The hosts share experiences from Spain, including a helicopter ride with Aston Martin's CEO and insights on the Valhalla supercar. They discuss the challenges of Formula One's hybrid era and its impact on racing excitement. Eden Cooper, founder of Drift Capital, talks about running a fund that invests in high-end collectible cars like the Ferrari F40 and Carrera GT, blending passion with asset management. The episode also explores the appeal of large SUVs, focusing on the Cadillac Escalade V's luxury, performance, and practicality compared to electric alternatives.
Matt and Hannah talk about the impending Scout, the fight with dealerships and the want for electric cars. They also touch on the Cadillac Escalade-V. Plus, a conversation with Drift Capital's Eden Cooper.
"I'm Hannah Elliott. And I'm Matt Miller. This is Hot Pursuit. Coming up in today's podcast, I'm back from Spain, back from driving the Aston Martin Valhalla, and, well, I can't discuss driving impressions quite yet."
The Aston Martin Valhalla is a very fast and fancy car made by Aston Martin. It uses both a gas engine and electric power to go really fast.
The Aston Martin Valhalla is a mid-engine hybrid supercar developed by British luxury carmaker Aston Martin. It features advanced aerodynamics and a hybrid powertrain aimed at delivering high performance and efficiency.
"Plus, a buddy of mine, a kid I met at a car show a couple of years ago, has just sold his Carrera GT for the record price of $3.3 million."
A car show is like a big gathering where people bring their cars to show them off. You can see many cool and special cars there.
A car show is an event where automotive enthusiasts display vehicles, often including classic, exotic, or new models. It's a place to see rare cars and meet other enthusiasts.
"Plus, a buddy of mine, a kid I met at a car show a couple of years ago, has just sold his Carrera GT for the record price of $3.3 million."
The Porsche Carrera GT is a very special and fast car made by Porsche. It has a powerful engine and is known for being exciting to drive.
The Porsche Carrera GT is a limited-production supercar produced by Porsche between 2004 and 2007. It is renowned for its naturally aspirated V10 engine, lightweight carbon fiber construction, and exceptional driving dynamics.
"and they have done just that with the Carrera GT and a GT40. But first, let's talk about Spain."
The Ford GT40 is a famous race car from the 1960s made by Ford. It won important races and is very special to car fans.
The Ford GT40 is a legendary American racing car developed in the 1960s to compete at Le Mans. It famously won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race multiple times, beating Ferrari.
"It was first imagined as a V six. It is now in its current production form, a twin turbo V eight plug-in hybrid over a thousand horsepower. They've already delivered over 150 of them."
A twin turbo V8 is a powerful car engine with eight cylinders and two devices called turbochargers that help the engine make more power by pushing extra air in.
A twin turbo V8 engine is a V8 internal combustion engine equipped with two turbochargers to increase power output by forcing more air into the engine. This setup improves performance and efficiency compared to naturally aspirated engines.
"it is now in its current production form, a twin turbo V eight plug-in hybrid over a thousand horsepower. They're making 999 of them. Um, and they cost about a million bucks starting. And it's a hybrid, right? It is a plug-in hybrid. Yeah. So it has electric motors."
A plug-in hybrid car uses both gas and electricity to move. You can charge its battery by plugging it in, so it can drive some distance just on electricity.
A plug-in hybrid is a type of vehicle that combines a traditional internal combustion engine with electric motors and a battery that can be recharged by plugging into an external power source. This allows for some all-electric driving range and improved fuel efficiency.
"And it's a hybrid, right? It is a plug-in hybrid. Yeah. So it has electric motors. That's what gets it to three electric motors. Exactly. And then a twin turbo V eight."
Electric motors are parts of the car that use electricity to help it move. In some cars, they can even make the car go without using gas.
Electric motors in a plug-in hybrid provide additional power and allow the vehicle to drive using electricity alone for short distances. They work alongside the internal combustion engine to improve performance and efficiency.
"a lot of F one derived components in the car, including the, the carbon fiber tub."
F1 derived parts are pieces taken from the fastest race cars in the world and used in regular cars to make them better and faster.
