Classic cars are no longer beautiful, rare, ancient, predominantly slow things driven by millionaires in caps.
Modern classics are between 10 and 30 years old, contemporary-looking, fast as hell, comfortable, and to many, almost indistinguishable from today's cars.
So, what makes a car like a Ferrari 575 Maranello manual a modern classic? The main clue is in the transmission. For decades, Ferrari produced cars sporting a famed, manual metal-gated shifter, which made a trademark, satisfying clack-clack noise as you changed gears, often slowly. These were phased out with the introduction of the 355 F1 in 1997, phased out further with the 575 Maranello in 2002 and the F430 in 2004, and disappeared completely in favour of paddleshifts on all Ferraris by 2009.
Paddleshifts are faster, more efficient, and better in every way - except they lack the feel of the manual "three pedal" cars (so called because paddleshift cars have two pedals, like an automatic). And there's the nub of the modern classic: cars made today may be faster, better and more efficient, but are they more fun or engaging? Drive some of today's supercars and it's like driving a videogame, an accusation you could never level at a 575 Maranello or a Porsche 996 Turbo, which have feel and soul - or so say their supporters, myself included.
As a result, the prices of the right modern classics are soaring. The 575 Manual is just one example; my 1997 550 Maranello and 1995 F512M have almost doubled in value in the past 12 months. All the while, classic 1960s Ferraris like a Daytona or 330 GT 2+2 has not risen in price at all (albeit from a higher level). Other cars like the Porsche Turbos from the 1990s and early 2000s are taking similar trajectories, as are original BMW M3s and M6s, older Mercedes AMGs, and even 1990s Honda NSXs. Cars derided as expensive to maintain and redundant a couple of years back are now investments. And they are also supercars.
By the time the Ferrari 575 was made, most were sold as F1s: only 69 manual right hand drive cars were made. I wanted one. There was one in Switzerland, ultra-low miles, being sold at a price that suggested the dealer hadn't cottoned on to their desirability factor yet - but I was beaten to it by a British dealer. One popped up in Ireland, but the miles were too high.
Another in London, but it looked tired. A beautiful black one in Lancashire but I was too late, it was sold as soon as it was advertised. Then, a dealer friend rang me. He had a client who might be interested in selling, off the market, at the right price.
Beautiful condition, UK right hand drive car meticulously serviced throughout its life, and a killer colour combination: Tour de France (midnight) blue with a gorgeous tan leather interior and desirable Daytona seats. The coup de grace was the Fiorano Handling Pack. This was a track-focused sporting handling package that contemporary reviews (and today's experts on the peerless Ferrarichat forum) said was essential. I had reviewed the 575 F1 paddleshift version with Fiorano when it was new, and had never driven one without.
I took it for a drive, loved it, had it checked out by the brilliant Andrew Gill at Joe Macari Ferrari in London - the man who had restored my Testarossa - and drove it home.
Five point seven five litres and 515 horsepower of V12 Ferrari engine, all engaged by my left hand and foot using a clutch pedal. Clank-clank - third gear and go! Clank-clank - fourth gear and cruise. Lean back in the Daytonas. The 575 felt at once completely modern - a 200mph supercar (EVO magazine clocked it at 202mph) with great aircon, refined power, and a fine stereo - and old-fashioned, with its manual shift and elegant, long-nosed looks. You sit far back in the car and guide it like a missile; indeed, it feels quite wrong not to be driving it to Cap Ferrat on the Cote d'Azur, enjoying every second.
And the killer question? I bought it for £160,000 - as a UK car, it's worth 35 per cent more than a similar left hand drive example. Just a few months later, it's officially valued at £200,000. But I'm not selling, even if you turn up on my doorstep.
Now it's time to bag what I just know is the next hot modern classic. Watch this space.
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