For Classic Car enthusiasts the main exhibit in the entrance hall of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in Pall Mall, London is the Crosslé 5S 1964, made by the Northern Irish Crosslé Car Company founded in 1957 and illustrated in the picture above.
What a better backdrop than the RAC to introduce Tertre Rouge Assets Plc (TRA), which is a London Stock exchange-listed company that includes investment in rare and exceptional classic cars. The Board of TRA includes Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Allan McNish, with André Ahrlé as the TRA Chief Executive.
The Formula One stars Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard have teamed up with a pair of entrepreneurs to launch a stock market business that allows the public to invest in ultra-rare classic cars.
The duo, along with the Le Mans endurance-race winner Allan McNish, have joined the board of a start-up that on a £50 million fundraising – The TRA offering is attracting a great deal of interest in the popular press including The Sunday Times article (sign-up or a subscription may be required) and the Mail on Sunday article.
Tertre Rouge Assets — named after a famous bend at Le Mans — has secured six rare cars for £30 million, including a 1963 Jaguar E Type Lightweight, a 1960 Formula 1 Ferrari and a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, to start the business.
The rest of the £50 million will be spent on buying other car-related cash generating businesses, starting with the supercar events company The Run To, which organises luxury driving rallies to the Monaco Grand Prix for wealthy petrolheads.
The idea was thought up by Tertre Rouge chairman Steven Schapera, a wealthy cosmetics entrepreneur, and chief executive André Ahrlé, a racing driver turned classic car investor, after the pair successfully co-invested in buying and selling classic motorbikes and cars.
The TRA group is targeting 15 per cent annual returns from their portfolio, on cash generating activities, such as by renting out the vehicles for photoshoots, as well as by potentially selling the cars on, at a profit.
The Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index for the second quarter of this year shows that classic cars outperformed art, jewellery and handbags over a ten-year period, with a return of 118 per cent against 109 per cent, 39 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.
For further information and also on how to get involved, please see: https://shadow-cp.com/
(Source: TRA / Sunday Times / Mail on Sunday)