F1 derived components refer to parts and technologies in a car that are adapted from Formula 1 racing, known for its cutting-edge engineering and performance. These components often improve aerodynamics, weight, and handling.
"including the, the carbon fiber tub. Um, it's got active arrow on the front and the rear,"
A carbon fiber tub is the strong but light main part of a car's frame made from a special material called carbon fiber. It helps the car be safe and fast.
A carbon fiber tub is the central structural part of a car's chassis made from carbon fiber, a lightweight and very strong material. It improves rigidity and safety while reducing weight, enhancing performance.
"it's got active arrow on the front and the rear, which was really interesting. Yeah. So it's, it's interesting because it's kind of like a baby"
Active aero means parts on the car that can move or change shape to help the car stick to the road better or go faster.
Active aero refers to aerodynamic components on a car that can adjust dynamically to improve downforce, reduce drag, or enhance stability depending on driving conditions.
"...And then there were a couple of cars on the road. We did do a road course as well. And I don't know, they had a handful of cars there at five, six, seven, something like that."
A road course is a race track that has different kinds of turns and hills, not just a simple circle. Cars race on these tracks to test their handling and speed.
A road course is a type of racing track that features a combination of left and right turns, elevation changes, and various types of corners, as opposed to oval tracks. It is used for many types of motorsport events including sports car and formula racing.
"...there was one that was podium green, which is Aston Martin's F one green. And they say that 15% of the Valhalla is sold have been in this podium green color..."
Podium green is a special green paint color that Aston Martin uses on some of their cars. It comes from the green color they use in racing, so it shows the car's connection to racing.
Podium green is a specific green paint color used by Aston Martin, inspired by the green color associated with their Formula One branding. It is a distinctive color option for the Aston Martin Valhalla and other models, symbolizing the brand's motorsport heritage.
"...and they really attribute that to the popularity of formula one, the association Aston has with formula one and, and how well that's working for the brand. So one was podium green, another working well for Aston Martin in formula one."
Formula One is a type of very fast car racing with special cars that only race on certain tracks. It is very popular worldwide and helps car companies like Aston Martin become more famous.
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of international single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the FIA. It is known for its cutting-edge technology, high speeds, and global popularity. Aston Martin's involvement in F1 helps boost its brand image and influences design and marketing of its road cars.
"Eden Cooper just sold his the 30 year old kid who just sold his Ferrari F40 and Carrera GT for record prices. ... he was just standing there hanging out in front of an F40. So I went over to see the car"
The Ferrari F40 is a very famous and fast sports car made by Ferrari a long time ago. It's known for being very powerful and special because it was the last car Enzo Ferrari helped design.
The Ferrari F40 is a legendary supercar produced by Ferrari from 1987 to 1992. It was the last Ferrari personally approved by Enzo Ferrari and is famous for its raw driving experience, lightweight construction, and twin-turbocharged V8 engine.
"Eden Cooper just sold his the 30 year old kid who just sold his Ferrari F40 and Carrera GT for record prices."
The Ferrari Carrera GT is a very fast and rare sports car made by Ferrari. It has a powerful engine and is known for being special and collectible.
The Ferrari Carrera GT is a mid-engine supercar produced by Ferrari from 2004 to 2006. It features a V10 engine and is celebrated for its performance, advanced technology, and rarity.
"sold for 5.23 million, which was a record for a European spec F40. And where was the sale in Miami with arms other base?"
A record sale price means someone paid more money than ever before for a certain car. This usually means the car is very rare or special.
A record sale price refers to the highest price ever paid for a particular car or category of cars at auction or private sale. It indicates strong demand and rarity for that vehicle.
"And there's only a limited supply of cars that are worth having. And if you're an automotive enthusiast, you're starting to pay attention and a student investors will always look at available avenues to deploy capital."
Some cars are made in small numbers or very few are left, so they become rare. Because they are rare, many people want to own them, which makes them more expensive.
The concept refers to the scarcity of certain desirable cars, which drives up their value as collectors compete to own them. Limited production numbers and surviving examples make these cars valuable assets.
"They seem to be good for your generation, right? They're kind of like Radwood cars. These are cars that were super cars in the 80s and the 90s. And, you know, the aughts."
