The Attic Update Vol. 5 - McLaren F1, Bill Murray's Painting, and Buying the Metaverse
Beyond Alternative Assets
Thanks for reading the Attic Update, a weekly look at the exciting world of collecting and investing in alternative assets.
The Attic Update is broken down into three sections - Past, Present, and Future.
PAST - Interesting ideas about the history of collecting, investing, and markets.
PRESENT - Ten of the most relevant stories in collecting and alternative asset investing over the past week.
FUTURE - Where are we headed? We’ll look at what’s next for alternative assets and the people working hard to make visions into reality.
Let’s begin!
PAST
1990s Supercar Perfection, The McLaren F1 -
In the early 1990s, Gordon Murray had the vision to create a super-lightweight and super-fast road car. After several Formula 1 victories on the racetrack for McLaren, the small racing company granted Murray full authority to build the F1.
Unveiled to the public in May of 1992, the McLaren F1 captivated car enthusiasts with a stunning design and breathtaking speed and acceleration.
The first-ever carbon-fiber frame, 627 horsepower, 7500 rpm, and a BMW V-12 engine made the F1 the fastest production car in history. With a top speed of 231 miles per hour, it’s called the last great analog car.
But what makes the McLaren F1 possibly the greatest car ever? Why not ask current F1 owners?
Road and Track interviewed McLaren F1 owners, and it tells the story better than anything else could. Jay Leno, who’s owned an F1 for over 20 years, describes the car this way. “It makes the greatest noise ever. And there’s no flywheel - you turn the key off, it stops - right now. You don’t get that half a second of rrr. The only analogy I can make: One time I did a concert with Paul Simon and Paul McCartney. There wasn’t a guitar strum, a string - the song ended - right now.”
Another amazing McLaren F1 anecdote comes from Matt Farah, who, in the same Road and Track interview, says:
“My favorite McLaren F1 story is from Ralph Lauren. About the year 2000. One of his three F1s. The car wasn’t running right, so he plugs it into the wall. The car dials McLaren. Two guys in tweed jackets come over from England, they show up at his house. They go, “okay, give us the keys.” They come back and go, “You’re not shifting high enough,” and fly back to England. That was it, the whole problem. That’s what owning a McLaren F1 is like.”
Just hours ago, one of the greatest cars ever built traded hands at the Gooding & Company Pebble Beach Auction. The chassis number 029, 1995 McLaren F1, sold for $20,465,000. The Creighton Brown McLaren is just one of 64 examples ever made.
Appreciation for the 1990s McLaren F1 supercar grows larger than ever.
Watch live coverage of the Gooding & Co. 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance auction at 1 pm PST on Sunday, August 15th, featuring dozens of incredibly rare vehicles.
PRESENT
Must-read books, and Bill Murray’s favorite art -
Here’s the ‘Attic Top 10’ - The most relevant stories in collecting and investing in alternative assets over the past week. Not only to keep you informed but to provoke deeper thought, investigation, curiosity, and fun!
Fractional Ownership - Otis from out of the clouds! CryptoPunk #543 is fully funded within minutes. The surprise offering included 40% retained owner equity. If you want a piece of the action, you need to stay on your toes in the fractional asset space!
Memorabilia & Collectibles - Upcoming RR Auction will include a rare Apple 1 computer, estimated at $450,000, and a leather bomber jacket worn by Steve Jobs, estimated to sell for $25,000.
Sports Cards - Nat Turner and Steve Sloan from PSA discuss all things cards on ‘Lukas and Tigers and Brons’ Podcast.
Rare Books - If you love books, this Twitter thread is an absolute must-read. @LexFridman asks the Twittersphere for book recommendations, and the replies include hundreds of incredible historical and modern book titles you may have forgotten about. It’s sure to get your 1st edition book collector-mind thinking.
Crypto & NFTs - The NFT market is popping off big-time, but don’t forget about your Dad’s Bitcoin. No, the Boomer Coin is not dead. It’s alive and well and knocking on $50,000. Check out Pomp. As far as he’s concerned, there’s only one crypto worth talking about. Bitcoin.
