Fuel the passion. In young and old

With this 4th edition of our yearbook, we once again want to share our insights on the global classic cars market with collector colleagues, business partners, enthusiasts and those interested in these wonderful vehicles.

Under the leadership of our Editor-in-Chief, Antonio Ghini, this publication aims to offer much more than useful analysis. To understand this, you need to know the following about Antonio. As former Director of Communication and Brand Management at Ferrari, he played a major role in the development of its brand over a period of 20 years. During that time he made those wonderful Ferrari magazines that have obtained collector value today. So no wonder, he again wants to create at TCCT something unique with each of our issues. Well, see for yourself and do not hesitate to give us your opinion. We are grateful for any advice that will help us offer you once a year something very special with The Key.

The unique and great feature story in this issue is actually a book within the yearbook. The visionary car journey throughout the 21 century. A great as-yet-unwritten story, researched passionately by our team, beautifully told by Martina Mazzotta and artfully portrayed by our design team.

Pininfarina and Zagato are two outstanding design houses in automotive history. With chivalrous comparison we wanted to explore the DNA of the two design superstars and to contrast their masterpieces. They have designed some of the most celebrated automobiles to date and they have also created the new masterpieces for our initiative The Tomorrow of History: The classic car driving simulators Sportiva, Leggenda and Elio Z.

What moves a man to build a stunning world-class collection of automotive history and offer it to the public? Louwman. A man and his collection tells the memorable story of Evert Louwman,

Fritz Kaiser at Bernina Gran Turismo race in his Porsche 550 Spyder

who topped the ranking of the world's collectors in 2020. Read the portrait of a man who showcases the automobiles that played a central role in the industrial age and thus laid the foundations for our prosperity in Europe and who documents all this wonderfully in his museum for the public.

Arturo Keller is our Collector of the Year 2021

Arturo Keller has excelled in the ranking of the world’s top 100 collectors thanks to his continuous commitment to improving his collection and also to the conquest of the prestigious “Best of Show” at Pebble Beach. It is also very interesting to observe how, in just four years, the passionate historian Miles Collier, the generous Fred Simeone who donated his collection to the Foundation that bears his name to guarantee its future and Evert Louwman with his cultured vision of the automobile, have made their way to the very top of the ranking. Meanwhile, other collectors are fast approaching this list, which proofs that interest in classic cars is genuine and profound.

Our Market Cockpit works for the future

The Key 2021 offers also some deeply significant data thanks to constant market intelligence that TCCT is delighted to share. First and foremost, the results of a survey carried out on a representative sample of young people – aged between 15 and 21 – residing in three major poles of the world economy: United States, Western Europe and Asia with interviews in China, Japan and South Korea. The results are enlightening and demolish the stereotype that paints the new generations as uninterested in or even hostile towards the car. On the contrary, they both want and love cars, they are fascinated by classic cars and believe in a balanced transition towards a environmentally friendly future without the need for drastic solutions and without condemning the internal combustion engine. It is also nice to have the confirmation that video games bring children – all the interviewees were male – closer to the world of cars and motorsport.

In the same section of the Cockpit, we have also published a useful analysis of the market trends for classic cars, based on our methodical analysis of the results from international auctions. The various charts and comments certainly point towards a bright future after the uncertainties of the pandemic. Finally, a stimulus for the heritage of Museums that far too often lay dormant, burdened by the policies of tradition. Never before like in this moment of change could the multitude of magnificent museums across the world be transformed into powerful marketing tools to reignite our passion for the automobile. We will do our part to usher in this change.

The Fourth Dimension of Classic Car Experience

In the 2020 issue of The Key, we informed you that we had looked into the topic of "classic cars go eSports" and we showed there our first prototypes. Well, we like to walk the talk and so in the last year we improved the products based on market surveys, developed new features, completed intensive functionality testing, achieved European CE certification and started production.

