Veteran cars skyrocketing in value

Škoda 100, photo: alofok, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0

Veteran cars are becoming increasingly rare at online auctions in the Czech Republic, the website e15 reports. The country’s largest online auction website, Aukro, only sold some 299 veteran cars this year, compared to twice as many last year, and three times as many in 2017.

Škoda 100,  photo: alofok,  Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The main factor behind the drop in auction numbers are the skyrocketing prices of classic cars in the Czech Republic, Aukro’s representative Pavel Krejčíř told e15.

“Veteran cars have become increasingly rare on the market, because they are either kept by collectors or they are simply not available,” he told the website.

The value of classic cars sold at Aukro last year was 11 million crowns, while this year, it is only around seven million crowns.

Another reason is that Czech car collectors prefer a face-to-face transaction, says František Čečil, chairman of the Association of Veteran Car Clubs in the Czech Republic.

Among the most popular veterans cars in the Czech Republic are the Škoda 100 and Škoda 110 models, produced in Czechoslovakia between 1969 and 1977, according to data provided by the country’s Central Registry of Vehicles. At the moment, there still are around 50,000 of these cars on Czech roads.

The Škoda 100 and 110 were the first Škoda cars whose production numbers breached the one million units mark. Ultimately the Czechoslovak car producer produced five million of these vehicles by the time production ceased in 1977.

The price of these renovated models ranges around CZK 200,000. Even pricier is the iconic Škoda 110 R sports coupé produced from 1970 to 1980, which is sold for twice the amount. The price of the legendary Škoda 130 RS, which caused a sensation in 1977 with the class win at the Monte Carlo Rally, is over one million crowns.

According to the British Knight Frank's Luxury Investment Index, which tracks the performance luxury investments, the value of veteran cars has increased by 190 percent over the past decade.