Watches - Hodinkee attempts to steal my heart with a beautiful article on the limited edition G-SHOCK. You write a piece on the Casio G-SHOCK, and I’m talking about it. Period. Read more about the legendary watch here.
Wine & Whiskey - Want to invest in maturing Scotch Whisky? Find out how during the Rare Finds Worldwide webinar on August 31st. Rare Finds Worldwide sources, trades, invests and monitors the world of whisky cask trading. Tons of whisky investing resources on their site.
Markets & Investing - The trillion-dollar question on every investor’s mind. Here’s a nice chart by Michael Turvey on the S&P 500 Index, hitting new all-time highs almost every day this week. How long will the run continue? Nobody knows.
Collector Cars - Of course, everyone saw Lamborghini’s updated version of the Countach released this week. But Ferrari is never out of the news. A 2003 Ferrari Enzo sold just a few days ago for $3.8 million. One of only 400 produced, the car had just 353 miles since new. Here are a few reasons Ferrari has continued to innovate into the 21st century.
Art - The painting that Bill Murray credits for saving his life is on display at the Art Institute in Chicago. ‘The Song of the Lark’ by Jules Breton changed Murray’s mindset in a dangerous time of extreme depression. “I thought, well, there’s a girl who doesn’t have a whole lot of prospects, but the sun’s coming up anyway, and she’s got another chance at it…” Watch Bill Murray discuss the painting here. Amazing story of art delivering hope in a time of despair.
Featured Pod - The Worn & Wound Podcast discuss the “Grail” watch. Blake Buettner and Zach Kazan talk about hunting great watches.
Why Own Fractional Shares of Alternative Assets? 8 Reasons to Invest in Fractional Share Alternative Assets
FUTURE
Chime hits $25 Billion, How to invest in the Metaverse -
FinTech shooting star ‘Chime’ raises $750 million funding round; valuation hits $25 billion. But how much is Chime actually worth? The mobile banking platform now has 20 million customers, but Chime’s valuation is equal to Fifth Third Bank, which only has 4 million customers.
With backing from Tiger Global, among other VC titans, Chime aims to deliver a better mobile banking experience for customers with fewer fees. In the “digital bank” space, Chime is fully loaded to fend off competitors and grow customer accounts to become the next dominant player in banking.
The Metaverse ETF
Combine virtual reality, social networking, online gaming, and user-generated content, and you have the ‘Metaverse.’ Now, how do you invest in the growth of such a virtual conglomeration?
A new ETF from Roundhill enables investment in the Metaverse growth through publically listed companies such as Nvidia, Tencent, Roblox, Fastly, and Unity. These companies are at the foundation of, what some say, is an $800 billion industry.
Not only does Roundhill offer an ETF for Metaverse exposure, but it also provides E-Sports, Sports Betting, Pro Sports, and a Streaming ETF. Very provoking basket of companies here! Check it out, and of course, this is not investment advice. Consult your advisors.
BONUS
Quote from the legends -
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” - Charlie Munger
Tweet of the Week -
1991 Ferrari Testarossa sells for $126,000. I was so excited to see such an amazing car sell for just a touch over 100k. That’s a lot of money, don’t get me wrong, but are you kidding me? One of the most iconic Ferrari’s ever made, and with only 19k miles on it, from the original owner, selling for only $126,000?!
Check out the official listing at Bring A Trailer and tell me this is not one of the best deals you’ve ever seen. Congrats to the lucky buyer.
Tweet of the Week, PART 2 -
Charlie Bilello @charliebilello from Compound Capital Advisors posted this cool graphic breaking down all-time highs in the S&P 500 per year going back to 1929. Gives a little perspective on the investing environment we’ve been living in over the last 10 years or so. Will the pendulum swing?? Again, nobody knows. But nice chart, Charlie.
A Question for You -
What new categories would you like to see more discussion about each week? Star Wars action figures? Vintage vinyl records? Kanye’s Yeezy sneakers?? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading!