Antiques Roadshow: how your classic car is valued

They’re here for the day and have invited classic car enthusiasts like Cedric to bring their precious motors for an inspection and valuation. It’s a service Hagerty performs across the country at club events and shows. An owner registers their car and for £15, which the insurer donates to charity, Atkinson and his experts produce a detailed five-page report on it. Individual components are rated and photographed, following which the car is awarded a condition status across five levels ranging from project to concours. 

And then comes the bit the owner has been waiting for: the Hagerty valuation, a figure calculated with reference to the car’s condition and to the insurer’s vast database of classic car prices. 

Why does the company bother? In short, because it insures its customers’ cars on an agreed value basis. This means that should it have to write off a vehicle, it will pay out the value agreed at the policy’s commencement, rather than a portion of it, as is the case with typical motor insurance policies. It’s in Hagerty’s interests to know precisely what each car it’s insuring is worth at the outset. 

Thirty-five owners registered for today’s inspection and valuation. Cars include a few E-Types, an Alfa Romeo GT Junior, a Daimler E20 and a Porsche 911 (996). 

In an inspection bay, Charlie Patterson, one of Hagerty’s valuations underwriters, is scrutinising the engine of a 1972 Rover P6 3.5 V8 S. 

“Clues to a fastidious owner are how wiring is routed, whether bolts match and the quality of rubber hoses and clips,” he says. “Everything on this car points to careful maintenance. It’s in excellent condition.” 

Waiting its turn behind the Rover is what looks like a Citroën DS 21 convertible. Patterson raises its bonnet and we marvel at the lovingly crafted VIN plate on the bulkhead. 

“It says it’s a coachbuilt Henri Chapron DS,” he purrs. “They’re very rare.” 

In fact, it’s even rarer than that, as the car’s owner, Simon Haskew, explains: “It’s one of three replicas made by a British company. I paid £26,000 for it in 2006. The VIN plate was a little touch I added later.”