Radwood cars are cool cars from the 1980s and 1990s that people today really like because they remind them of that time. They have special styles that many people find interesting.
Radwood is a cultural term referring to stylish and desirable cars from the 1980s and 1990s that have gained nostalgic appeal. These cars are often appreciated for their unique designs and are becoming popular among younger enthusiasts.
"and have to have enough liquidity that they feasibly traded it out about once a quarter. Why? Because fair market value needs to be something we can approximate."
Liquidity means how easy it is to sell a car. If a car is easy to sell, it has good liquidity.
Liquidity in the car market refers to how easily a car can be bought or sold without affecting its price significantly. High liquidity means the car is in demand and can be sold quickly.
"...dreaming of owning a 911 and working on them all day in the Texas heat. So I did that for a couple years..."
The Porsche 911 is a famous fast car that many people want to own. It has a special engine in the back and looks very unique.
The Porsche 911 is a legendary sports car known for its distinctive design and rear-engine layout. It has been a benchmark in the sports car world for decades, with many enthusiasts dreaming of owning one.
"But you have the R8. I mean, you showed me pictures of that one with the gated shifter, the V10. And you said investors can drive that one."
The Audi R8 is a fast sports car made by Audi. It has a powerful V10 engine and some versions have a special manual gear shifter that makes driving more fun.
The Audi R8 is a mid-engine sports car produced by Audi, known for its V10 engine and availability with a gated manual shifter in earlier models. It combines supercar performance with everyday usability.
"You showed me pictures of that one with the gated shifter, the V10. And you said investors can drive that one."
A gated shifter is a special kind of stick shift in a car that helps you change gears more precisely and feel more connected to the car.
A gated shifter is a manual transmission gear selector with a visible metal gate that guides the gear lever into precise slots, enhancing the tactile and mechanical feel of shifting.
"If we bought a Carrera GT, for example, with 40,000 miles and put on a thousand a year, it's still likely to appreciate pretty considerably in value."
Market appreciation means that a car becomes worth more money as time goes on.
Market appreciation refers to the increase in value of an asset over time. In the context of cars, it means the vehicle becomes more valuable due to factors like rarity, demand, and condition.
"So the ones that we we purchase that we don't drive, we already buy them at, you know, sub 1000 miles. So for better or worse, these were destined to be collector cars put in museums held as representation for, you know, decades to come as examples for folks to reference."
A collector car is a special car that people keep because it is rare or important, not just to drive every day.
A collector car is a vehicle that is valued primarily for its rarity, historical significance, or desirability rather than daily use. These cars are often preserved, maintained, and sometimes stored for appreciation in value.
"So we store them with OEM dealerships, who already have sort of the headquarters breathing down their neck to say, do you have the security systems, the fire suppression, the drainage systems required in order to keep, you know, your inventory safe."
These are official car dealerships run by the company that made the cars. They can take good care of the cars and keep them safe.
OEM dealerships are authorized sales and service centers operated by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of a vehicle brand. They provide certified maintenance, storage, and security for vehicles, which is important for preserving collectible cars.
"So the 300 SL from Mercedes, both in the Gullwing form and in the Roadster are timelessly beautiful."
The 300 SL Gullwing is a very old and special Mercedes car with doors that open up like wings. Many people love it because it looks cool and drives well.
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing is a classic sports car famous for its distinctive upward-opening doors and iconic design. It is highly prized by collectors for its timeless beauty and engineering.
"I want to talk a little bit about my, the Cadillac Escalade V that I'm driving right now."
The Cadillac Escalade V is a big, fancy SUV that is faster and more powerful than the regular Escalade. It’s like a sports car but in a large SUV you can use for family or hauling stuff.
The Cadillac Escalade V is a high-performance variant of Cadillac's full-size luxury SUV, featuring a powerful engine and sporty enhancements compared to the standard Escalade. It combines luxury with performance in a large SUV format.
"It has been about my G500 that I had in Berlin or my Ford F-150 Raptor that I had when I lived in Bronxville."
The Mercedes-Benz G500 is a fancy SUV that can go off-road but also feels very comfortable and nice inside. It looks like a box and is very strong.
