Calcutta: The Merc in a neighbour's garage no longer invites envy. For someone with deep pockets who wants to do the whole shebang, a sports car is the ultimate aspiration, even a used one.
In "price-sensitive" Calcutta, the market for second-hand sports cars that are good as new seems to be growing fast and furious.
Shibaji Roy, the businessman killed in a Ferrari crash on Sunday, was driving what an automotive enthusiast would call a "pre-worshipped" California T convertible.
Sports cars depreciate in value rapidly, so much so that they can be bought at half the showroom prices after a couple of years. Since hardly anyone goes to work in a Lamborghini Aventador, any such car would have run only a few thousand kilometres by then.
"A Rs 6-crore car can sell for Rs 3.75 crore after a year, depending on whether it is a current model, the kilometres it has done and the overall condition of the machine. With such high depreciation, these cars are much-sought-after by those who would like to own one but either cannot afford the showroom price or don't see value in paying so much," said Dheeraj Jha, who introduces himself an "authorised dealer" of second-hand sports cars in the east.
"Calcutta and Chennai are the top growing markets for supercars. Delhi and Mumbai have already hit a plateau," he told Metro.
A 2014 Lamborghini Gallardo that had been bought for Rs 3.25 crore now has a sticker price of Rs 1.65 crore after running 2,000km. A 2015 Bentley Flying Spur, with only 15,000km on its odometer, sold for Rs 2.25 crore. The price tag for a new one is Rs 4.10 crore.
A typical Calcutta buyer would be a businessman with a love of cars, newly cultivated or otherwise, and not necessarily among the visible movers and shakers.
The club that Shibaji belonged to comprises people who are all into sports cars "for the sheer love of them", according to a member who did not wish to be named.
Driving around in a sports car, of course, guarantees head turns that can be as elevating as the thrill of a spin on such a machine.
The city that once used to produce the much-maligned Ambassador currently has a sports car and luxury saloon fleet that includes two Aston Martins, five Maseratis, 14 Lamborghinis, 10 Bentleys, nine Rolls-Royce and 12 Ferraris.
Sumit Biswas, who describes himself as an investor, bought a 2015 Lamborghini Huracan from Jha in February. "I have driven it sparingly in Calcutta. I have realised that the car is not meant to be driven on Calcutta roads. It has such low-profile tyres that the drive is not comfortable at all," he said.
The supercar market is said to be growing in the city at 50 per cent annually. Every year, 30 to 35 of them are sold, many of them second-hand. "While Merc and BMW showroom sales are up, second-hand supercars are also being snapped up for Rs 1-3 crore. Luxury saloons no longer have that wow factor. Now, it is the Maserati or the Aston Martin that give you a sense of exclusiveness," said an enthusiast who, like most Calcuttans, doesn't own one but attends every "supercar do" in the city.
Lamborghini, when it launched the Rs 3.5-crore SUV called Urus, did a show at a five-star hotel. Bentley was here some years ago to showcase its Flying Spur.
"They basically invite high networth individuals to have a dekko and do the sales pitch," said Adarsh Tulshan of SpeedInc. Customers who decide to pick up a vehicle after a show visit Delhi or Mumbai, where the dealerships are located, to buy their dreamboats.
A few might make a purchase through a local person who has a tie-up with the Delhi or Mumbai dealers. Delhi has the country's largest second-hand supercar dealership, Big Boy Toyz. The MG Road showroom spans three floors.
"Calcutta has been a fruitful place for Big Boy Toyz to procure some of the most rare supercars in India such as the Lamborghini Gallardo Noctis, which is the only one in India, together with the Ferrari California T and the Jaguar F-Type Supercharged," the company's founder, Jatin Ahuja, said.
