Classics for Sale Rarities

What Makes a Modern Classic?

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Updated 26-3-2024
To us at StillMotoring.com ANY car built between 1950 and 2010 has the potential to be considered a classic.

Okay, I know the statement above is a pretty broad brush but only if you view my statement in the short term. A twelve year old car is fairly old by today’s standards and has already become a part of history. I guess if you follow the rule that to be a classic it had to be some kind of icon then yes not every car can be considered a classic. However, if you also think that an Austin Seven built from 1923 to 1939 is a classic then you’re probably thinking its age gives it that kind of relevance.
Of course that would be true as would the fact it will be a rarity on our roads today. Hence it’s valued for its rarity rather than for being a major milestone in the annals of motoring.
At StillMotoring.com we’re looking at vehicles likely to be future classics and as such generate significant purchase prices as have many fast and not so fast Fords. For example a Ford Capri 3.0 GXL MK1 can sell for as much as £36K! I for one didn’t appreciate that back in 1975 when I bought one for £1,200! However, what this experience does reveal is that what you consider as a regular even ordinary motor today may well prove to be a highly expensive classic over the next thirty or forty years.
It might even happen sooner with the advent of the Electric Vehicle (EV) and the intended demise of fossil fuel vehicles. However, I admit to be a sceptic over EV’s believing they are not the answer govt. and manufacturers claim them to be. In another ten or twenty years I’m fairly certain hydrogen vehicles will finally take over. What’s holding them back apart from science is I suspect to do with how energy companies make a profit selling hydrogen or hydrogen fuel cell. I accept the science is still problematic, but as with everything it seems it is not impossible.
Back to fossil fuel classic cars. Today we have a very efficient range of such vehicles producing more power than was possible forty or fifty years ago. Technology has advanced enough to offer most ordinary cars manufactured in the 2020s to be fairly spritely by comparison to their ancestors. Top speeds are academic these days because of legal limits but the 0-60mph time remains a measure of a cars ability to out accelerate rivals. For that reason motor manufacturers continue to build fast versions of their more mundane vehicles Ford with their ST and RS models or Skoda with their VRS versions all offer rapid forms of transport that would have been considered as race machines back in the seventies.
If you have what you consider a modern class email us with your reasons and images of your motor.

With so much changing the world of motoring establishing a system that easily assesses the value of vehicles is an uphill struggle. As far as the the UK is concerned a car achieves classic status after it is more than 40 years old and is recognized by the DVLA for “Historic Vehicle” status. However, a Classic Car is described by the HMRC as one that is 15 years or older and valued for £15,000 or more. That owners no longer require an MOT certificate or pay Road Tax for 40 year old vehicles offer some savings that allow ownership of such vehicles to be less financially prohibitive.
A question for many 40 year old car owners is whether they have a valuable classic? There’s only one answer that reaches across the entire classic car arena: ‘Is there a market for the car you own? No matter what industry you find yourself if there is not a vibrant market for whatever it is you want to sell you may have to wait years before you finally off load it for the kind of cash you are hoping. Now that is not necessarily a bad thing, although it might seem so if you appear stuck with a car. However, low demand equates to low values making vehicles accessible to more people than those at the other end of the scale. Which means you could pick up a serious bargan that has been unrecognized until a public fad generates interest and you suddenly find yourself with a motor that is in demand and growing in value. Let’s look at a few possibilities.
The Ford Cougar especially in V6 form remains a fast Ford that never quite attained the success I personally think it deserved. It iremains possible to buy one of these motors for under £1,000! Which is peanuts for what it offers and with a future potential of it becoming recognized as a genuine classic. Other cars like this are Saab’s, especially aero models which are blisteringly quick, in particular the petrol versions with a 2.3 litre engine pumping out a massive 260 bhp. It’s still possible to purchase a Saab 95 aero for under £1,000. The motor you get for that money even knocks the Cougar out of the ball park for its generosity in accommodation, performance and overall quality. In the not too distant future I’m pretty sure that Saab’s are going to be recognized as the highly desirable cars they once were and prove good investments.

So what does make a classic car in 2024? Here’s a fairly good rule of thumb to follow: Ensure it’s the sportiest version of a standard model; check it was popular at the time it was manufactured; check how many still on the road or sorn; low mileage is a big plus; Full Service History preferred; if restored fully documented pictorial and documentary records wanted; check specific clubs for your car of interest to identify issues that may put buyers off; check spares and parts are still available; check asking prices best and worst and include condition; note that trade sales are usuallly more expensive because they likely come with a warranty while auctions are usually the lowest sale price with private somewhere in between. There is always an element of risk when buying any car but if you eliminate as many risks as possible you will probably come away with a good investment.

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