expensive, and it isn’t like these dealers will have a list of vehicles in stock, especially if you want specific options like most people would want for their dream car.
Options that would drive the absurd $3.4 million figure up even higher, but if you are filthy rich and decide you don’t need that penthouse apartment anymore since you working from home at your beach house, then you can write that check once it sells.
Find $40000 A Month
In a bizarre sort of twist, there are ways you will be able to lease the car. You will however need to put as much as $1 million down, more than the total cost of a luxury yacht.
After that, you will need to find around $40000 a month in payments and still have to deal with a residual payment of over $1 million once the 60-month term comes to an end. There are also going to be a host of other complications in a deal like this, considering the very real tendency for Pagani’s to increase in value as they get older because of their limited production numbers, aging more like art than a vehicle.
This means most exotic car dealers will reserve the right to sell you the car outright at the end of the lease term. In turn, forcing buyers to decide whether they will be willing to shell out even more money to match the current value or just opt to get another car!
Predicted Value
To get an idea of just how much these cars appreciate in value, we can look at a Pagani Zonda C12 S that is in pristine shape (as pretty much all these cars are garage queens).
In 2002 the owner bought it new for $350000, now a good 18 years later the car is valued a whopping $4.5 million. Oh, and don’t bother offering him that amount, he just turned somebody down who was willing and able to pay that. That is correct, the 18-year-old Zonda that isn’t even officially regarded as a classic car is worth over $1 million more than the brand new, significantly more advanced Huayra.
This is not an isolated case, even Pagani himself just paid $4.5 million for a car he built and sold for less than half that. A car that is now sitting pretty in his personal museum.
Summary
There are very few things in this world that can match a Pagani in terms of exclusivity and desirability. It is truly a rolling art exhibition.
Keeping these coveted works seems to equate to something more closely related to a custodianship than actual ownership, it truly begs the question if this will be more of a burden than a dream to own? Performance cars should be driven, not just looked at, they should find a balance between form and function for it they are not a source of joy then what is the point anyway?
Just imagine taking your $4 million Huayra out on the track, getting one of the corners wrong, and binning it. Not only ruining your bank balance with the repairs but also pretty much destroying the potential return of investment down the line. These cars are wonderful to look at, but this kind of car loses its sense of purpose, becoming an extension of hubris rather than a sports car.