McLaren P1: The first car that will NEVER depreciate?

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Will the McLaren P1 – McLaren’s almost £1 million hybrid hypercar – be the first production car never to depreciate in value at any point?

It would be easy to think, if you look at the huge prices older Ferraris and others fetch, that buying a limited run ‘special’ car will be an instant road to riches. And tax free riches at that.

But the truth is that even cars that command big prices have, at some point, fallen out of favour and depreciated.

Take the two ‘biggies’ – the Ferrari 250 GTO and the McLaren F1 – as an example.

When McLaren built its 64 road-going F1s, it didn’t stop making them because they’d reached the limit they’d set as a limited run car, they stopped building them because they couldn’t sell them. At a list price of £640,000, the world was short of buyers with pockets deep enough, and the last few F1s were sold off at not much more than half price. Now they’re worth up to £8 million.

It’s the same with the Ferrari 250 GTO.

When new, in the early 1960s, it cost around £10k, but by the end of the 1960s you could pick up a battered and abused one for just a few grand. Now, you’re looking at somewhere the wrong side of £25 million.

So there’s pain before gain even with cars that are now the most sought after in the world, but Magnitude Finance reckon that the McLaren P1 – just 375 being built and all long sold – is so special it will be the first car in history never to loose a penny in value.

Tim Marlow from Magnitude said:

It’s quite staggering to think the P1’s value will only ever appreciate – that’s a first.

Even recent hypercars like the Ferrari Enzo dipped below list price at certain points before bouncing back into strong positive equity.

But we don’t expect this to ever be the case with the P1, evidence of which can be seen by our P1 clients refusing an overnight £400,000 profit.

This clearly demonstrates they think it will follow in the footsteps of the McLaren F1 and in time be worth millions of pounds.

Tim may be right, although only time will tell, but the real reason to buy the P1 should be to enjoy it, not to stick in a climate-controlled showroom to wait for it to appreciate.

But if it does appreciate whilst you’re having fun, that’s a huge bonus.

Related Photos: McLaren F1

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