Racing Green Car Storage

What is concierge service? At Racing Green Car Storage we believe it's about making our client's lives easier. Take the example of a good collector friend and their Porsche Carrera GT, which is entrusted to Racing Green's care. If you didn't know, the Carrera GT was the flagship for Porsche when it was launched in 2004, with a UK price of around £320,000. Its roots can be traced to Formula 1, as its V10 engine began life as a racing engine for the Footwork team, but that project failed to get off the ground. Porsche turned its attention to Le Mans Prototype sports car racing, but thanks to corporate politics within the Volkswagen Audi Group that project also failed to get off the ground. Porsche had a V10 engine and nowhere to put it… In 2000, the company tested the waters with a concept for a V10 supercar, and the reaction from customers and media alike at the Geneva motor show was enthusiastic to say the least. The rest is history. What that brief backstory tells you is that the Carrera GT is a highly specialised machine, a supercar with its roots in motorsport. Its owners enjoy a unique driving experience, one that appeals to those who relish rising to a challenge. Fast forward by nearly two decades, and in 2023 owners of a Carrera GT received unwelcome news. Porsche had identified potential corrosion issues that could lead to suspension failure, and all 1270 examples of the supercar would need to be inspected. That soon escalated to a Stop Driving campaign, which led to the vehicle insurers notifying clients that the car would not be insured for use on the public road. To make amends for this frustrating situation, Porsche rightly offered to collect each Carrera GT, replace the affected parts and fit a new set of Michelin tyres. In the UK, the cars are collected from the owner and dispatched to Porsche Reading where it reportedly takes 30 hours of work including a minor service and newly developed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. The suspension work includes replacing the front wishbones and the rear suspension pushrods. Porsche is reportedly making these changes to the cars at an equivalent cost of £30,000 per vehicle, free of charge to owners. Our client's Carrera GT was recently collected to have its work performed at Porsche Centre Reading. We managed this process on our client's behalf, liaising with Porsche, exhaustively documenting the car's condition, overseeing its loading and completing all relevant documentation. We will do the same upon its return, with all assets made accessible to our client. This saves our client from losing two days out of their busy schedule, and gives them peace of mind that no harm has come to this precious machine while having the remedial work performed. We know they can't wait to get back behind the wheel… #porsche #carreragt #collectorcars #conciergeservice #vehiclemanagement #carstorage #racinggreencarstorage

In July 2024, the roller-shutter doors to Racing Green’s new, purpose-designed car storage facility opened. Our mission was simple: redefine car storage by providing exceptional care for special cars while minimising their impact on the environment. There were two simple ways we would achieve that. A dehumidified climate powered by a solar system would reduce our energy consumption; and carbon-balancing for all the cars placed in our care would help offset their emissions. Our purpose-designed car storage facility boasts an impressive 63-panel photovoltaic solar array that means we're able to reduce its demand for energy from the national grid. It was predicted to generate 25-megawatt hours (MWh) of energy in a full year’s operation, and it appears to be on track to meet or even exceed that. In 2024, our solar system produced just over 22 MWh in seven months. To put that in context, it has saved 4391kg of CO2 from being generated, which – according to our Solar Edge app, the manufacturer of our system – is equivalent to us planting 266 trees. Needless to say, we feel good about that. It’s helping minimise Racing Green’s environmental impact and, in the long-term, it’s helping reduce our bills. We like both of those things. But there is more to our mission than using the sun’s energy to power our facility. When we defined Racing Green's purpose at the outset, we wanted to help our clients make an equally positive environmental contribution, by offsetting the CO2 emissions of their cars. To date, we have offset the equivalent of 11 tons of CO2, and that figure is climbing month by month. To achieve that, we partnered with Net-Hero-Ltd, part of the HERO-ERA group. You may have heard of the group, as it organises some of the greatest driving tours and road rallies going. Each car’s carbon footprint is compensated for through credits in certified conservation initiatives that protect biodiversity and restore vulnerable ecosystems, providing essential financing to local indigenous communities for the critical services they provide. Every Racing Green client receives a certificate directly from the Verra registry, confirming their car has been carbon balanced, and a peelable window vignette for display. We know it may not necessarily be what our clients set out to find when choosing a car storage provider, but we also know from speaking with them that it is greatly welcomed. We hope it makes for a positive talking point that can shine a light on the path other drivers could consider taking. And mitigating our hobby’s environmental impact has to be in everyone’s best interests, surely, as we face increasing scrutiny in a world that seems to have less tolerance of cars. So that’s more than 15 tons of CO2 prevented from being emitted in the first place or balanced through certified conservation projects. And we’re just getting started… #environment #solarpower #carbonoffsetting #carstorage

When new in 2009, the Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd V12 Vantage coupé cost a smidge over £50,000 more than the V8 it was based on, at £135,000. That compares with just shy of £82,000 for the 997, gen-2-era, Porsche 911 GT3, and nearly £173,000 for Ferrari’s 430 Scuderia – a couple of useful reference points when looking at the V12 Vantage from an investment perspective. Sixteen years later, early examples of the V12 Vantage coupé are fetching in the region of £60,000 to £75,000, with mileage and condition influencing where it falls. According to car valuation site, The Classic Valuer, which tracks auctions in the UK and abroad and updates results daily, during 2021 and 2022 values were climbing, but the next two years saw sold cars at auction achieve lower prices – no doubt an effect of the cooling of the market after the buying splurge during lockdown. That’s quite a fall in value. And quite a contrast with contemporaries. The 911 GT3 is hovering closer to £90,000 - £100,000 in terms of average sales price achieved since 2020, and the F430 Scuderia, which is sitting at £150,000 - £160,000 as an average over the same time period. A look at classifieds will reinforce this picture of the Porsche and Ferrari sitting significantly above the Aston. So there’s an argument for saying the V12 Vantage represents fantastic value for money. Especially if you believe, as I do, that one of the reasons it hasn’t maintained half of its original value is that the trials and tribulations of the #AstonMartin brand rub off somewhat unfairly on what is one of the most dazzling packages produced by the company. Whether it will come to be fully appreciated and rise in value is the role of the dice that buyers have to be prepared to take, but even if it never catches up its peers, the V12 Vantage’s special driving experience is worth every penny. Link to full story below 👇 #supercars #collectingcars #investments #carstorage