The Mercedes-Benz G500 is a luxury off-road capable SUV known for its boxy design and strong performance. It combines ruggedness with premium features and is part of the iconic G-Class lineup.
"And then you add the fact that this has a supercharged 6.2 liter V8, like they all have the 6.2 liter V8, but this one has a supercharger. So it makes"
This is a big engine with eight cylinders that uses a supercharger to push more air in, making the car go faster and have more power.
A supercharged 6.2 liter V8 is a large displacement eight-cylinder engine equipped with a supercharger, which forces more air into the engine to increase power output. This setup provides strong acceleration and high horsepower.
"682 horsepower, makes 653 pound feet of torque. You don't really need that in a truck that weighs, I don't know, seven, eight thousand pounds, right?"
Horsepower tells you how strong a car's engine is. The more horsepower, the faster or more powerful the car can be.
Horsepower is a unit of measurement that indicates the power output of an engine. It helps describe how much work the engine can perform and is often used to compare vehicle performance.
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I'm Hannah Elliott. And I'm Matt Miller. This is Hot Pursuit.
Coming up in today's podcast, I'm back from Spain, back from driving the Aston Martin Valhalla,
and, well, I can't discuss driving impressions quite yet. There's plenty of other things we
can talk about. Yeah, I want to know about the snacks, you know, that you had while you were there.
And also, a lot of meat. Yeah, also, just what it was like in,
were you in Bilbao or San Sebastian? Bilbao, San Sebastian. I ended up also going to Madrid
after a flight cancellation. There was a lot of Spain. Oh, all right, so I want to hear more
about that. I also want to talk about SUVs. Plus, a buddy of mine, a kid I met at a car show a
couple of years ago, has just sold his Carrera GT for the record price of $3.3 million. And it's
not his personal car, but we're going to talk to Eden Cooper. He is, started and runs a fund
called Drift Capital that buys high-end cars and attempts to sell them for a profit,
and they have done just that with the Carrera GT and a GT40. But first, let's talk about Spain.
I mean, what happened with your flights? Well, there was a La Tansa pilot strike
Thursday, Friday, which, and of course, all my flights were on La Tansa. So, you know,
the flights got really, really messed up. And as you know, Bilbao is not a regular flight path
from Los Angeles. No, not even from New York. It's not really a regular flight. No, no, so
going there, you know, you kind of go through Frankfurt. And the track that we actually drove
on was this circuit, no, it's the circuit of Navarra. I'm going to say that because I can't
say it in Spanish, it's the Navarra circuit, which is like an hour and a half additional drive
outside of San Sebastian. So fluid to Bilbao drove to San Sebastian, which is about an hour away.
Then from San Sebastian, it's another hour and a half drive to this track called Navara, which is
a very cool private track certified for up to formula two racing, very remote. It's got like
17 turns. It's got uphills. It's got downhills. It's a very cool track. I admit, on the way there,
we took a helicopter, whoa, crashed into the track, which was awesome. And the funny thing is,
Adrian Hallmark, who is the CEO of Aston Martin, is obsessed with flying, like truly obsessed.
And he flew himself to this press launch and on his own plane. And he was flying his way back. And
I sat next to him in the helicopter. And he had on his, he had a special tablet that he used for
all his flight apps. And the whole time he was tracking weather and flight patterns and airspace.
And at one point he was telling me, you know, if the engines cut out, this is how far we can go
without crash landing and all of this stuff. He's obsessed. And it was kind of great to see
the enthusiasm from, you know, these car executives can be a little bit serious and,
and they're very, very, they're, they're resistant to talking about their own personal life. And I
understand why, but Adrian is so obsessed with, with flying. It was really fun to be in the air with
him. And yeah, like I said, I can't talk really about driving impressions, but we do know about
the Valhalla, you know, they debuted it in 2019. So it's been a long time coming. It was first
imagined as a V six. It is now in its current production form, a twin turbo V eight plug-in
hybrid over a thousand horsepower. They've already delivered over 150 of them. They're making 999 of
them. Um, and they cost about a million bucks starting. And it's a hybrid, right? It is a
plug-in hybrid. Yeah. So it has electric motors. That's what gets it to three electric motors.
