why buy a classic vehicle

2
Why Buy a Classic Vehicle? Owning a classic vehicle of any sort is a relaon- ship. It may be a lifelong love or a short affair. You may have full involvement with every aspect of your vehicle’s wellbeing or you may have a distant relaonship where you get together on a few sun- ny Sunday aſternoons in the year. It may be an exclusive arrangement or involve more than one vehicle. You will have ups and downs. Classic vehicles have a unique beauty in them, in some cases apparent to only a select few, some- thing you don’t see in today’s equivalents. Mod- ern day vehicles may be more comfortable and reliable however oſten lack the character of the classic, even if that character somemes has you standing by the side of the road in the pouring rain waing for a recovery vehicle. Somemes prospecve owners look for a specific make or model; maybe it has special memories from childhood or they simply always liked that parcular vehicle. Others are looking for some- thing a bit different and fall into a certain vehicle. Maybe you just prefer to only drive or ride the vehicle, in which case, if you have the money, there are companies that will store and look aſter the car keeping it in top condion. Not every own- er has the desire, space, me or ability to restore or maintain their vehicle and they shouldn’t feel guilty if this is the case. They are keeping a piece of history for all to see and that is to be commend- ed. If you like wielding a spanner or welder then it’s likely you will want to be fully involved in keeping your classic on the road. Maybe you’ve bought a restoraon project that’s going to take many hours toiling in the garage to bring it back to its former glory. Or you’re carrying out a rolling res- toraon, when small parts of the vehicle are re- stored, so that the vehicle can connue to be used in-between bouts of work. The queson of space is raised at this point. Un- less your classic vehicle is a daily runner—and many are– you are going to need somewhere to keep it. On the driveway under a cover is fine, however this can aract the dreaded n worm and the even more dreaded car thief. Not every- body has a garage let alone space in a garage for a car, so give some consideraon to secure storage. Your vehicle will be dry, the baery will be on trickle charge and when the sun shines and it’s

Upload: nigel-west-software-developer

Post on 14-Apr-2017

97 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Why buy a classic vehicle

Why Buy a Classic Vehicle?

Owning a classic vehicle of any sort is a relation-

ship. It may be a lifelong love or a short affair. You

may have full involvement with every aspect of

your vehicle’s wellbeing or you may have a distant

relationship where you get together on a few sun-

ny Sunday afternoons in the year. It may be an

exclusive arrangement or involve more than one

vehicle. You will have ups and downs.

Classic vehicles have a unique beauty in them, in

some cases apparent to only a select few, some-

thing you don’t see in today’s equivalents. Mod-

ern day vehicles may be more comfortable and

reliable however often lack the character of the

classic, even if that character sometimes has you

standing by the side of the road in the pouring

rain waiting for a recovery vehicle.

Sometimes prospective owners look for a specific

make or model; maybe it has special memories

from childhood or they simply always liked that

particular vehicle. Others are looking for some-

thing a bit different and fall into a certain vehicle.

Maybe you just prefer to only drive or ride the

vehicle, in which case, if you have the money,

there are companies that will store and look after

the car keeping it in top condition. Not every own-

er has the desire, space, time or ability to restore

or maintain their vehicle and they shouldn’t feel

guilty if this is the case. They are keeping a piece

of history for all to see and that is to be commend-

ed.

If you like wielding a spanner or welder then it’s

likely you will want to be fully involved in keeping

your classic on the road. Maybe you’ve bought a

restoration project that’s going to take many

hours toiling in the garage to bring it back to its

former glory. Or you’re carrying out a rolling res-

toration, when small parts of the vehicle are re-

stored, so that the vehicle can continue to be used

in-between bouts of work.

The question of space is raised at this point. Un-

less your classic vehicle is a daily runner—and

many are– you are going to need somewhere to

keep it. On the driveway under a cover is fine,

however this can attract the dreaded tin worm

and the even more dreaded car thief. Not every-

body has a garage let alone space in a garage for a

car, so give some consideration to secure storage.

Your vehicle will be dry, the battery will be on

trickle charge and when the sun shines and it’s

Page 2: Why buy a classic vehicle

time to turn some heads, it will be as clean as the

day you put it away.

Storage companies, such as Jordan’s, one of our

show sponsors, offer flexible services, even taking

care of the mundane tasks such as MOT tests, ser-

vicing and valet cleaning. If you are tight on space

or worried about keeping your classic outside,

storage companies are worth investigating.

As specific models become rarer, appear in TV

series, such as Life on Mars , or simply become

more popular, prices rise as we’ve seen over the

last few years. Classic vehicle prices tend to be

cyclic this

year’s high

could be fol-

lowed by a sud-

den decline so

there’s no guar-

antee of mak-

ing money.

That said, look-

ing at the auc-

tions prices of

top quality

MGB Mk IIIs

between 2004

and 2015

shows a rise

from £6,500 to £13,570, which is the sort of return

that makes classic cars attractive to investors, re-

grettably pricing them out of the reach of vehicle

enthusiasts.

The strong rise in the value of classic vehicles over

the last few years means your vehicle’s value

could increase significantly over the period your

insurance runs for. This presents a problem for

agreed value policies and one that must be dis-

cussed with a broker or insurance company that

understands the classic vehicle market. Coops In-

surance, one of our show sponsors, is one such

specialist and is on the showground today offering

friendly advice on all vehicle insurance matters.

Clubs give you the opportunity to join like-minded

people who will be able to offer advice, help and

social activities. Some clubs are make or model

specific, others aren’t. We’ve always had a strong

club support of both types at our car show and

some clubs have been returning for many years.

Bringing your classic vehicle to a show like today’s

gives you the opportunity to meet new people,

sometimes people interested in owning a vehicle

like yours or maybe it brings back childhood mem-

ories. Sometimes they just like the colour!

You may notice I’ve used the word vehicle, and

that’s because the classic vehicle world is a broad

church. Look

around the

showground

today and you’ll

see a variety of

vehicles of all

shapes and sizes.

Whether it’s a

classic motorcy-

cle, car, tractor,

commercial, mili-

tary or steam

driven vehicle

the relationship

and passion is

the same it’s only the number of wheels and the

size that’s different.

So if you’re thinking about a classic vehicle, to-

day’s show is a good place to start. If you know

what make and model you desire you’re off to a

flying start. If not, you have a wide variety to look

at today before choosing.

Whatever stage you are at with purchasing your

first classic, classic vehicle owners are a friendly lot

and like people taking an interest in their vehicles.

So talk to them, find out about the vehicle, parts

supply and specialists, take photographs and make

contacts so when you’re ready to take on that

relationship you can make it work.

Classics don’t always need to be large! Fully working scale model

of a steam driven traction engine.