Average Age of Classic Car Owners

[Roger 912]

I don't know what the situation is like in other Countries, but over here in South Africa I am a member of three car clubs and, believe it or not, at the age of 68, I am one of the younger members in the clubs.

This brings me to a worrying thought and that is who is going to purchase our classics in the future. I am not talking about modern classics, but the pre 1960 classics.

Talk to a young driver in his 30's and he will rave over MKl Golf GTi's, BMW M3's etc. but they have no thought or inclination towards the older pre 60's cars.

Taking this further, there is not enough museums to sell all the classics to so what will happen to them? Will the bottom drop out of the Classic Car market in years to come?

In the U.K. you have a much larger market, but I still think that it is a problem that will rear up in the future.

[Bibs]

I was 25 when I bought my first although I bought it as a performance car rather than a classic. Hopo is 12 and has 2, there's hope for the classic car market yet.

[Rich H]

32 and I haev a 30 year old Porsche and the Esprit, I'd have loads more but I've been told I'm not allowed...

[simonb]

Just under 40 when I got my only pre 1960 car. Hope to still be 43 when restoration is complete & I get to drive it

[ramjet]

48 and had it for 3 years. I figure I'll eventually be too old to get in it. When that happens, I will look for someone as many years younger than me as the years I have had the car less a couple more years.

[DanR]

Interesting point. At a recent club meeting we had a presentation on veteran Rolls Royce vehicles. The speaker made the point that the appreciation, aspiration and market for the old ones is diminishing.

The best time for "classics" tends to be when they're 30-40 years old. That's when they tap into the psyche of those who lusted for them when they were new. It's only later in their lives, when financially secure, that they can afford them. But that's also when the laws of supply and demand have the greatest impact.

[vintaylor]

22 and owned the esprit for 2 years now might look for an old muscle car or maybe a tvr when the esprit is done.. got to be a v8

Maybe i'm an exception to the rule but classic cars just look so much better then anything new in my opinion!

[Nelly]

The best time for "classics" tends to be when they're 30-40 years old. That's when they tap into the psyche of those who lusted for them when they were new. It's only later in their lives, when financially secure, that they can afford them. But that's also when the laws of supply and demand have the greatest impact.

+1.

Classics to me are generally cars I remember when I was young, so tends to be from the seventies. There isn't that much pre 70's stuff that really interests me, although I have a lot of time for people prepared to keep old cars alive for the benefit of everyone.

[Alan Paterson]

Mine was a 'desperate attempt to regain my lost youth' at the age of 40.

They say that's when life begins. I'm still waiting.

Actually, that's not totally true. I start a new job on Monday, in charge of production for a video company.

The wheel has come full circle. Back to my true love.

Alan

[Bibs]

Congrats Alan!

[Mark Blanchard]

I'm 39, though I bought mine when I was in my 20s so no crisis for me. Though could be a crisis for keeping it.

[mr.oogieboogie]

I was 17 when I had my 1st classic now I'm 44

[hopo]

Bibs get your facts right! i am infact 12 and three quarters.....!

I purchased my S3 Na at the age of 22. ive always been into cars and always really loved esprits. So at the age of 22 i thought sod it im having one despite it making no financial sense whatsoever..... and the day before my 25th birthday i purchased my S3 Turbo so all in all pretty young. My housemate has a Karmann Ghia too... the force is strong. I love all classics but at a yound age its just not viable really. lots of people dont really aspire to own certain cars anymore, interest seems to have shifted elsewhere.

[Petrol feet driven]

I was 40 when I got my 1st car and yep it was the Esprit.

[MPx]

Got my first "classic" when I was 21 because it was the only way I could afford to have a sports car and a house. My first sports car a year or so earlier was a Triumph GT6 MkIII but that was too young at the time to be a classic and too expensive to allow a flat purchase. So the first classic was an MG Midget (not really a sports car!) but it was old. Was into my 30s before I could afford an Esprit.

I think Roger's is an interesting question though. I've never considered getting anything pre '60s. I'm sure there were good cars before then, but they dont really interest me. I wonder how long it will be before middle aged (OK old) people will be saying "I'm sure there were some good cars built last century but they dont really interest me....."

[Wilf]

Got my first classic, a reliant scimitar SE5 aged 19, have since had quite a few including ur quattro, marcos gt, s2 landrover and now the esprit. Whilst my friends all seem to like these none have the ambition to own any of them. I'd love something pre-war but they cost far too much, you need to be pretty old to be able to have the disposable income to buy them. I think half the reason is they are not at all interested in any kind of diy, which for me is part of the appeal.

