Why don't classics do more than 100K
Discussion
One thing to bear in mind is that when you look back at the 50s, 60s and even 70s, families lived closer together, you walked to the shops and if you drive they were only a mile or so away and you either worked just a walk away from home or a train or bus ride away. There weren't that many motorways and people simply didn't travel like they do today. Many car owning families would essentially only do one long trip a year for the family holiday. Even people who drive for a living drove in a much more localised area.
At the same time, ownership turnover was much lower. People weren't financing cars but saving up and then cherishing such an expensive and extravagant asset. So a car could stay with one person through several parts of their life cycle and as we know there are periods of a life cycle where mileage is higher than other times. Rather than switching from one owner at the end of their high mileage period and being picked up by another also in their high mileage phase.
But probably the biggest reason was simply down to economics. The majority of people who could afford a car (and definitely the more prestige marques) were old. Without financing people took a long time to accumulate the money required to buy a car. As a result very many cars were bought by older people who's mileage dropped every year as they got older but he car was still maintained and stored under cover.
In 1972 my father bought three Daimlers for the family. My Grandfather's was kept by him until he stopped driving in the mid 90's when he gave it to me. It still smelt new inside and had covered 23k in as many years.
Then there are the smaller group of people who buy cars and never really use them due to having other cars.
My father also bought a 1978 928 about ten years ago which had just 2k on the clock in 20 years. The owner had bought it, driven it for a year and then stored it after buying a 911.
I was also shown by Richard Williams, many years ago, a Vantage that over 20 years had only ever been driven by the RSW employee who once a year went and picked it up for its service and return it. He suspected that the musician who owned it had no idea he had bought it or that it existed.
However, those things are quite rare and the more normal event of a single owner just not spending their life driving is much more common I suspect it is more commonly used as a back story for serial clockers which is probably the most prevalent reason for low mileage cars.
At the same time, ownership turnover was much lower. People weren't financing cars but saving up and then cherishing such an expensive and extravagant asset. So a car could stay with one person through several parts of their life cycle and as we know there are periods of a life cycle where mileage is higher than other times. Rather than switching from one owner at the end of their high mileage period and being picked up by another also in their high mileage phase.
But probably the biggest reason was simply down to economics. The majority of people who could afford a car (and definitely the more prestige marques) were old. Without financing people took a long time to accumulate the money required to buy a car. As a result very many cars were bought by older people who's mileage dropped every year as they got older but he car was still maintained and stored under cover.
In 1972 my father bought three Daimlers for the family. My Grandfather's was kept by him until he stopped driving in the mid 90's when he gave it to me. It still smelt new inside and had covered 23k in as many years.
Then there are the smaller group of people who buy cars and never really use them due to having other cars.
My father also bought a 1978 928 about ten years ago which had just 2k on the clock in 20 years. The owner had bought it, driven it for a year and then stored it after buying a 911.
I was also shown by Richard Williams, many years ago, a Vantage that over 20 years had only ever been driven by the RSW employee who once a year went and picked it up for its service and return it. He suspected that the musician who owned it had no idea he had bought it or that it existed.
However, those things are quite rare and the more normal event of a single owner just not spending their life driving is much more common I suspect it is more commonly used as a back story for serial clockers which is probably the most prevalent reason for low mileage cars.
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff