Is it a symptom of age...
Discussion
Is it a symptom of age that when you were young and saw a cheap 20-year old car you thought "what a cr@ppy old banger" but when you're older and see a cheap 20-year old car you think "wow, what a bargain for a great car".
In my mind, cars from the early 2000s still seem new and impressive. I'd love something like a A4 cabrio to cruise about in.
In my mind, cars from the early 2000s still seem new and impressive. I'd love something like a A4 cabrio to cruise about in.
I daily drive a Rover that's only 10 years younger than me. I did acquire a slightly younger XJ8 earlier in the year to replace it, but decided I prefered the older Rover and so kept it, selling the Jag.
Most people see an old banger and that's fine, I'm quite happy with it. It has far greater asset value as a functioning vehicle and far greater sentimental value than it does financial worth, so there's literally no point getting rid of it. For reference, I'm 29. Most of my friends think I'm a lunatic for driving such a vehicle
Most people see an old banger and that's fine, I'm quite happy with it. It has far greater asset value as a functioning vehicle and far greater sentimental value than it does financial worth, so there's literally no point getting rid of it. For reference, I'm 29. Most of my friends think I'm a lunatic for driving such a vehicle
forzaminardi said:
Is it a symptom of age that when you were young and saw a cheap 20-year old car you thought "what a cr@ppy old banger" but when you're older and see a cheap 20-year old car you think "wow, what a bargain for a great car".
In my mind, cars from the early 2000s still seem new and impressive. I'd love something like a A4 cabrio to cruise about in.
Yes.In my mind, cars from the early 2000s still seem new and impressive. I'd love something like a A4 cabrio to cruise about in.
When you're 18 and see a 20 year old car, you have no memory of that car being new, you have only ever known and seen it as an undesirable old banger.
When you're 38 and see a 20 year old car, you remember the impact it made on you when you were young and it was new.
This is why classic car values peak around 50 years after launch, because that's when those who were impressionable 10 year old boys at launch have maximum disposable income and space to own a classic car.
Pica-Pica said:
HTP99 said:
No, 20 years ago, 20 year old cars were crap, now, 20 year old cars are still pretty decent.
This x10In the 1970s at 10 years old. A car was a rust-bucket. Now, look at any ‘13 plate car - as good as new.
My main car for the last several years has been an S-reg Peugeot. It's now 25 years old but still perfectly suitable for daily use all year round.
It's got excellent rust resistance, fuel injection, power steering, disc brakes all round with ABS, air-con, electric windows/mirrors/etc, auto wipers, remote locking, 6-speed gearbox...
Whilst it's not state-of-the-the-art, it drives just like any modern car and requires nothing other than routine maintenance to keep it on the road.
When it was new in 1998, a 25-year-old car then would have been built in 1973 and wouldn't have felt anywhere near as modern.
It's got excellent rust resistance, fuel injection, power steering, disc brakes all round with ABS, air-con, electric windows/mirrors/etc, auto wipers, remote locking, 6-speed gearbox...
Whilst it's not state-of-the-the-art, it drives just like any modern car and requires nothing other than routine maintenance to keep it on the road.
When it was new in 1998, a 25-year-old car then would have been built in 1973 and wouldn't have felt anywhere near as modern.
CT05 Nose Cone said:
Pica-Pica said:
HTP99 said:
No, 20 years ago, 20 year old cars were crap, now, 20 year old cars are still pretty decent.
This x10In the 1970s at 10 years old. A car was a rust-bucket. Now, look at any ‘13 plate car - as good as new.
Plenty of decent 40 year old cars that could still daily quite happily, Manta GTE's, E30's and 911 Carrera 3.2's spring to mind. 40 years ago I was starting high school whilst spending pocket money on Classic & Sports Car, so I dreamt of barn finding Type 35's, 250GTO's and GT40's. Perhaps I'm not the norm.
I passed my test in 1983. My first car was a 13 year old Morris Minor (1970) it was pretty dire but for £300 it did me a couple of years as it was all I could afford. It failed its MOT due to terminal rust ( I could see the road throug the footwell )
I now run a 17 year old car that a few weeks ago i jumped in and took off on a 3k mile road trip round Spain/Portugal after cursory tyres/lights/levels checks
My daily is now 8 years old and still looks feels and drives like a new car … which could never be said about the 8 year old Fiat 127 that replaced the above mentioned Moggy when it died
I now run a 17 year old car that a few weeks ago i jumped in and took off on a 3k mile road trip round Spain/Portugal after cursory tyres/lights/levels checks
My daily is now 8 years old and still looks feels and drives like a new car … which could never be said about the 8 year old Fiat 127 that replaced the above mentioned Moggy when it died
Shedding said:
Yes! When I was younger, I ran 10 year old cars because I couldn't afford newer. Now I run 20 year old cars because I choose to.
