Hagerty's Supercar Index Rose 14% in a Quarter and 45% in a Year

Hagerty published its quarterly price guide index update on October 22. Of the 11 indexes it tracks, six posted a gain, two lost ground and three stayed flat. The Supercar Index rose 14 percent over the quarter and is up 45 percent over the past 12 months, which Hagerty called the best performing segment of the year. Twelve of the 15 cars in that index rose and three were flat. None fell.

The individual moves inside it are large. The Ferrari F50 gained 20 percent, the McLaren F1 25 percent, and the 2005-06 Ford GT 18 percent. The German Car Index rose 7 percent on the back of a 33 percent jump in the pre-A Gmund Porsche 356, 15 percent on the 190SL and 13 percent on the 600. Hagerty's RADindex posted its largest gain in four years at 6 percent, led by a 30 percent move on the Buick GNX, 24 percent on the Mk II Volkswagen Golf GTI and 14 percent on the Ferrari Testarossa. The Affordable Classics Index rose 3 percent, its largest gain since 2024.

The two losers were small and old. The Ferrari Index slipped 1 percent as six of its 13 cars fell, including the 250 GT SWB at minus 8 percent. The 1950s American Car Index also fell 1 percent, with the 1957 Thunderbird down 15 percent and the 1956 Fairlane Sunliner down 12. Blue Chip, American Muscle and Japanese Vehicle all finished the quarter unchanged.

The transport angle

Two practical things follow from a spread shaped like this one.

The first is declared value. Cargo coverage on an enclosed load is written to a per-vehicle limit, and that limit is set from the number the owner gives at booking. A car carrying a 45 percent gain since last autumn, booked against an appraisal from the last shipment, is moving with a gap between what it is worth and what the certificate covers. The gap is invisible until there is a claim, and a claim is exactly when it stops being theoretical. The guide to enclosed shipping insurance covers how the limits are structured, and the claims process guide covers what gets asked for after the fact.

The second is equipment. The segments that moved this quarter are the ones that are awkward to load. Supercars, 1980s and 1990s turbo cars, and low-slung Porsches need a liftgate rather than a ramp, and the liftgate versus ramp question decides whether a given trailer can take the car at all. The segments that stayed flat or fell, the 1950s American cars and the older Ferraris, are the ones that ride comfortably on a conventional ramp. Demand on the enclosed side of the market follows the money, so the equipment that gets scarce first is the hydraulic gate, not the trailer. Owners booking a McLaren or a Porsche in the next few months should expect the liftgate-equipped capacity to go first.

What to do about it

Re-state the value before you book, not after. If the last time anyone put a number on the car was a year ago, that number is wrong in a market that moved this much, and the broker has no way to know it.

Ask for the certificate of insurance before the car is picked up, and read the cargo line specifically. Check whether the limit is written per vehicle or per load, because a multi-car enclosed trailer carrying a single aggregate limit gives a seven-figure car far less protection than the headline figure suggests.

Where a current appraisal does not exist, a recent comparable sale is better than a guess. Carriers in our broker network will write to a documented figure; they will not write to an estimate volunteered on the phone.

Budget for the gate. Figures in our cost model are ranges rather than quotes, but liftgate loading is a line item, and in a quarter where the cars that need one appreciated 14 percent, it is not the place to economize.