Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Hi all,

Apart from when there are local events taking place, seeing an old car in "normal" day-to-day use, say during the week, or parked up in a car park in town say, seems to be becoming a fairly rare occurrence.

Are people using their old cars less and less, perhaps sticking with occasional show visits, but less and less for the daily commute, shopping trip, random drive out in the evening?

Perhaps the demographic of people who own old cars is changing? Away from hands-on tinkerers who'll drive their cars whenever they can, to people who buy something on a whim, to be part of the "scene" but with no intention of driving their steed other than to the odd show now and then?

I've no stats to back any of this up, it just feels like fewer old cars are appearing on the road - apart from going to/from shows and the like.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[alastairq]

I agree Seems to be the impression I get.

How many owners of anything elderly, will put it away over the winter months?

My main problem the pension isn't keeping pace with the fuel consumptions!!

[Around 23 average t'gallon, for the tin top, and around 25-30 for the roofless. must do something with the FIAT 126!!]

[Rootes75]

I think there is a lot of truth I that. Locally to us there are lots of classic and vintage cars but very few 'hands on' owners. Many people we know have bought cars on a whim and you only see them out when its sunny. We have noticed there are also few people would take on a full restoration these days.
_________________
Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Bitumen Boy]

My Herald has had several spells of being my only car and even the only running car in the household, but rarely gets out these days. I drove it to a local show on Monday and think that's the first time it's been out of the garage since the beginning of May. I would like to use it more, but most times I need to drive these days it's to the tip / builder's merchant / supermarket and so the hatchback modern - which can also carry a bicycle with minimal fuss - is the only practical choice. The only way I can get a week's shopping in the Herald is to load a fair bit of it onto the back seat and that's not easy in an average parking space, no good for the doors or my back. Carrying a bicycle means a hefty home-made roofrack and lots of rope while more than one bag of cement in the boot never seems like a good idea.

[Ellis]

Yes, I agree as well.

20 - 25 years ago, even in the Conwy Valley there were significant numbers of classic cars in regular if not daily use. A MG Magnette was used daily by one gent who lived in the village (the original owner of the local Motor Museum) as well as a restored Morris Minor Traveller by another.
Others including Minors, old Minis, Wolseley 1500s Ford Anglia 105e's, Triumph Heralds and VW Beetles were regularly seen especially at weekends. A regular weekly visitor was a Hillman Avenger and a Wolseley 15/50 in a striking maroon colour. Another notable was a Sunbeam Rapier 111 or 111a until about 2005 or so.

I see classic cars on weekends but I cannot think of any old cars in regular use in this area except old Land Rovers, my own included.
I will add that fewer classics are now owned by locals these days and those few that are tend only to be used in the summer or to exhibit at local shows.
_________________
Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Ray White]

I think it all boils down to the sheer complexity of modern cars. How many Dads tinker with their cars at the week end these days? If the younger generation is not exposed to the joys (and otherwise) of car maintenance because the vehicles today are so user unfriendly the hobby as we know it will largely die out. I know if it hadn't been for my Dad working on cars at home I would probably have never become interested.

As it happens, my Dad was not interested in old cars and when I told him I had bought an Austin Seven he thought I had taken leave of my senses.

[alastairq]

Perhaps it all started to go downhill when we began to consider our vehicles as 'restored', rather than simply , 'done up?'
Monetary values must have become the overriding influence over how we use our vehicles?
To the exclusion of our desire to enjoy?
Sadly!

[peppiB]

[Ray White]

[Keith D]

I think there are less and less old (hobby)cars in regular use on West Australian roads during the week in the last year or two for economic reasons.

All our licence fees went up alarmingly a year or so ago. A "normal" licence now costs about $800 a year. We have the option of putting our cars on a "B" licence (club licence) that only costs about $65 a year. The downside is that we can only use our cars thus licenced, on Club runs or for testing purposes. Testing purposes have just been defined as no more than 30km from the registered home of the car.

Many of the enthusiasts over here have more than one old car as well as their moderns, so they opt for the cheaper licence and do not use their oldies very far from home.

In my own case, my A40 tourer has been on "normal" licence since new, but when I received a bill for $800 I decided that I didn't use it anywhere near enough to justify spending that much money. So it went on club licence!

Keith
_________________
1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution

[badhuis]

My classics are always in use except when it rains or worse.
Practicality is one thing to consider.
Maybe surprisingly the Chamois for supermarket shopping is not the best. Handling a heavy box of things through the back window is not that easy, although the marketing blurb back then promised otherwise! But for walking the dog it is ideal, with the back seat down it is a perfect platform for the the dog to look out of the window (barking to the cows) while on the way to the walking grounds.
The TR4 is very good for the supermarket, having a fairly big luggage compartment as does the 420.
_________________
a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[alastairq]

Off-topic, but, I was surprised [at the time] when Rooootes failed to provide a lift-up hatch for the coupe versions of the Impoise-etto shells...

My daily driver is still 23 years old......but leave little piles of rust in the supermarket car park...becasue I load the shopping in through the back door, which requires a bit of slamming........

[mikeC]

There's no shortage of daily-use classics round here: just today whilst out for no more than an hour, I saw two Morris Minors, three VW Beetles, one split-screen VW camper and one bay-window camper. All are well-used (ie decidedly tatty!) regular sightings, and I suspect they are all in use as the only transport in the family. I also regularly see an MGB Roadster and an MGB GT which I suspect are both second cars in the family.
_________________
in the garage: 1938 Talbot Ten Airline
Recently departed: 1953 Lancia Appia, 1931 Austin Seven, 1967 Singer Chamois, 1914 Saxon, 1930 Morris Cowley, 1936 BSA Scout, 1958 Lancia Appia coupe, 1922 Star 11.9 ... the list goes on!

[ukdave2002]

I don’t think that there is any one answer;

Firstly we must be into the second generation who will not have been brought up with parents tinkering with every day cars, most people below the age of 50 wont relate to Dad (or Mum!) with their head under the bonnet. This generation will be less confident in using an old car as a daily runner. A £200 run around bought in 1987 would almost certainly require some mechanical nouse to keep on the road, for the equivalent £500 today will buy you something solid and reliable, so the days when young folk bought their first car and had to learn on the job how to fix it have gone.

Secondly, remember that 3o years ago the Morris Minor had only been out of production for 16 years, MGB’s 8 years, Ford Cortina 5 years, Austin 1300 12 years , these were in many cases still just old cars, we probably have as many cars of the same age on the road today as we did then, but they just don’t need anywhere near the same attention to keep running.

Thirdly I think the point made that vehicles tend to be restored now, rather than just repaired to keep them going is very valid, and as such were never going to be daily runners. This also explains that classic car prices seem to have risen in recent years.

Finally I think it’s the practicality; for most (but by no means all) its more practical to have a modern car as a daily driver with all the comforts that come with it. Cluttered roads seem to be filling up with other drivers who have less and less patience are less appealing in an old crock..... taking the example to its extreme, do you know anyone who would use a horse as daily transport …..There is bound to be a member who does!

Dave

[lowdrag]

No one yet seems to have mentioned anno domini. I love my cars, but find that getting in and out is tougher (especially since a herniated disc operation this spring) and so I am less inclined to use them than before. I looked back through the mileage of the E-type, and whereas five years ago and more she did a regular 5,000 p.a. she did but 1,500 last year and will probably do around 2,000 this year. I have also noticed that when I park her up outside the bar for a coffee in the mornings people don't even glance at her, and young kids just walk on by. The car culture was of our generation and doesn't seem to be part of today's world. Sad, but all things must pass.