The Underground World of ‘Slot’ Buying: Unveiling the Secrets of Limited-Edition Supercar Acquisitions

Imagine you’re unwinding at home after a long day when a text message alerts you to a strange offer. An anonymous Instagram account offers you the opportunity to purchase a “booking slot” for the brand new McLaren W1 hypercar, of which only 399 will be made, and they are all sold out. The sender is willing to give up their slot for just £700,000 (approximately $947,000) on top of the car’s starting price of over £2 million (over $2.7 million).

Mark McCann is a renowned British Youtuber with a collection of cars worth nearly $8.5 million.

Most people would dismiss such a message as spam or a scam, but in the world of hypercar collectors, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Intrigued, Youtuber Mark McCann, a UTV racing champion, decided to investigate whether this was a genuine opportunity or a million-dollar trap.

McCann, a seasoned car enthusiast, has a diverse collection of vehicles, ranging from affordable cars like the Citroen Ami and Smart Fortwo to coveted supercars such as the Lamborghini Revuelto and Huracan Sterrato. He even owns military vehicles like a tank and a Humvee. However, he has yet to acquire a true hypercar.

Mark McCann’s close friend, Tom Hartley Jnr, is also a well-known car collector and dealer of rare supercars.

McCann’s first stop was his long-time friend and owner of the globally renowned Tom Hartley Jnr supercar dealership. After hearing about the Instagram offer, Hartley confirmed that these types of under-the-table deals do exist and that some designated customers find ways to profit from them.

Hartley used the Ferrari Daytona SP3 as an example. This supercar, part of the exclusive Icona Series with only 599 units produced, had a starting price of $2.3 million at launch. Now, some owners are selling their cars for over $5 million. So, simply being on the brand’s select list can potentially net these individuals millions of dollars.

According to Tom Hartley Jnr, Mark McCann needs to be in the right place at the right time to profit from reselling supercars and hypercars on the secondary market.

However, Hartley also cautioned about the volatile nature of secondary market values. For instance, the McLaren P1, a predecessor to the W1, initially sold for around £1 million (approximately $1.35 million) but quickly doubled in price. However, it then plummeted to £650,000 (around $880,000) and has only recently recovered to about £1.2 million (approximately $1.62 million).

To profit from booking slots, McCann would need to be among the first to take delivery of the car and resell it quickly. However, he couldn’t verify the identity of the Instagram seller or any restrictions imposed by the brand to prevent reselling within the first few years of ownership.

Not all supercars have the same profit margins. The Pagani Zonda Cinque, sold by Tom Hartley Jnr in 2012 for £1.5 million, is now worth over £15 million on the secondary market.

When asked about the car he most regretted selling, Hartley mentioned the Pagani Zonda Cinque, the road-legal version of the Zonda R. He purchased it for £1.3 million and sold it for around £1.5 million, but its value has since skyrocketed to £15 million (approximately $20.3 million). This highlights the role of luck in profiting from supercar resales.

Still uncertain about hypercar values, McCann was invited by Hartley to test drive the McLaren P1, a limited-edition hypercar with only 375 road-going versions. The exhilarating driving experience convinced McCann, and he decided to consult a second friend, a supercar broker for billionaires.

Mark McCann’s billionaire supercar broker friend advised him to only deal with long-standing and reputable connections, rather than an unverified Instagram account.

The broker’s identity is kept confidential as they work with the world’s top billionaires, some of whom spend up to £20 million a year on supercars and own vehicles that “don’t officially exist on paper.” Echoing Hartley’s earlier warning, the broker mentioned that McCann’s Instagram encounter could be a scam.

Organized criminals create sophisticated fake documents, from dealer confirmations and sales contracts to passport photos. Ironically, the buyer cannot verify the seller’s identity with the brand, as doing so would result in the legitimate customer losing their booking and being blacklisted. Either way, McCann would lose his deposit to the Instagram account.

The broker also shared that if McCann truly wanted the McLaren W1, he could facilitate a connection and negotiate a price with a minimum of £350,000 (over $473,000). Previously, the broker had been offered a booking slot for the W1 for just a £200,000 premium (over $270,000) by a long-standing client before the car’s launch.

Four months later, Mark McCann fulfilled his dream of owning his first hypercar, the McLaren P1, which was on display at the renowned Harrods department store in London, for $1.6 million.

After consulting his two well-connected friends in the car world, McCann decided to pass on the initial Instagram offer. However, he didn’t give up on his hypercar dreams and soon acquired the McLaren P1 for $1.6 million from none other than the Tom Hartley Jnr dealership where he had test-driven the car.

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