Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

For years I was friendly with a delightful gentleman who enjoyed his classic cars by buying genuinely low mileage cars and maintaining them in pristine condition.
Sadly he passed away three years ago but I asked him shortly before his passing how he enjoyed his classic cars. His reply was that he was no longer interested in restoring cars any more, a shame, because as a former engineer his skills were wide ranging and meticulous. He delighted in tracking down genuinely low mileage cars with history and returning them with a regime of cleaning to showroom condition.

He owned many over the years including a 19k mileage 1969 Jaguar 240, a 8k 1969 Austin 1300 , a 1963 Rover P5 with 18k and at one time a 1966 5k Volvo P1800. I doubt if he drove any of them more than twenty miles every year
They all looked like brand new cars, flawless and cherished. His wife rolled her eyes and shook her head with weary acceptance.

Do you know of such owners or genuinely low mileage classics?

I know of a 1963 Wolseley 16/60 which is treated as a family heirloom and that has only 20k miles on it and of a Volkswagen 411 Type 4 Estate which has been with the same family since new in 1969.

I could mention quite a few more but now it's your turn.
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Starting Handle Expert

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

[kevin2306]

My Singer has 25000 miles on it, got most of the old mot certain which verify the mileage. I managed 1800 miles last year which for tootling about isn't bad.
How many miles I rack up isn't an issue, I do use it as much as I can.

Kev

[lowdrag]

Not personally, but I can always remember the now-dismantled Patrick collection. A truly amazing anarchic collection of virtually every new car on the market, all with delivery mileage. I went a couple of times and was truly amazed to see cars such as a Skoda Estelle, a Marina and all the everyday cars still completely new. So I guess that a lot of these cars, when sold off, are tucked away and since they are delivery mileage will remain so.

[Ray White]

You need to use a car or it will deteriorate by just standing idle. Brakes seize, clutch plates stick, rubber hardens and many other parts perish. Also, unless kept in ideal conditions, condensation will cause serious rusting in boxed chassis sections. Electrical connections also corrode more if they are not used. That is before mentioning rodents getting into exhausts and if they find their way into the interior can make a right mess.

I remember looking at what seemed to be an immaculate low mileage Mk1 Cortina that had stood in a garage for years. Obviously the tyres were ruined but what was not obvious was made clear to me when my Dad opened the bonnet. He then proceeded to bounce the car up and down at the front. I thought he was just testing the shock absorbers but then suddenly, one of the struts came up through it's turret shortly followed by the other side. The car was rotten as a pear!

I admire anyone who can keep their classic properly maintained when they don't use it but what's the point? Cars are meant to be driven and enjoyed. I owned my Triumph GT6 for 38 years but it was used less and less as time went on and my wife persuaded me to get rid of it because it was only deteriorating through lack of use. In 40 years it had done less than 100,000 K but had been resprayed three times!

[kevin2306]

Agreed on using them, its the best way of preserving for me as you do running maintenance.

I love getting out and about in the Singer

kev

[Rootes75]

I have a friend who upon finishing the restoration of his Morris 1000 Traveller he allowed his son to use and maintain the car. He told me the other day his son racked up 16,000 miles in just over a year! He drives the car everywhere.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[mikeC]

I remember sometime in the 'eighties going to look at a Triumph Herald 12/50. It was in totally unmarked condition, with, from memory, about 8,000 miles on the clock (it would then have been about twenty years old. The original carpets were unmarked - a rarity even then - but I lifted a corner of the carpet to find that the remains of the floor came too! the underside was totally rotten...