Girardo & Co.: Only the best will do
The collector car sales business founded by former auction head Max Girardo has gone from strength to strength. Here’s why…
There’s a very simple philosophy behind collector car specialist Girardo & Co.: “We don’t ask whether a car is valuable enough; we ask whether it’s the very best example we can find,” explains Max Girardo, who founded the company six years ago after more than a decade working at the very top of the auction game.
Girardo & Co. – A bespoke service
“I loved the auction world – I learned so much,” he says. “But I wanted a change, I wanted to set up something bespoke, taking everything I’d learned from auctions and tailoring it to a smaller number of clients.”
Now Girardo & Co. sells around 70 cars a year, dealing in the very best examples of the most exciting post-war classics. The team has grown, and the company has relocated from West London to much larger premises in rural Oxfordshire, plus a showroom in Turin. Girardo & Co. is now known for stunning displays at shows such as Rétromobile, for its exciting promotional videos and for the very best cars – such as the Group B-onwards rally cars that Max so loves.
“We can really focus on the cars we like,” says Max. “We have more time for the cars and for the clients, and because of that 90-95 percent of our sales are repeat business. Most of our clients are collectors; we can steer and guide them on what to buy next, which is the best one, where’s the collection going. Half of our work is sourcing specific cars – it’s a much bigger part of our job than we ever thought it would be.”
the Girardo & Co. Archive
Where Girardo & Co. really stands out is the time spent researching, initially to ensure that only the very best are sourced, but then to deep-dive into the histories of the cars for sale. If that sounds like a hollow claim, consider that the company bought a little-known archive of more than three million historic motor sport photographs last year, specifically to aid the research.
“We take a lot of pride in our research and preparation,” explains Max. “It’s not just a case of stick it on the website and see how it goes. We find out things people didn’t previously know, and we present the cars in the best possible way. We find pictures of the cars that no one has previously seen. By the time we have finished, you should see the size of the history files!”
Only the very best models – be it a Fiat jolly or a 275 GTB Competizione
The move to the new Belchers Farm UK premises has helped this enormously. It allows storage of the archive, more space for the cars, great roads in the surrounding countryside for clients to try their potential purchases, future plans for vehicle storage and ‘cars and coffee’-type meetings, and more room for the team – research is handled by Marcus Willis and Peter Macalpine, media and marketing by Alex Easthope, administration by Cat Bunch and sales by Davide De Giorgi and Max.
Girardo & Co. operates on a transparent percentage basis, without any hidden costs to the car sales, and Max says he’s committed to sticking with only the very best models. “Is it the right year, the right colour, the right condition?” he asks. “We sold a Fiat Jolly – it’s not all about value, but this was the very best out there. Now we have a Jaguar Mk2 – it’s all original, with a full history and its original paint. It’s really lovely! But we’ve also just sold a Ferrari 275GTB Competizione Clienti with full period competition history.
“The market is healthy, cars are still trading even if prices aren’t going up so quickly any more. In fact, going up is not necessarily healthy. It is ever-evolving, and that’s healthy.”
Find out more about Girardo & Co
Website: www.girardo.com
Contact: [email protected]
Call: +44 203 621 2923
Words David Lillywhite Photos Tom Shaxson
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