Sourcing a specific car: how a private search unfolds

A private search starts from a precise description of the car and ends with an introduction to the person selling it. In between, the car is sought across several markets at once, checked against its documents and judged on its price, which reflects its rarity above all.

Our acquisitions work covers the search and the introduction: we search for the supercar that meets your brief, then introduce you to its owner. Inspection, negotiation and the sale are then conducted between you and the seller, with your own advisers.

The brief: specification, history, mileage

Everything starts with the car you have in mind: the model, the year, the colour, the interior, the options, the factory specification. The more precise the brief, the more precise the presentation. Some latitude on colour or year widens the number of cars that qualify; a firm requirement for a rare combination narrows it accordingly.

A guide written for collectors sets out the assessment of a rare car as four questions, which apply equally to a recent one:

• provenance and records: previous owners, service invoices, matching numbers, and a history coherent enough to stand up in years to come;
• specification: colour, interior, options, factory specification, and where that combination sits in the desirability of the model;
• mechanical and cosmetic condition: deferred maintenance, repainted panels, replaced parts;
• market context: recent comparable private sales, the number of cars built, and whether the opportunity is genuinely rare or merely presented as urgent.

Mileage and the number of owners are criteria you set yourself, according to the use you intend: a car meant to be driven is not sought with the same requirements as one meant to stay in the garage.

Where such cars are found: the manufacturer, private sales, auctions

A new car comes through the manufacturer’s network, with its lead times. In 2016, an Italian manufacturer spoke of a worldwide waiting list of 12 to 24 months for an ordinary series model; the figure is dated and may have changed. A car that has already been delivered is found elsewhere.

Some of the most sought-after cars change hands without ever reaching a public listing: through a private introduction, a discreet availability, an estate, or from a dealer to one of its clients. Some owners will sell only to a credible buyer, and only discreetly. The search covers these cars as much as those offered publicly.

At auction, the car is almost always on view at the venue, the day or two days before the sale. You can examine it yourself or with a specialist, or request a condition report; one auction house states that it provides these on request, with 100 to 200 photographs. Two costs are added to the hammer price: the taxes shown in the catalogue, and the buyer’s premium, generally above 10 per cent and often 15 to 20 per cent, depending on the house, the sale and the amount. Your limit is set before the sale, as the momentum of the room tends to push past it.

Limited series: an allocation cannot be bought

For a limited series, the manufacturer chooses its clients. In 2016, the marketing director of an Italian manufacturer explained this to the motoring press: for each series, the brand sets selection rules based on the client’s history with it, purchases but also attendance at the brand’s events, and those rules are approved by its senior management. The stated aim was to be able to explain why one client had been offered the car and another had not. The detail dates from 2016 and may have changed.

An allocation therefore cannot be promised. Two routes remain open: building your own relationship with the brand, or looking for the car after delivery, from its first owner or a later one. The second route is the one a private search follows.

One check comes before any offer on a recent car: some limited series are sold with a clause that prohibits resale for a set period. Its scope is checked with your lawyer, before any discussion of price begins.

Off-market does not mean cheaper

A car sold off-market is not a bargain. The best private offers are often expensive, precisely because they are rare. What access to these cars can offer is position: seeing them earlier, with less competition, and having time to judge before the market settles on its story. No search can guarantee it.

One indicator points in this direction. On a collector model tracked by a repeat-sales index, Hagerty finds, in data to September 2025, that the premium goes to cars coming to market for the first time, and that repeated appearances under the hammer tend to reduce returns. The finding concerns a classic car; it suggests that a car which has not passed from sale to sale may be worth more.

Nor does the market rise in a single movement. According to Hagerty, collector car sales, auctions and online sales included, rose by 10 per cent in 2025 to US$4.8 billion, while its market index fell in January 2026 to a low point. These figures concern the collector market: they say nothing about the price of a recent limited-series car, which is judged car by car, against comparable sales.

Checking the car before going further

The documents are gathered before any decision. For some cars, the manufacturer issues a certificate of authenticity: one Italian manufacturer offers it for its road cars over twenty years old, its special series and its racing models, and the certificate traces the car’s history and verifies its conformity to the original model and the origin of its components. A recent car is seldom twenty years old; outside a special series, the evidence lies in the invoices, the service history and matching engine and gearbox numbers. Service history within the manufacturer’s network is requested from the seller and from the network.

For a car registered in France, HistoVec, the free official service of the French Ministry of the Interior, allows the owner to generate a report drawn from the registration system and to share it with you; only the owner can generate it. Outside France, the equivalents are checked country by country.

The car’s condition is assessed in person. If you cannot see it yourself, a specialist you appoint examines it, or the seller provides a condition report.

A car bought in another EU country and then registered in France requires specific documents. According to service-public.fr and ANTS, the French official sites, a tax clearance certificate (quitus fiscal) must be obtained, confirming that the car’s VAT position is in order, together with the foreign registration certificate and the certificate of conformity, among other documents. The certificate of conformity, common to all Member States since 2009 and issued by the manufacturer, shows that the car was built to European standards. Everything else, such as a new car, a non-resident buyer or an import from outside the European Union, is handled with a registration professional and your tax adviser.

Conclusion

A private search comes down to a few steps: a precise brief, a search that covers listed cars and unlisted ones alike, and documents gathered before any decision. The price is judged against comparable sales, and rarity has its cost.

Once the sale is complete, transporting the car to you is part of our Transport & Mobility service.