Exactly. And then a twin turbo V eight. Um, a lot of F one derived components in the car,
including the, the carbon fiber tub. Um, it's got active arrow on the front and the rear,
which was really interesting. Yeah. So it's, it's interesting because it's kind of like a baby
Valkyrie in a way. It's not the most extreme ass and you can buy, but it's obviously pretty far up
there. And what I'm told is starting prices a million dollars, but, um, most of the people who
are getting one are adding additional specs and customization so that the price, the average price
is about a 1.6 million, which is kind of wild. Yes. It's very expensive, obviously. It's very
limited. Um, I've never seen one in the wild. And I think I might have, I don't, I don't think I've
seen one either, to be honest. I don't think I have because I wouldn't have seen one last year.
And I have, I certainly haven't seen one this year. How many did they have there? I mean,
did they have more than one on the track? Yes. We had two at a time on the track.
And I have to give a shout out to my driving instructor. Her name is Rihanna, um, really
accomplished, incredible driver who has, uh, who has one, one races at Indy. You know, she's,
she's in like GT four cup races and stuff. She's also like 24, which is weird to think that this
person could like really be my daughter if you do the math. And she's, she's the voice of reason
telling me how to drive around this track. And it's kind of awesome. Um, so we had two cars on
the track at the same time. And then there were a couple of cars on the road. We did do a road
course as well. And I don't know, they had a handful of cars there at five, six, seven, something
like that. What colors were they? All different colors. Um, the ones on the track were, there was
one that was podium green, which is Aston Martin's F one green. And they say that 15% of the Valhalla
is sold have been in this podium green color. And they really attribute that to the popularity of
formula one, the association Aston has with formula one and, and how well that's working for the brand.
So one was podium green, another working well for Aston Martin in formula one.
Well, the brand, the brand, not the race team. Yes. Um, yes. We, of course, there was, there was
some talk about what's going on with the, uh, the Honda components and the Adrian,
newy engineering and the, you know, to nerve potential nerve damage after 25 laps, uh,
et cetera, et cetera. So I can't comment on that. I can't, there's by the way,
I'm going to seg here. I'm going to call an audible formula one. Um, because it's on Apple TV now,
I thought, all right, I'm, this is the season that I'm going to fully dedicate myself. I'm going to
watch everything from practice to qualifying this weekend. I'm excited to watch the sprint to the
race, you know, but the one thing that gets me is because of the hybrid component, those drivers
are not going as fast as they can. In fact, they're driving more slowly than they otherwise
would be able to in order to reserve, to preserve their battery power, not racing. Yeah. And like
they're managing energy, not racing. When you watch MotoGP, they're on the limit. They're driving
10 tents. They're going as fast as they can on every part of that track at all times. That's
more alike. I don't know. I know a strategy game. I'll play a tiny devil's advocate here.
And I, we might have talked about this before. I don't think that slower speeds mean less exciting
racing theoretically. I totally agree with that. Fans can't tell a difference really between 200
miles an hour and 220 necessarily. So like slower, slower speeds don't automatically
translate into more boring racing. But I do agree that if drivers are more concerned about
gaining the energy system rather than trying to make a pass or be a super ultra aggressive,
that will definitely have a damper. It is a big, big bummer. And I'm going to give
them a few more races before I call it, but I want to see racing where the driver is going
basically as fast as he can within limits of safety to himself and others. Or hopefully soon
I can start saying herself and others because in motorcycle racing, we saw. Oh my gosh.
Taylor Yakov podium at the Daytona 200 and deep tease. We're going to have her on the show in a
how the people in charge of formula one didn't say, wait, if we do it like this,
they're not going to be able to drive as fast as they can. Do we really want that to be
the case? Like, didn't they know before the season started that this would be kind of lame?
My sense is that the concern about position marketing and formula one as sustainable and
positioning it in a way that is attractive to sponsors and partnerships is the primary concern.
