SOME of the world’s best known supercars are becoming a driving force in helping their owners secure short term loans.

Borro was launched in 2008 and describes its business as ‘personal asset lending’. It says it has lent almost £8 million against supercars stored in its climate controlled facility.

And last year the company saw a 127 per cent increase in the loan value of supercars compared to 2011. the Top 5 makes are:

• Porsche
• Mercedes
• Bentley
• Aston Martin
• Jaguar 

Paul Aitken, CEO of borro, says: “Often clients coming to us with these types of high performance vehicles own another car and keep their supercar in storage so it makes sense to use it as security for a loan. 

“In the main, our clients are self-employed or small business owners, looking to unlock finance from prestige vehicles to facilitate business transactions or opportunities.”

Since the company was launched in 2008 the top supercars used by its clients to access finance have been Porsche, Mercedes, Bentley, Aston Martin and Jaguar.

One example is Michael Davis who borrowed £100,000 against a 1972 Ferrari 365. Michael is a director of classic car restoration and investment firm Britalia and he wanted to buy the Ferrari as an investment but he needed his cash back right away while he looked for a long-term finance solution.

“I was away on a break in Australia at the time but the loan was completed over the phone and online in a timely fashion,” Michael said.

“This gave me the ability to secure the car immediately while still having the time to organise my finances going forward. Had I waited I would have lost the deal.”

While not in the top five for securing loans borro has has seen a plethora of different Ferrari models used as collateral, including a Ferrari 360, Ferrari 575M, and a Ferrari 456M to name but a few. The oldest model seen at borro is Michael Davis’ 365.