Is there a future for Classic cars?
Discussion
Is there a future for classic cars? As Veteran (pre-1904) and Vintage (sometimes pre-1930 and certainly pre-WW2) cars are still going strong, as are the current Classics (Post WW2 up to an uncertain date, possibly pre-2000) they will continue, at increasing cost as parts run out and may only be remanufactured, unless more modern parts can be adapted. But what of the future of moderns, as 'classics', 'post-classics' or however they will be categorised? Will there be a thriving community of owners in forty years time, enthusing about their old Nissan Leafs or Teslas?
I fear not. My next door neighbour runs an independant garage, and has been on a course about EVs. First rule - keep one arm behind your back! You do NOT want to have the other hand on an earth if the first touches 400V+! And all the kit he needs to diagnose them! I've been trying to work out what is wrong with my Crypton Diagnostic Centre whose screen doesn't work. I've needed advice and help just to know what to look at and have admitted defeat when it comes to replacing the tiny widgets on the PCB! (Thanks, Nigel! Who has offered to do it for me!)
So what hope if the whole car is electronic? And many today are, or nearly. Daughter's car (Peugeot), just six years old, threw a wobbly last week, dozens - literally - of OBDII alarms causing warning signals on the dash and poor starting. I telediagnosed something A/minor but B/ central to cause so many different problems, and her independant garage has reported that the seals on the ECU have gone (It's a known problem with these Pugs) leading to corrosion on the loom contacts. Can they mend it? If we tried to take it apart, the contacts would break, and you would need a new ECU. And a loom. What do you suggest? We've reset all the alarms and it's working now! Sell it, quick! .
In our Classics we have the luxury (!) of vehicles to which almost every part is accessible and repairable, one way or another. Not true of moderns and they will not become 40 or fifty year old classics, however good their anticorrosion bodywork guarantee is. The engines, or the fuelling, all completely controlled by electronics, or the Collision Rescue Avoidance Programme chip itself will break down. Teeth of the gods! The mere batteries in the tyre pressure monitors will go flat (I've had one go in my modern), an MoT fail that costs £200 a pop to replace!
"Classic cars" and the hobby of home maintaining them is dying out!
I fear not. My next door neighbour runs an independant garage, and has been on a course about EVs. First rule - keep one arm behind your back! You do NOT want to have the other hand on an earth if the first touches 400V+! And all the kit he needs to diagnose them! I've been trying to work out what is wrong with my Crypton Diagnostic Centre whose screen doesn't work. I've needed advice and help just to know what to look at and have admitted defeat when it comes to replacing the tiny widgets on the PCB! (Thanks, Nigel! Who has offered to do it for me!)
So what hope if the whole car is electronic? And many today are, or nearly. Daughter's car (Peugeot), just six years old, threw a wobbly last week, dozens - literally - of OBDII alarms causing warning signals on the dash and poor starting. I telediagnosed something A/minor but B/ central to cause so many different problems, and her independant garage has reported that the seals on the ECU have gone (It's a known problem with these Pugs) leading to corrosion on the loom contacts. Can they mend it? If we tried to take it apart, the contacts would break, and you would need a new ECU. And a loom. What do you suggest? We've reset all the alarms and it's working now! Sell it, quick! .
In our Classics we have the luxury (!) of vehicles to which almost every part is accessible and repairable, one way or another. Not true of moderns and they will not become 40 or fifty year old classics, however good their anticorrosion bodywork guarantee is. The engines, or the fuelling, all completely controlled by electronics, or the Collision Rescue Avoidance Programme chip itself will break down. Teeth of the gods! The mere batteries in the tyre pressure monitors will go flat (I've had one go in my modern), an MoT fail that costs £200 a pop to replace!
"Classic cars" and the hobby of home maintaining them is dying out!
tapkaJohnD said:
Is there a future for classic cars? As Veteran (pre-1904) and Vintage (sometimes pre-1930 and certainly pre-WW2) cars are still going strong, as are the current Classics (Post WW2 up to an uncertain date, possibly pre-2000) they will continue, at increasing cost as parts run out and may only be remanufactured, unless more modern parts can be adapted. But what of the future of moderns, as 'classics'
I don't think there is a future as a usable classic, for anything made much after 1990.I have wondered myself what effect EV’s will have on the petrol cars a lot of us Love & cherish. I suppose petrol will be produced for decades yet, so nothing to worry about running those cars. However the old old old vintage stuff will surely eventually Just be something to look at , film props and children of the future to laugh at, saying “they never drove those..surely” 
These threads are always started and you always have the old duffers going on and on about how no modern car will ever be a classic 20+ years from now due to repair issues. Just because you don't understand how to fix something it doesn't mean it is unfixable!
Modern cars will 100% be classics in the future, not all of them but certain ones will. Exactly the same as in the 70s etc.
Modern cars will 100% be classics in the future, not all of them but certain ones will. Exactly the same as in the 70s etc.