And that's a little bit of a dangerous area. Ultimately, because if you're, if you're ultimately
only concerned with getting money from partners and sponsorships, you're going to lose sight of
what is really the fundamental magic of formula one, which is the racing. I don't think we're
there yet. I still hope and anticipate we're going to have an exciting year, especially let's,
let's think about it. And sadly, we're probably going to lose the races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
because of everything that's happening in the Middle East. So this year in general is going to be
a full of surprises put it that way. Who, who can say how everything is going to turn out?
But to your point, yeah, we, it would be terrible if F1 truly lost sight of maximizing
racing in favor of trying to get, make it like sellable. You know what I mean?
Yeah, absolutely. All right, let's put a pin in that. We have ample time throughout this season to
discuss. Yeah, we will. And let's take a break here on Hopper Zoo. We come back. We'll hear from
Eden Cooper just sold his the 30 year old kid who just sold his Ferrari F40 and Carrera GT for
record prices. This is Bloomberg. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members
can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you
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credit limit offer in minutes. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs
Bank USA Salt Lake City branch terms and more at applecard.com. Welcome back to Hot Pursuit.
We're going to get to my new love of my life, the Cadillac Escalade B. I want to get right now to our
discussion with Eden Cooper, the founder of Drift Capital. Let's get into it. I will tell you that
I met him at the bridge at the bridge, you know, which is that car show in Bridge Hampton.
I feel like it would be faster if I went to Monterey, like it took Hicks forever to get
out to the Hamptons, right? It does. But he was just standing there hanging out in front of an F40.
So I went over to see the car, obviously, and he was like, Oh, I'm doing this fund. And it reminded
me of, I feel like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd had done something like that, or maybe does do
something like that. He has a GTO famously. And so I was talking to him about this F40. And I
thought, Oh, this is just a kid who came up with an excuse like to collect money from people and
buy an F40, right? But then I was watching the auctions the last couple of weeks. And I saw
that his car was for sale. And what do you what did what did it go for like five? Yes, all in it
sold for 5.23 million, which was a record for a European spec F40. And where was the sale
in Miami with arms other base? Oh, nice. So and then we were talking, we were texting because
I had gotten his number. And you have a Carrera GT as well, or you had and you've also sold that
also for a record. Yeah, I sold for at the time and all time record for 3.3 just north of 3.3
million. I was actually surprised that seems low to me. I feel like those are going to go for even
more. Well, you know, I joke with the team that, you know, we should have bought three of them
before selling the first one. That's Hannah's favorite. I mean, I remember when Carrera GTs
were not million dollar cars, like people thought it was insane to even consider that a poor shot
would be a million dollars. No way. I mean, so what what do you think's pushing this this crazy
rise even? What's your what's your theory about what's pushing that demand? Yeah, I mean, it's
really baked in the thesis that the world's wealthy are getting wealthier. And there's only
a limited supply of cars that are worth having. And if you're an automotive enthusiast, you're
starting to pay attention and a student investors will always look at available avenues to deploy
capital. And this is just the latest iteration. So I think it's a little bit interesting that
you're obviously a younger person. How old are you? I'm 30. Can I ask? Okay, 30. So the cars that
you have you also just showed me and we can talk about the Audi R8. They seem to be
good for your generation, right? They're kind of like Radwood cars. These are cars that were
super cars in the 80s and the 90s. And, you know, the aughts. So not the
Bugatti's or the GTO's or the kind of halo cars of of yesteryear. Is your
board of advisors saying like you should look into that era or is it just because you're that age?