10 years ago, our man James Mills bought a Honda Integra Type-R… "Truth be told, I broke every rule of browsing and buying a used car, especially a classic. Drive many, goes the saying, and get a feel for the good, the bad and the downright ugly. I spotted the Integra for sale on PistonHeads, dropped in to see it on the way back from an airport, and slapped down a deposit after a test drive. "However, I did it after making enquiries about the vendor, Will. A friend worked with him at Ford, and told me (before I went to see it) that his cars were renowned for being fastidiously maintained. "It was (and remains!) immaculate. I bought one of the most expensive advertised – an entirely original, low mileage (sub-45,000), UK-spec Integra - because I wanted a car that was as it was the day it left the factory and wouldn’t need money spending on it." Full story on the appeal of the DC2 Integra Type-R, via the link in Comments 👇

Big things were happening in 1993. The Channel Tunnel connected us with our French friends, Charles and Diana announced they were living apart, Groundhog Day hit the big screen and at the same time the world wide web opened to the public. And for car enthusiasts, Porsche introduced the 911 Turbo 3.6 – the model many Porscheholics consider the ultimate air-cooled turbocharged 911. Fans will tell you it represents the pinnacle of Porsche's engineering in the 1990s – a marriage of classic design, explosive performance and exclusivity. And they’ll say it’s revered by enthusiasts and collectors alike, which is why the model has cemented its place as one of the most desirable 911s made. Let’s take a look at how the 964-era 911Turbo 3.6 is faring in the market place, with analysis from our friend Giles Gunning at The Classic Valuer, and consider whether it remains a sound place to put your money. Click the link to get the backstory and latest market insight 👇

Many thanks to my pals at Racing Green Car Storage for running this piece on Detour 101: 101 of the World's Best Road Trips. https://lnkd.in/eaXhimSc

This a simple but essential tool of the trade for Racing Green Car Storage… It’s the Comfort Connect extension cable made by CTEK and is the best way to make sure you can always get your CTEK charger attached to a car’s battery, no matter where it is located in relation to your power source. At 2.5 metres long, it is super-practical and clips in to existing connections on every CTEK battery smart charger. Less than £15 and widely available. Recommended! #ctek #battery #carstorage #conciergeservices #racinggreencarstorage

“Oh my God, Artioli’s dead!” James Mills, founding partner of Racing Green Car Storage, recalls the moment he was one of the first journalists in the world to drive the new Lotus Elise, the car that knocked out the critics, competitors and car enthusiasts – and quite literally knocked out Romano Artioli, the owner of Lotus. 🥊 Find out what happened… Full story via the link in comments! #lotus #elise #britishcars #collectorcars #carstorage #carstorageinkent #racinggreencarstorage

In our regular Collecting Cars spotlight, we use a mix of good-old gut instinct and cold, hard market data from our friends at The Classic Valuer to pinpoint special cars that appear to have plenty of room to appreciate in value. The latest under the microscope is the Jaguar XJ220. A Bugatti EB110 GT will set you back between £1 – £1.5 million, an EB110 Super Sport between £2m – £2.5m. Whichever way you cut it, that’s a two to five times multiple on an XJ220. Then compare it with the Ferrari F40. Average prices now sit at more than £2m – around a four time multiplier. Now ask yourself whether an XJ220 is five times less desirable or valuable as an EB110? What's at play here are three influencing factors. The EB110 is rare, has a superior technical specification (on paper, at least) and is associated with a super-luxury brand. A total of 283 XJ220s were produced whereas there were less than 150 EB110s. The EB110 has a quad-turbo V12 rather than a twin-turbo V6; Bugatti is arguably the stronger brand, although the XJ220 is a prettier thing. Does that make it up to 5x less desirable? Absolutely not. What about its contemporary Ferrari? Is an F40 four times more desirable than a XJ220? Whilst both were twin-turbocharged the F40 packed a V8 rather than a V6. 1,315 F40s were produced, officially. That makes it four times more common than the XJ220. But the F40 has a reputation that far exceeds that of the XJ220, partly due to Ferrari’s brand strength but also its wild, visceral driving experience. You’ve also got a far broader range of specialists to care for an F40 – although slowly but surely more specialists are embracing the XJ220. Whilst the F40's looks can be divisive, that isn’t the case with the XJ220 – it’s stunning. So, on balance, does that make an F40 four times more desirable than a XJ220? Absolutely not. The question then becomes should the XJ220 be worth similar money to an EB110 or even a F40? No, but they should be a lot closer in price than they are… The current price delta certainly isn’t justified and the market is increasingly chasing iconic analogue supercars from this era so it's likely one world record-busting sale will release the flywheel and XJ220s will start accelerating towards the £1,000,000 mark. Full story via the link in the comments! 👇 #jaguar #xj220 #collectingcars #classiccars #supercars #investments #carstorage #carstoragekent

Racing Green Car Storage goes the extra mile when caring for the cars we are entrusted with. We believe carbon-balancing is the right thing to do for our clients, the hobby and most importantly, the environment. That’s why it is part of the all-inclusive package of exceptional care that’s standard for every client and car we care for. And that’s why Racing Green Car Storage is unlike any other provider. #carbonoffsetting #environment #carstorage #racinggreencarstorage