The Classic Car Market Records Stellar Results

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Editor’s Note

This article explores how the classic car market is attracting a new generation by blending nostalgia with modern customization, as seen in unique auction pieces like a vibrant, star-themed Porsche.

Emmanuel Grandjean
The Allure of Star-Customized Cars

While some markets, such as contemporary art, struggle to attract a younger clientele, others are welcoming a new generation of buyers. This is the case for the classic car market, where recent iconic models are awakening childhood memories.
In the photo, it looks like a Hot Wheels miniature car. Except it’s not; this 2024 Porsche 911 GT3 RS with its super pop custom job exists in full adult size. RM Sotheby’s, the automotive branch of the English auction house, offered the supercar for sale in the heart of summer. Interested parties had until July 31 to win this “Dua Lipa Rennstall GT3 RS,” a unique collector’s piece personalized by the English pop star and equipped with a supercharged 4-liter engine developing 525 horsepower.

“I think this illustrates two things,” observes Maximilien Gagnebin, a classic car expert at Bonhams, a pioneering auction house in this sector. “First, the growing appeal of personalization, which is becoming a real market for an audience seeking exclusivity and wanting to drive cars that resemble them. Second, the association between an iconic brand and a popular star attracts a younger audience or buyers who might not have otherwise been drawn to automobiles. A Porsche is as much a dream for a teenager as for a 60-year-old man. But a Porsche designed by Dua Lipa can also appeal to music fans who had never considered such a purchase.”

The “Dua Lipa Rennstall GT3 RS” was finally sold for €365,000, and the proceeds were donated to the Suny Hill Foundation, the singer’s charity supporting arts and culture in Kosovo, her country of origin. This was just slightly below its €400,000 estimate.

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Market Trends and Figures

Sports cars from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s are selling particularly well. In contrast, models dating from before the late 50s are generating slightly less demand.

“Sports cars from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s are selling particularly well. In contrast, models dating from before the late 50s are generating slightly less demand,” says Serge Stotzer, deputy director and auctioneer at the Oldtimer Galerie Toffen.

+4%
Growth of the classic car market in 2024

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€626,750
Amount for which a 1986 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale was sold at auction in Paris in February 2025
€365,000
Amount for which the Dua Lipa Rennstall GT3 RS was sold at auction this summer
The Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen from 1954 went under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s in February 2025 for nearly $54 million, a world record for an F1-type race car.

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⏰ Published on: October 07, 2025