So I don't think it's because it's my age. You know, we built this company really primarily
focused on the data. And for the first call it year of building a proprietary database,
I couldn't tell you if these were a legitimate asset class, it took about that long to actually
build enough of a an auction database that we could run the run the analysis through
multiple market cycles and say, is this actually improving portfolios? So that forms the basis of
all of our sort of decision making around what cars to invest in from a quantitative perspective,
they have to have performed well over multiple economic cycles. So at least 20 years of strong
performance and have to have enough liquidity that they feasibly traded it out about once a
quarter. Why? Because fair market value needs to be something we can approximate. And we also
need to be able to sell the cars at auction or privately if need be and it not be an issue in
terms of illiquidity. So those are really the main elements. And then from there we have a list of
cars that we go out and we say, okay, now which of these do we believe are truly special? Johnny
Lieberman was pretty instrumental in saying, you guys need to really consider the Carrera GT,
this is quite undervalued compared to the Ferrari. He's one of their advisors, by the way, Hannah,
if you look at the Drift Capital website, you can see the their team. And I noticed that Johnny's
the only one wearing a helmet in that picture. So Eden, tell us a little bit about your history
with cars. What's your background in cars? What do you own? What do you drive? What are your car
credentials? Sure, and it's a great question. So my first business living in Houston, Texas was
actually a mobile detailing business, just going to the rich neighborhoods and dreaming of owning
a 911 and working on them all day in the Texas heat. So I did that for a couple years. And then
my background is actually more in the asset management world. I got my CFA and while I was
sort of waiting for results for level three, I said, why don't I explore a little bit?
Dude, you did all three levels of your CFA? I did. Yeah, I finished that couple years ago.
That's hellish. It is. Honestly, I'm one of those people, though, that like sickeningly
loved the program and love studying. Wow, nice job. Thank you. Thank you. So, you know, it
really was like combining a passion with a profession when it comes down to it.
So what other cars do you have? I know you are fairly secretive about your entire stable, but
what are the assets you're holding? If I were going to invest in your fund, what would you
share with me? Yeah, I mean, up until, you know, a week and a half ago, I would have said, you
know, we have a Carrera GT and a 1992 Ferrari F40. You know, the others were keeping pretty close
to the chest. You know, this is a market that has grown quite a bit in the past, call it two,
three years. So, you know, as other entrants enter the market, we want to make sure we're
keeping our car close to the chest. But you have the R8. I mean, you showed me pictures of that one
with the gated shifter, the V10. And you said investors can drive that one. So there's some
that investors in your fund are allowed to access. How does that work? Yes. So this is
something really exciting that we're launching, which is looking at, you know, the actual
experiential component for investors, because we can identify cars that have recent major services
and have enough mileage that putting on de minimis miles is not going to affect the value.
And the rising tide lifts all ships. So if we bought a Carrera GT, for example,
with 40,000 miles and put on a thousand a year, it's still likely to appreciate
pretty considerably in value. And it lets our investors have a piece of the action as well,
because that ultimately is a driving factor for a lot of our folks.
So what do you say to people who basically say, you know, funds like yours are evil,
and they're ruining the ruining the collector market because, you know, you're making decisions
based on data, and you're buying these as assets, you know, as a fund and not to drive and to love
like a normal collector would. What's your response to that? So the ones that we we purchase that we
don't drive, we already buy them at, you know, sub 1000 miles. So for better or worse, these were
destined to be collector cars put in museums held as representation for, you know, decades to come
as examples for folks to reference. So we try not to take cars that had mileage,
people were enjoying and say, you know what, no, we're going to store this away in hermetically
sealed vault. You know, that is not our goal. And we put pretty strict guidelines around,
you know, how many of a given model we would own. So we never want to like corner the market,
both for ethical purposes, and for market movement purposes as well. And ultimately,
we're democratizing an asset class that has really been inaccessible for the broad public.
You'd have to be a billionaire in order to access an actually diversified portfolio of cars.
So who, I mean, who is your competition? Because I've kind of vaguely heard about funds like this
or the idea of funds like this. But I've been doing this for 26 years. And I've never had a guest on
TV who runs a fund like this until today. Yeah. So in the United States,
there aren't any that I'm aware of. The European market is a little bit more mature in their
perspective of how they view cars as an asset class. But ultimately, our competition is
every other fund out there. And, you know, building a track record and a new asset class
as a new fund, you know, gives us plenty of competition. Where do you keep these cars? Like
the storage part of it is how you have problems with costs, right? So you have to have upkeep,
you have to either have them hermetically sealed or be worked on all the time. So how do you deal
with that? Yeah, you're absolutely right, Matt. So the physical asset management is just as important
as the, you know, other sort of risk parameters as well. So we store them with OEM dealerships,
who already have sort of the headquarters breathing down their neck to say, do you have the security
systems, the fire suppression, the drainage systems required in order to keep, you know,
your inventory safe. And that also allows us to keep them at a pretty unbelievably reasonable
cost, quite frankly. You keep them at dealerships? We keep them at dealerships in tax advantaged
locations. What are you going to buy now that you have, I mean, you have more funds from those
sales. And I guess you, you re up, right? You're not returning cash to investors.
