"In 2008 classic cars was just another hobbyists market. In 2010, after the financial crash, prices of classic cars started to rise . . . and rise. In 2014, even the mainstream media was picking up on the phenomenon and citing ‘crazy’ car prices. Since then, things have cooled in the classic car market and the media is announcing everything from a slow down to a meltdown. Like any ‘gold rush’ the rise in classic car prices drew non-enthusiasts who wanted financial returns – and many of them had large wallets. While many spent their pounds on high-value cars, the mid and even lower tiers were affected as everyone tried to get involved with the budgets they had.

But even in a growing market, expertise goes a long way and many inexperienced buyers spent over the odds for things that classic car old-hands would have warned against. Still prices continued to rise. Inevitably, the overheating bubble began to deflate as many of the stalwarts predicted, and many prices declined, but the classic car cognoscenti weren’t in mourning as the ‘adjustment’ signalled a return to sanity and being enthusiast-driven, not investment-driven. Interview