SA classic car market on world map after rare barn find

Louis Coetzer Lost Barn Find Collection before auction | image supplied

Joff van Reenen, director and lead auctioneer of Creative Rides in Johannesburg, says the company's recent debut online-only auction of the Louis Coetzer Estate Barkly East barn find collection has highlighted the international market momentum gained by four years of hybrid live-stream auctions began in 2020, which has unequivocally brought SA classics onto the global stage.

"For decades the local collector car market operated in isolation because we're so geographically distant from the major markets in the northern hemisphere," he says.

Van Reenen says in the month leading up to the April auction and for its duration, the main countries from which traffic on the Creative Rides app originated were:

1. South Africa;
2. United States;
3. United Kingdom;
4. Netherlands;
5. Indonesia;
6. Australia;
7. Germany;
8. Canada;
9. France;
10. All SADC countries;
11. India;
12. Iran;
13. Saudi Arabia;
14. Greece;
15. Italy;
16. Sweden; and
17. Russia.

Creative Rides CEO Kevin Derrick says this inaugural online-only auction was the third chapter of the Louis Coetzer Estate collection that the company had taken to market.

"We were astounded by the response from the international market. We knew local buyers would be immensely attracted to these lost barn finds from such an iconic collector, but the level of global interest exceeded our expectations.

According to Straits Research, the online car buying market size is projected to reach $722bn by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 12%.

Van Reenen says collector cars are often the very high-value end of this market.

"It's therefore necessary for us to get South African classic cars onto the international stage, and the way to do that is through technology."