Auction set to drive high price for for last remaining classic 1969 Lancia Fulvia Spider

Collectors’ item: a 1969 Lancia Fulvia Spider Fiorio & Maglioli, selling at auction for a price that reflects its rarity (Julian Menendez)

A 1969 Lancia Fulvia Spider Fiorio & Maglioli will be sold today by auctioneers Coys at the NEC in Birmingham and is expected to fetch as much as £220,000.

Why? The car, pictured above, is the only one remaining of three built and collectors are attracted by a sparkling racing record.

The Lancia was modified for the Targa Florio endurance race after the team’s drivers suffered heat exhaustion at the 1969 Daytona 24-hour race.

Everything superfluous was taken off – including the roof – which helped the car to finish ninth at the Targa Florio, before going on to finish second at the 1969 Monte Carlo Rally. It then went one better to finish first in class over both the 1,000kms of Nurburgring and at the 1969 Rally del Mediterraneo.Classic cars are attractive to investors because of fast rising prices. But there’s another reason – the tax benefit. While prices of heritage vehicles have soared in recent years – in fact they’ve outperformed gold during the last decade – the fact that there’s no capital gains tax (CGT) to pay on any profits makes them tempting investments.

The tax exclusion is because they are categorised both as “wasting assets” and passenger vehicles. Wasting assets are possessions such as machinery and items with a predicted life of less than 50 years.

It means the cars are exempt from CGT, which would otherwise be charged on gains above the annual exemption of £10,900 at 18 per cent, or 28 per cent if you are a higher-rate taxpayer.