Want to own a rare Lambo or Ferrari? Miami company selling shares of them

Miamians love showing off their flashy cars, hitting the accelerator for even one block in downtown or Brickell or parading them down the streets of South Beach.

Now, there’s a new way to see — and possibly invest in — some of these top-line wheels.

A two-story Wynwood warehouse with no recognizable entrance nor outside signage serves as a showroom, displaying Lamborghinis, Ferraris and about a dozen other rare vintage luxury cars. The building has virtually no windows, tight security and 24/7 surveillance. You can’t test-drive the beauties, but you can ogle them.

MCQ Markets, the South Florida company behind the venture, opened the warehouse late last year. It caters to car collectors and high-end automobile aficionados who want to buy shares in the cars, which can go for as much as $1.1 million.

The start-up comes as the collector car market faces challenges, but is growing as young affluent buyers see them as investments. The U.S. Classic Cars Market size was valued at $12.6 billion in 2024 and is estimated to reach $26 billion by 2032, according to Credence Research. From 2025 to 2032, cumulative annual growth is expected to hit 8.8%, says Ganesh Chandwade, the Credence analyst who wrote the report.

At the Pebble Beach, California, auction in August, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider Competizione sold for $25.3 million, a record for the event, according to Credence.

MCQ isn’t a sole player in the South Florida market, known for its love of showy cars that command sticker prices in the hundreds of thousands. Walt Grace Vintage, also in Wynwood, combines classic guitars with automobiles. Ocean Auto Club is in Coral Gables. Miami Classics Garage near Miami International Airport stores owners’ luxury cars. The Miami International Auto Show, which starts Friday and runs through Oct. 5, draws big crowds at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

MCQ hopes to stand out by making vintage luxury cars more accessible, pitching to investors they can own a piece for $500 and up.

Similar Lambo in ‘Miami Vice’

The first car MCQ marketed to investors was a white 1986 Lamborghini Countach with fire engine red interior and scissor doors that open up instead of out, allowing for a more dramatic entrance. A similar car — same model — was in a chase scene in season two of “Miami Vice.” The car was one of 610 made, MCQ said.

The car’s retail price when it first came on the market was $135,850. MCQ got the car through the family of company co-founder Lachlan DeFrancesco, who bought it in 2019 for an undisclosed price.

MCQ opened up the Lamborghini to investors in December, valuing the car at $649,850. It sold out, or was “fully subscribed” in stock market parlance, in 48 hours.

“It’s an investment in something that’s a lot of fun,” said Curt Hopkins, MCQ’s CEO.

Racing go-carts at Homestead track

DeFrancesco, born in Canada but who moved to South Florida with his family as a child in 2008, started the company in 2023 with his friend Paul Glavine, a Canadian entrepreneur and investor. They put their own money into the company, said DeFrancesco, who would not disclose to the Herald what their investment was. One year earlier, DeFrancesco had enrolled at Miami Dade College for an associate’s degree.

Now 22, DeFrancesco recounts that one Christmas his father bought go-carts for him and his brother. He was barely in elementary school. His mother was livid. “My son isn’t going to be a race car driver,” he remembered her saying.

His appetite whetted, he spent a lot of time as a teen at the Homestead track, go-cart racing.

“That started my interest in cars,” he said.

In March 2024, MCQ brought on Hopkins as CEO. The 57-year-old is a veteran business executive originally from Chicago who worked in tech and founded a methane abatement company.

$500 minimum to invest

The minimum to invest is $500 at $20 per share., creating an account on MCQ’s website. The firm conducts basic due diligence required by the SEC, mainly verifying you’re a real person, Hopkins said. Otherwise, there’s no other criteria.

MCQ plans to hold onto a car for two to three years, betting the value goes up over that period. That’s what happened with the 1986 Lamborghini Countach. In July, about seven months after investors piled in, MCQ sold the car to an outside party for $735,000. Over that time, investors made a 14% return after fees, the firm said.

Hopkins says the quick sale was likely more an exception, than a pattern.

“We’re a business that’s just getting going and it’s good for us to demonstrate that the model works,” he said.

The CEO said the Lamborghini Countach investors didn’t object to the decision to sell. “People are pleased to make money.”

The investors are like investors in a pension fund or venture capital fund: They’ve given control to MCQ to manage their investment.

MCQ obtains cars from dealers, trade shows and its own network. The company gets the cars appraised by dealers and consults collector car market research sites before setting a fixed price. That valuation is akin to an initial public offering stock price.

MCQ has three other cars open to investors, including a 1984 Ferrari 512 BBi, one of the last hand-built Ferraris, says DeFrancesco. The car was a precursor to the Testarossa and one of 1,007 made. MCQ is valuing the car at about $485,000.

Rare Lexus

A tour of the warehouse shows that collectors’ cars aren’t always what you might expect.

A Lexus? A 2012 Lexus LFA, to be precise.

In 2000, Toyota started a project to build what it hoped would be the ultimate sports car. The company initially used aluminum. But halfway through production, Toyota executives decided the car was too heavy and switched to carbon fiber polymer to make it lighter.

Toyota was many years behind schedule, and even the lighter car didn’t find many buyers.

“It just didn’t take off,” said DeFrancesco. But, “it’s an iconic car.”

The Lexus MCQ has on display is 1 of 500 made. When it debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2009 and later became available briefly to retailers, it cost $375,000. Its current valuation is $852,833, MCQ says.

“These are cars that appreciate,” said Hopkins. “They are works of art. They are technically phenomenal and they are in working order.”

In August, MCQ opened up to investors a 2001 Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0. It’s 1 of 3 finished in blue.

Before year-end, Hopkins said they hope to open up a 2014 Mercedes SLS Black Series AMG, one of 350 made and one of 30 in the U.S. finished in solar beam yellow.

Appealing to Millennials, Gen Z

MCQ will face plenty of challenges as it tries to take off.

AssetClassic, a firm that runs a private-equity fund investing in collectible cars, maintains an AssetClassic Auction Index, or ACAI, that includes classic and collector vehicles made before the 2010s. The fund focuses on average retail values above $23,000. In 2024, the index fell nearly 4%.

MCQ acknowledged potential obstacles in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “There is potentially significant competition for the acquisition of cars from many different market participants,” the firm wrote. That includes auction houses but also other types of collectors, such as wine collectors.

And, “maintaining classic cars requires high financial commitment and access to rare components,” Credence’s Chandwade wrote in his report.

Still, analysts see growing interest in the market, especially among a younger wealthy pool of buyers.

A 2024 report by Bank of America on wealthy Americans found that 65% of respondents are interested in collectibles. That jumped to 94% among those under 44. Millennials and Gen Z are at least two times more likely than older generations to be collectors of watches, wine or spirits, rare or classic cars, sneakers and antiques, the report found.

“The U.S. Classic Cars Market shows a clear trend of younger buyers treating vintage vehicles as alternative investments,” wrote Chandwade. “Millennials and Gen Z investors increasingly view collectible cars as stable assets.”

And MCQ is adding incrementally. Hopkins says they plan to grow in Miami and soon have more than 20 cars in their warehouse.

“This is our headquarters,” he said. “We’re going to be doing more and more here.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 1:18 PM.