Edited October 7, 2011 by Wilf

[andydclements]

Purchased my Europa when approx 34

[910Esprit]

I ran a GT6 when I was 18 - don't recall it being an issue on £40pw - The insurance being less than £400 (as I know I've never paid more than £400 for insurance! Subsequently chopped in a TR6 for an S2 Esprit at 26. Now exactly double that age!

Thinking about it - the GT6 had only been out of production for 4 years or so - so not exactly a classic!

Edited October 7, 2011 by 910Esprit

[Mr_John111]

All of my early cars could now be considered classics

1971 Fiat 500 bought in 1982

1971 Ford Escort 1300 gt bought in 1983

1977 Alfasud ti bought 1984

They weren't classics at the time just 'cheap' but wind the clock forward and if it weren't for the fact that they are all rusty I'd happily run any one of them as an everyday classic. As others have said at 46 my head is turned by 80's cars that I couldn't afford when they were new.

[nello]

I was actually 16 when I bought my first X1/9 ...... Into my 40's - still got one (Bertone) along with the Esprit (Giugiaro) of 17 years and a Fiat Coupe 20VT LE (Pininfarina - well.... built).

[Tony K]

I'm in my thirties, and my lust for cars pretty much starts in the mid-1970s. I don't really care much for most of the cars from the sixties or earlier. I appreciate a lot of them . . . the same way I appreciate something in a museum.

I wasn't around in the sixties . . . so I really don't have any interest in those cars. Bug-eyed roadsters aren't pretty to me; they are old fogey cars. Cool cars are low and sleek, like Esprits and Meraks.

I always laugh at Ferrari 308 vs. Dino 246 prices. At their peak, in the U.S., Dinos were topping $200,000 . . . while 308s were sitting around for $30k. Really? Is a Dino really worth seven times what a 308 is? Is a Dino intrinsically worth anything more than a 308 at all? No, absolutely not.

Is a 1960s Elan worth more than an Esprit? No, regardless of what market prices are. The least of Esprits, by any meaningful measure or standard, is intrinsically greater than any Elan.

You can pick up a glossy collector car magazine and read about how great all of these 1950s and 1960s cars are, and what a dark time the 1970s were . . . but the truth is, that's just the age group that dominates the classic car market stroking each other. When today's thirtysomethings and fortysomethings are empty nesters with disposable income (if that ever happens), the cars of the 1970s and 80s will be glorious machines of a golden era of great advances in styling, handling, aerodynamics, safety and efficiency . . .

Edited October 8, 2011 by Tony K

[Roger 912]

The stats are rather interesting and from what I can see, non of the present owners of Lotus on this thread are in to pre 1960 cars, in fact one could almost say pre 1970's.

This, and some comments one or two of you have made, makes me believe that prices of pre 1960 classics will eventually drop to much lower levels as the present day and future buyers of classics will purchase cars that they longed for when they were young and could not afford them.

My thought would be that any owners of old cars (pre 1960) would be advised to sell them now whilst prices are still quite high before the bottom drops out of the market sometime in the near future.

This last year I sold off my 1947 MG TC and my 1953 MG TD for very good money. I enjoyed driving them but - they are not Lotus.

[simonb]

The stats are rather interesting and from what I can see, non of the present owners of Lotus on this thread are in to pre 1960 cars, in fact one could almost say pre 1970's.

I think my HK500 puts me there

I do believe that the Esprit that is due classic status (S1/S2/S2.2) is on an interesting cusp. Performance wise I would place it (if honest) around the same point as a cheap modern hatch - that does however make it a classic that is up to full modern every day use.

I also have a tax exempt range rover, which does everything that a modern land rover would do. It is however not 100% original as it has a TDi dropped in, but I believe that there are VERY few tax exempt (ie built pre 1973) cars that can really be used as an everyday alternative to modern.

I do not se pre 1960 prices falling, they seem ever upward for proper classic brands (Aston / Ferrari etc). I think curvey / chrome 50s stuff still has some growing, more so as modern cars become ever more similar. Chap restoring my Facel has a MG airline coupe in to do, lovely looking car, but must have a cruising speed in the forties, looks to me more like something for the front room than the garage

[amwt]

I had a '63 Jaguar Mark 2 when I was 25. Must have looked ridiculous in it.

Edited October 8, 2011 by amwt

[Black Sport 160]

^^^^^

Almost as daft as a certain 20 year old wafting around in a series of E and S Class Mercedes saloons

// thread drift