Classic Car Research - simplified
Verify history. Discover provenance. Prove authenticity
Classic Car Research - simplified
Verify history. Discover provenance. Prove authenticity
Why Choose The Classic Car Register
We understand the value of provenance
Building on 30 years experience providing due diligence tools for the art market. We understand the importance of verified history to enhance value and provide peace of mind. We have digitised hard-copy history files and aggregated records from multiple sources to create an unparalleled research tool.
When authenticity matters
Trust, but verify
With the value of classic cars reaching new heights it makes sense to uncover all the information you can. We make it easy to research any specific vehicle. Whether a cherished gullwing, or a barn-find midget, we help reveal its history to reinforce its credentials. Every classic has a story and will have changed over time. Documented changes, or anomalies in a car’s story help explain its current state and provide peace of mind for anyone involved in its trade. Unexplained issues or inconsistencies are likely to raise questions marks over its authenticity and therefore negatively impact its value.
The vision and the team
Inspiration
After several decades providing due diligence services to the art trade, tracking, tracing and recovering stolen items and fakes with the Art Loss Register, it seemed a relatively small step, encouraged by existing customers to apply our expertise to the world of classic cars.
The key difference is that we are providing access to positive data that establishes and reinforces a car’s credentials, rather than solely checking whether it might have been stolen.
We recognised that vast amounts of documentation and history files remain in paper form, sitting on shelves, in oil-stained folders and in workshop cabinets. So we took it upon ourselves to source, scan and reference as much as possible. This has created a versatile database from which any classic car can be researched by any of its unique identifiers.
Cars and art
The world of classic cars is one of passionate enthusiasm. A world of collectors where the objects of desire are both highly functional and aesthetically appealing.
In many ways the classic car market mirrors the art market; rarity, reputation, elegance and elan all combine with changing tastes to determine value. In both worlds provenance or backstory are critical components in determining an object’s worth.
Unlike most works of art, however, cars are constructed from components and designed to be driven. They are functional objects which break and can be repaired. Thus, while a work of art is generally destined to remain largely unchanged from the moment it leaves an artist’s studio, a car is destined to evolve.
The manner in which that evolution is documented or indeed, obscured can significantly affect its perceived value and as such, the temptation for bad actors to take advantage is significant.
The Classic Car Register aims to bring greater transparency to the wider classic car market, and in so doing to replicate what the Art Loss Register has achieved for the art trade; raising standards in the documentation of provenance and acting as a deterrent for malicious intent, through the creation of an internationally recognized database.
Data
Our sources include
- catalogues from major auction houses
- individual car history files
- owners’ club archives
- publishers and magazine libraries
We have painstakingly sourced and extracted information from decades of hard copy files, which has then been combined with digital records to create a unique reference tool. We are constantly adding content from new partners and sources, to build an unparalleled resource for anyone with an interest in classic motoring.
The team
Julian Radcliffe
Julian Radcliffe
Julian Radcliffe
After graduating from Oxford, Julian Radcliffe joined Lloyd’s as an insurance broker. In 1976 Julian founded Control Risks to specialise in international risk management including kidnap negotiations. Julian founded the Art Loss Register in 1990 as an initiative of the Insurance industry and Art trade to reduce the theft of and trade in stolen art. He owns a 1962 baby-blue Morris Traveller.
Hugh Pinney
Julian Radcliffe
Julian Radcliffe
Originally a news photographer and subsequently a VP at Getty Images, Hugh is steeped in the business of turning an analogue product into a versatile digital dataset. He drives a 1988 Land Rover 90.