Why have more 60's cars survived than 90's cars?

[MGgeordie]

How has this happened? There are loads of Morris Minors, MGB's, Triumph's etc still in existence & if you want one you could buy one tomorrow. However if you wanted a bog standard Nova or Mk 2 Cavalier you will struggle as they are as rare as a snowman on a beach! Surely the cars built in the 60's were the bangers of the 80's but many have been saved whereas the bread & butter everyday cars of the 80's & 90's which would have been today's bangers seem to have all but gone!

Also, there would have been more Novas built than say Triumph Herald's but I bet there are more Herald's in existence!!

Were the cars of the 60's made to run longer with DIY repairs until they became that old they were worth saving whereas as soon as the old Nova started to fall apart it was easier to sign a credit agreement for a new Corsa than bodge it back together.....

[J4CKO]

Well, that is quite subjective but people did tend to look after cars better as they werent as disposable, the minor was in production for 20 odd years and they made over a million so it is probably down to percentages, model cycles were much shorter fromt he seventies onward.

[darrenw]

I expect the scrappage scheme was responsible for a lot of it.

[Sam1990]

Possibly scrappage scheme and part ex deals? I guess you would be quicker to part ex a 90s car or would have been willing to use that in the scrappage scheme than you would have done with a 60s car?

Plus maybe MOT plays a part? Most people would bin a 90s car if it failed an MOT and was not cost-effective repair but someone may be more willing to keep a car from the 60s on the road.

Just complete guesses.

[NotNormal]

It was "make do and mend" back then. Anything to keep a car going.

The modern way is "finance up and throw away". Anything to have the latest reg number!!

[graham22]

Make do & Mend - guess many 60's cars were kept going by home mechanics until they became classic status. Whereas it wasn't worth repairing a Nova/Micra until they're 25 years old.

[graham22]

Blimey - an echo.

[GravelBen]

There are many orders of magnitude more 90s cars still on the road than 60s cars in my part of the world.

[lel]

Novas and Cavs were a chav and boy racer favorite, i think thats how the majority of them ended up dying. Older motors where made with much better quality and thicker steel too, which lasts way better than the tin can grade steel used on most 80's and 90's motors.

[98elise]

Cars also were much more distinctive, and were styled by people rather than physics. Cars of the 90's are more like white goods.

[NotNormal]

lel said:

..Older motors where made with much better quality and thicker steel too, which lasts way better than the tin can grade steel used on most 80's and 90's motors.

You've not experienced anything made by BMC in the 60's have you.......

[Mr Will]

When was the last time you saw a Vauxhall Viva? Or a Triumph saloon of any sort? Or a Morris Oxford?

There are loads of older cars that have become almost extinct. We only remember the ones that haven't.

[Eighteeteewhy]

Early cars have simple mechanics and made for the owner to work on themselves. Many later cars have a lot of bespoke parts that need a dealer only "special tool" to remove/replace.

[lel]

NotNormal said:

You've not experienced anything made by BMC in the 60's have you.......

yes

[Willy Nilly]

Cars from the 1990's were miles better than the cars from the '60s. The '60s cars that have survived will have been in the hands of enthusiasts. The few times I have seen classic cars p close it doesn't take long to see the owners must be having a constant battle with rust.

'90s cars haven't reached collector status yet, they are mostly at the end of their economically viable life. When they start to get into the hands of the collectors they will probably be much easier to look after and use.

[crostonian]

There are loads more 80s and 90s cars it's just that cheap crap like Novas and Metros are all sat in scrap yards, as were all the 60s crap back in the 80s. It's only as values start to rise as they become more collectable that people start restoring the ones in the scrap yards and they start to appear on the roads again.

I'm an Alfa fan and 10 years ago the Alfasud was almost wiped out, now that values have risen people feel they are worth restoring hence there are now more Suds on the road than there were 15 years ago.

[deltashad]

They've all been shipped to the EEC

[Willy Nilly]

Scrap was £200/tonne not long ago too.

[MagneticMeerkat]

Don't forget there are whole industries dedicated to preserving certain models of car. You can buy, brand new, enough bits to build a complete Morris Minor or MGB. It's a bit more difficult with eighties and nineties cars as parts for most have dried up - especially General Motors products as they have very short production cycles for spare parts.

[Riley Blue]

lel said:

NotNormal said:

You've not experienced anything made by BMC in the 60's have you.......

yes

Then you'd be aware of how they were full of rust traps. My Mini, Morris Minor and Riley 1.5 (the last especially) were quite poorly designed from the rust prevention point of view. Without today's wheel arch liners they could crumble away almost before your eyes and box sections often rusted from the inside out.