I just had a super depressing thought...

"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
10/18/2014 at 02:49 • Filed to: None

By the time I'm old enough/financially stable enough to buy a cool project car just for the hell of it, all the classics I currently pine after will be long gone.

DISCUSSION (11)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/18/2014 at 03:33

Yep :( as a fan of rusty old not-particularly-favoured cars (Maserati Biturbos, Rover SD1s, Lancia Beta HPEs etc.) by the time I get around to buying them there won't be any left. Hell, try finding a RHD early Maserati Biturbo for sale anywhere nowadays, let alone in a decade's time...

orcim > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/18/2014 at 03:48

As a good American business person, I detect some unserviced demand.

Maybe I could put together a small fund and loan, on the prospect of future earnings or births (preferably first born), the ability to purchase and slightly fund a project car now, for return lateron. If I don't get my payment, I take the car away ala 'Repoman. '

Hrm...

promoted by the color red > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/18/2014 at 03:59

If we can keep Model Ts and the Benz Patent Motor Wagen around into the 21st century, you can bet there'll be examples of what you want still floating around somewhere.

Cé hé sin > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/18/2014 at 04:51

Aren't these all gone already?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Cé hé sin
10/18/2014 at 05:17

You can still find LHD ones every now and again, but I think I've found 1 RHD early 2-door for sale in the past 6-8 months or so. It's depressing...

Cé hé sin > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/18/2014 at 05:23

Rust, sadly, will do that for you.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Cé hé sin
10/18/2014 at 06:10

Yep :( rust and lack of value is a real killer

Sn210 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/18/2014 at 07:47

There will still be some around, they'll just be harder to find and cost eight times as much!

Cé hé sin > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/18/2014 at 08:24

I was leafing through a classic car mag in a newsagent today and I see that you can buy 1930s or 1950s classics for remarkably little money - two or three thousand upwards for something roadworthy. Even a Healey 3000 goes for Focus money. You'd wonder why anyone restores them because it's never going to be worth it.

twochevrons > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/18/2014 at 11:32

It's something that worries me, too. Especially for the classics of the last 30 years: with emissions standards applying to them, as well as increased computerisation and more complicated mechanicals and construction, I think that, in a few decades, they'll be much thinner on the ground than the classics of the '50s and '60s are now.

Modification is a bit of a problem, too – with many of the performance cars of that era, it's nearly impossible to find a good example that hasn't been modified to some extent. My wife has always wanted a VW Corrado, so I've kept an eye out for ones for sale, and there seem to be barely any unmodified ones left. It's not that I'm a concours freak (although I do prefer my cars to be relatively stock), but once cars get to the bottom of their depreciation curve, many of those modifications have been performed rather ineptly.

With excellent parts availability, and its extreme simplicity, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if my MGA could last another 60 years, given a suitably-caring owner (hopefully still me!). Keeping old cars on the road, not matter what their value, really doesn't make any economic sense – with very few exceptions you're never going to recoup your investment. It's purely a labour of love, and those that do so, do it because they enjoy the cars, and want to keep driving them. It's why I want to rebuild the engine and retrim the interior on my nearly-worthless Volvo 850R. It's why I plan to keep my MGA on the road for as long as I possibly can. But most importantly of all, it's why, just every once in a while, you do find that perfect example of a car that you thought was all but extinct.

It's not to say that they'll be easy (or cheap) to find, but there will always be somebody crazy enough to keep one on the road.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Cé hé sin
10/20/2014 at 15:01

For the love of cars I suppose, although it's even less fiscally rewarding with cars like Spitfires, MGBs and Minis...