We actually are offering return of proceeds to our investors, something that I think is
quite refreshing in today's private equity world. But frankly, the response has been so bullish
from our investors that they said, you know what, Eden, go ahead and recycle the cash and then the
capital into what you think is the next buy. I can't tell you, unfortunately, exactly what
we're going to buy because, you know, just as a couple of weeks ago, we've actually
decidedly moved the Carrera GT market. That was not our intention. So I want to be cautious that,
you know, the nation's dealerships don't immediately move everything up, you know, 20%
post podcast. I guess that could be a risk if they were all listening. Right.
And I hope that they are, but aren't there, you know, there's that bull market list that
Hagerty puts out. Are there cars that you think are undervalued now that maybe you're not interested
in buying so you could share them with us? Yeah. Hey, there you go. Look, I can give you some blue
chip names that are always of interest. We're quite deal driven, but we're always looking at a
number of different vehicles. So the 300 SL from Mercedes, both in the Gullwing form and in the
Roadster are timelessly beautiful. And cars that are timelessly beautiful and a joy to drive,
I think we'll always stand the test of time. That's interesting because it seems like the
point of the fund is that the cars aren't being driven. So how does the joy to drive come into
play in your investment assessment? Because it's still attractive for others to buy set asset,
right? So it's still is attractive if we own one that, you know, others will try to buy it from
us. As a car guy, I hope that somebody, you know, drives the Ferrari F40 and 50,000 miles.
How many miles did it have when you sold it? 882. Wow. So nothing. Nothing. And the Carrera GT?
603. But you do have like the Audi R8 you said had what? Yeah, almost 20,000 miles.
And that one you drive, how many of the cars are accessible for investors to drive versus
those that are low mile cars you don't want to touch? Yeah, a handful, you know, without being
too sort of coy about it, you know, a handful. The goal is still is to maximize the returns of
the asset class. And if we can provide an exciting experience for folks, all the better.
We never heard what cars you own, Eden. Yeah, nothing too exciting. You know,
Porsche Cayenne when I'm in Utah, where my parents live, but I live in New York City. And
frankly, I take the bus and I take the metro and, you know, that's been working well for me,
but I really do miss driving. Dude, it's been great having you in Bloomberg today.
Thanks so much for coming. And I'm going to check back in with you to find out which cars,
when you can tell us that you replace the F40 and the Carrera GT with.
You'll be the first to know. Thank you for having me. Okay, that was Eden Cooper,
really cool of him to come and spend some time with us. He was on my television show on Open
Interest. And then I said, Hey, you should come into the studio and talk to me. I'm glad you did
that. I want to talk a little bit about my, the Cadillac Escalade V that I'm driving right now.
We have to take a break first. Okay, so we'll come back to it. We'll take a break and we'll come
back more on the Cadillac SUV coming up on hot pursuit.
for the stories that matter with the context you need. Find us on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you
listen. Let's talk about these SUVs. Yes. Okay. So it's big. I had a realization
in the last couple of days driving this Cadillac Escalade V. Now to be
clear, I don't know if I would spend $179,000 on an SUV. That's what this one costs. And I was
also shocked to see that it costs that much because I remember looking at these a few years ago,
and they were far less, they've gotten much, much more expensive. But you know, I have a growing
family plus I'm a big person myself. I like large SUVs and I realized that when I was thinking, wow,
this may be my all time favorite car. I've only thought that about big cars. I realize recently
I've only thought that about SUVs. I love my 911. I love my Challenger. I like sports cars a lot.
Like I really do enjoy them. But every time I've thought this may be my favorite car of all time,
it has been about my G500 that I had in Berlin or my Ford F-150 Raptor that I had when I lived
in Bronxville. Like I've always only thought that about big trucks, which is interesting, right?
Interesting. Yeah, I mean, I love that these things have a point of view and they are all
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