Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, family-owned outfit Romans International has a novel approach to supplying modern performance machines: they believe in the type of personal service usually reserved for classic car customers…
In 1994, Paul Jaconelli founded his London–based luxury car dealership using his wealth of industry contacts, and the Italian-derived surname which seems so appropriate to many of the supercars in which the company specialises. He was later joined by his brother Marc and, two decades on, the next generation of Jaconellis are heavily involved: Tom manages the buying operation, Ben handles the e-bike side-venture, and Max is currently gaining a degree in order to follow Tom’s youthful-yet-knowledgeable lead.
Keeping it in the family
The personal approach to selling cars (an approach familiar to the classic car world) is often overlooked by corporately-owned modern luxury car dealers. Too often, the emphasis is on rapid stock turnaround – but family-run Romans prefers to build a long-term relationship with a customer. “Although we can send cars globally, we actively try to deal mainly with UK customers, as there’s a much higher chance of us meeting that individual and their car again, further down the line,” Tom tells Classic Driver. This resulting pool of long-term clients also means that Romans can often source nearly-new, limited-number specials (such as the for-sale 50th Anniversary Lamborghini Aventador and recently-sold Hennessey Venom GT) just as quickly as franchised dealers can stock brand-new ones.
Future fancies
Romans occasionally stocks certified jewels such as Miuras and Gullwings, but places its main focus on treasures of the future: those that will soon be considered ‘classics’ in their own right. “We believe rare, beautiful cars such as the BMW Z8 and Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione will really begin to appreciate over the next decade or two. Furthermore, we’ve made a name for ourselves in dealing with the Veyron, Enzo and Carrera GT hypercars – we try to have at least one of each in stock at any one time.” The company also has the contacts to source their modern-day counterparts, such as the LaFerrari and McLaren P1 – both of which are officially sold out.
Despite the personal approach to business, Romans operates from a large, modern showroom – and all cars advertised are available to view on-site. You can see some of its more noteworthy stock in the Classic Driver Market.
Romans International's website can be found at romansinternational.com.
