Here is our mid-year update on the classic car market in 2021: What has gone on since the pandemic shutdown" Are collectors still in quarantine, or is attendance returning to normal" Have buyers entered into any new market segments" Below are three trends, in particular, we think deserve our attention, some of which may surprise you!

#1: Web-Based Formats

Instead of slowing, the Collector Car Market surged during the pandemic.  

In the early spring of 2020, as the COVID shutdown began, all indications were that the collector car market would collapse. And in some ways, it did. By mid-March, almost every ?live? event across the globe was postponed (and eventually outright canceled). Auctions, rallies, and car shows were wiped off the calendar, and the gloom was felt everywhere.
Parallel with this, hobbyists who had the means found themselves with extra cash as other expenses, such as travel, were curtailed. As an alternative to the stock market, many collectors put their money where they?ve always put it: into special-interest vehicles. Supply and demand were such that prices actually rose! Collectors and investors, sensing a trend, came back to the hobby throughout the second half of 2020 and into 2021.

Meanwhile, old-school auction houses saw live events prohibited and turned to a web-based sales format out of necessity, modifying their presentations with better photos and online condition reports. Internet bidding proved to be as (or even ...