Same here, first car was a 1976 cortina bought at auction for £180, it was all I could afford. Now nearing retirement and comfortably off I run a 18 years old Mercedes E Class with lunar mileage. The difference between and 18 year old car then, if there were any in shed budget, and an 18 year old car now is chalk and cheese, my E Class could last another 5 years with regular servicing.PositronicRay said:
HTP99 said:
No, 20 years ago, 20 year old cars were crap, now, 20 year old cars are still pretty decent.
This pretty much. In 1978 I'd have loved some 50s cool, unfortunately they'd mostly disintegrated into rust. Cortinas were so much better.georgeyboy12345 said:
PositronicRay said:
HTP99 said:
No, 20 years ago, 20 year old cars were crap, now, 20 year old cars are still pretty decent.
This pretty much. In 1978 I'd have loved some 50s cool, unfortunately they'd mostly disintegrated into rust. Cortinas were so much better.
Twenty years before that I don't think 1983 was such a bad year for cars, wasn't it the year the Mk2 Golf GTI was launched?georgeyboy12345 said:
PositronicRay said:
HTP99 said:
No, 20 years ago, 20 year old cars were crap, now, 20 year old cars are still pretty decent.
This pretty much. In 1978 I'd have loved some 50s cool, unfortunately they'd mostly disintegrated into rust. Cortinas were so much better.I agree with the OP. The newest car I've ever owned was a 1995 Renault 5. It was, I think, the cheapest new car available in the UK at the time, and its replacement, the Clio, had already been on sale for a few years by that point. Novelties on the Renault included seatbelts, fuel injection and front wheel drive. I kept it for a year. Prior to that, I'd had '50s and '60s stuff, a couple of Minors, and some old Fords. Back then, at thirty to forty years old, they definitely looked and felt ancient.
Before I grew up and realised that there was more to vehicle aesthetics than Slot Mags, flames and dralon, I used to buy Street Machine magazine. They often referred to as "Euroblobs" the new hot hatchbacks and performance cars from volume manufacturers that have now emerged from their "banger" phase and are considered '80s icons. I also remember seeing in magazines like Autocar, sketches of what designers thought cars would look like in twenty years' time - all huge wheels and high waistlines - and thinking how depressingly dull the future looked. The future was the Ford Focus, which was, of course, brilliant at what it was designed for, but of zero interest to me.
So, I got stuck in the 1980s and cars from that era still feel normal to me. But, when my R107 was in for a service a couple of years ago, I borrowed a very tired, late '90s E Class Merc, a W210, I think an E240, for a few days. It was absolutely sensational! So fast, so refined. Probably worth less than a grand. But, I thought that I could quite happily have one to smoke around in and I would quite enjoy it. I still felt a connection with it that just isn't there in new cars, which are so damned good at everything and which all look and feel the same to me.
Before I grew up and realised that there was more to vehicle aesthetics than Slot Mags, flames and dralon, I used to buy Street Machine magazine. They often referred to as "Euroblobs" the new hot hatchbacks and performance cars from volume manufacturers that have now emerged from their "banger" phase and are considered '80s icons. I also remember seeing in magazines like Autocar, sketches of what designers thought cars would look like in twenty years' time - all huge wheels and high waistlines - and thinking how depressingly dull the future looked. The future was the Ford Focus, which was, of course, brilliant at what it was designed for, but of zero interest to me.
So, I got stuck in the 1980s and cars from that era still feel normal to me. But, when my R107 was in for a service a couple of years ago, I borrowed a very tired, late '90s E Class Merc, a W210, I think an E240, for a few days. It was absolutely sensational! So fast, so refined. Probably worth less than a grand. But, I thought that I could quite happily have one to smoke around in and I would quite enjoy it. I still felt a connection with it that just isn't there in new cars, which are so damned good at everything and which all look and feel the same to me.
20yrs ago my then 23yr old Canley built 1980 Triumph TR7 DHC certainly wasn't crap. It still isn't. Ziebarted from new it is rust free, the cylinder head has never been off (admittedly it has only done 72,000 miles), and the biggest bill was a re-spray tidy up in 1992. It is a well engineered, well built car, sadly killed by an unusually strong pound which peaked at $2.40 in 1981, and has never stranded me.
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