Mariosbt said:
I have wondered myself what effect EV’s will have on the petrol cars a lot of us Love & cherish. I suppose petrol will be produced for decades yet, so nothing to worry about running those cars. However the old old old vintage stuff will surely eventually Just be something to look at , film props and children of the future to laugh at, saying “they never drove those..surely”
Having owned many vintage cars (pre 1930) enjoyed driving, clubs and various shows, steam rallies and Country shows mainly, I have now sold up and now enjoy modern classics. I found it increasingly difficult to sell my vintage car when I wanted a change, at shows vintage cars dropped to a mere small handful and most visitors to shows simply not interested in vintage cars. Most people walked past without giving a glance, much preferring to gaze lustfully at Ford Escorts and cortina’s. Of course the high end vintage will continue to attract buyers and admirers, stuff like Bentley, R.R. Early Vauxhall’s and so on. It’s just that the young generation of show goers do not identify with vintage stuff now, a few exceptions such as Austin 7 still retain a strong following.Shermantor,
Which Moderns do you think will survive? The eqivalent of the Bentley's and Rollers, their eqivalents today, Lambos, Koeniggseiggs or Teslas, or will there be a market for preserved Nissan Leafs?
Crankedup,
Interesting observation, that the old Veteran/Vintages no longer have a popular following. The "Genevive" film was a big hit, but not "Herbie" and I can't think of another film about a car!
On EV racing, people will want to race, in vehicles. My neigbiour's (another one) two little boys were on their carts, just pedals, racing hard down the hill outside my house yesterday. Only five or six, they were bumping and boring viscioulsy nad having a great time! When they are twenty, there will only be old stuff with petrol engines, or EVs to race.
John
Which Moderns do you think will survive? The eqivalent of the Bentley's and Rollers, their eqivalents today, Lambos, Koeniggseiggs or Teslas, or will there be a market for preserved Nissan Leafs?
Crankedup,
Interesting observation, that the old Veteran/Vintages no longer have a popular following. The "Genevive" film was a big hit, but not "Herbie" and I can't think of another film about a car!
On EV racing, people will want to race, in vehicles. My neigbiour's (another one) two little boys were on their carts, just pedals, racing hard down the hill outside my house yesterday. Only five or six, they were bumping and boring viscioulsy nad having a great time! When they are twenty, there will only be old stuff with petrol engines, or EVs to race.
John
Edited by tapkaJohnD on Monday 11th May 15:20
Edited by tapkaJohnD on Monday 11th May 15:23
Shermanator said:
These threads are always started and you always have the old duffers going on and on about how no modern car will ever be a classic 20+ years from now due to repair issues. Just because you don't understand how to fix something it doesn't mean it is unfixable!
Modern cars will 100% be classics in the future, not all of them but certain ones will. Exactly the same as in the 70s etc.
I broke down many times in the late sixties and seventies (even eighties). Rarely was I not able to fix the problem with some bits and pieces and spares in the boot or in the car. Modern cars will 100% be classics in the future, not all of them but certain ones will. Exactly the same as in the 70s etc.
Today, if I break down (can't recall the last time) but if I did, like you say it doesn't mean it is unfixable, but it certainly does in the case of 'me actually fixing it' … ie: the chances of me repairing my 'modern' by the roadside today is zilch.
I remember once losing all my lighting on my way home - the lights had been flickering, then they went, no headlights, nothing (about 3am in the morning) I'd driven about 100 miles odd from where I'd left with no hiccups.
It was a middle of f nowhere country road. Thank god I had a torch with me and tools and spares. It took me nearly half an hour but I found it was simply a fuse making and breaking and then finally blown. Probably never happen in a modern - but if it did, what would I do? Try and locate and repair? Would I f
k. I'd pick up the mobile just like everyone else does today. Perhaps that's the classic of the future, just make sure you have a mobile with you?People love the cars of their childhood - that must be a factor. I was born in 1962, and therefore prefer late 60s and 70s cars above others.
I also quite like cars that were new when I first had a driving licence (1989), and sometimes a person wants to own again the first car that they owned. I do not want to own a Renault 5, or a Rover 216i Vitesse, but I do want to own an E30 BMW 325i (my third modern car). I bought my first classic car in 1989 - a 1970 Triumph Vitesse was only 19 years old then!
There are also some cars that have become what you might call "classic classics". For example, for many people an MGB or a Morris Minor is the epitome of a classic car.
I also quite like cars that were new when I first had a driving licence (1989), and sometimes a person wants to own again the first car that they owned. I do not want to own a Renault 5, or a Rover 216i Vitesse, but I do want to own an E30 BMW 325i (my third modern car). I bought my first classic car in 1989 - a 1970 Triumph Vitesse was only 19 years old then!
There are also some cars that have become what you might call "classic classics". For example, for many people an MGB or a Morris Minor is the epitome of a classic car.
Shermanator said:
These threads are always started and you always have the old duffers going on and on about how no modern car will ever be a classic 20+ years from now due to repair issues. Just because you don't understand how to fix something it doesn't mean it is unfixable!
Modern cars will 100% be classics in the future, not all of them but certain ones will. Exactly the same as in the 70s etc.
I learnt to drive just as fuel injection came in to replace to carburettors (XR3 to XR3i, Vauxhall SRi etc) and as they got old, I was of the firm opinion that they'd be scrapped for the cost of the ECU. Some electronic parts were eyewatering to replace.Modern cars will 100% be classics in the future, not all of them but certain ones will. Exactly the same as in the 70s etc.
But as expertise has improved over the years, almost everything can now be repaired (Astra GTE LCD dashboards for example). Quite often there are cottage industries keeping rarer examples alive when they have gone under (TVR instruments another for instance). Recent example is ABS pump on a Suzuki city car. A new one from Suzuki is as much as my old car was worth but several companies now offer repairs.
Everything is repairable, but only if it has value. Although some people have deep pockets and rose-tinted specs, bless 'em. Keeps them on the road.
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