Now we are ready to go and we have launched eClassic in Italy and Switzerland during September 2021. Our first eClassic Club members will be able to experience something exciting new with family and friends in their Swiss or Italian collector's garage before Christmas.

However, the first proud owner of a Pininfarina Leggenda is a German collector. He won the battle at the RM Sotheby’s Auction in September in St Moritz with his bid of € 175.000 for the No 1 of the limited collector's edition of only 9 units, which we created to celebrate Pininfarina's 90th anniversary. The Leggenda was one of the three most successful lots at that St Moritz auction.

Pininfarina and Zagato eClassic Editions are high-quality classic car simulators that allow you to realistically drive the most important classic cars from the comfort of your living room, so to speak. This could be a Ferrari F40, the Porsche RSR, the Lamborghini Miura and others on legendary tracks such as Monza, Nürburgring or the Bernina mountain track. Whenever you want. Alone or with friends. As a driving pleasure, training or in a virtual race. Many of the wonderful old cars we love can nowadays be used only too rarely. And young people can usually only dream of driving them. Who can try out an icon like the Ferrari 250 GTO, which costs tens of millions? Now you can.

With eClassic, we hope to additionally fuel the passion for these cars among young and old. With new technologies and innovative programs. With our eClassic program we aim to complement the real world of classic cars in a fascinating way and to playfully inspire the new generation.

In the end, eClassic should be much more than having great fun with a classic car simulator from the designer. We call this the Fourth Dimension of Classic Car Experience with eDriving, eRacing and our own eAcademy. In this context we are creating an international community of classic car collectors and enthusiasts, linked both in real life and virtually through our digital platform in the eClassic Club. Read more about his in this issue.

Tokenizing classic cars

What if aficionados, young or old, could buy even a small share in a classic car? Or if collectors could put parts of their collection on the market to generate liquidity and increase the value of their treasured automobiles? Or if a previously inaccessible asset class could be opened up to new investors? Perhaps the market for classic cars could benefit from this kind of disruptive restructuring to the advantage of collectors and investors, meaning that the value of historic cars from the 20th century can be maintained and increased for future generations. A truly enticing idea. And NFTs could be the key.

Our mission at TCCT is to address fundamental questions surrounding the future of classic automobiles. In September 2021, we invited to another TCCT Leader Forum in St Moritz to discuss the topic of tokenizing classic cars with a group of expert personalities. You can read the report of that discussion in this issue. I remain personally interested in this topic and we will continue to closely follow the developments around NFTs and evaluate for ourselves whether TCCT should launch an initiative here.

The future of classic cars

The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles hosted a panel discussion during the Pebble Beach Week 2021 with some prominent American collectors on "The Future of Collecting" and invited TCCT to co-host and me to moderate the discussion. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend due to the Covid travel restrictions imposed by the US on Europeans. However, we have a summary of the view of our American friends with my commentary on it in this issue. The future of collecting plays a central role in the search for answers to the more fundamental question about the future of classic cars. Talking about trying to understand the future I do remember a conversation years ago with Prof Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School on the subject of responsible investing. His conclusion was that "the business of prediction is very difficult". Well, we know it is. However, we want to understand what paths will lead us to a good future and what initiatives will promote sustainability for what is important to us.

Today we all know and have to accept that the big ecology and mobility trends are bringing fundamental changes faster and faster and that the car industry is currently reinventing itself. In times like these, we experience disruptions and it is no wonder that some people are afraid of the future. But let us not forget that every medal has 2 sides - risks and opportunities. We are optimistic that a positive future exists. We just need to see and develop it.

For me the generation change today represents the biggest driver that will determine the future. That's why we have to fire the passion for classic cars with new ideas and contemporary initiatives among younger people.

We are the Classic Car Trust and we want to help to support this direction with useful market information, inspiring stories and initiatives which also excite younger people. Of course we are only one star in the firmament for this movement but we are more than happy to collaborate with others and support them to promote this path.

Fritz Kaiser

Founder of TCCT and the eClassic Club fritz.kaiser@tcct.com