The future of classic cars....

[RFChris]

....lets face it, it's getting harder to own an old car. Not only is there ever increasing expense involved in the running of them but there are also pressures from the government. MOT's will get tougher, tax gets no cheaper and we're all busy trying to maintain our 'carbon footprints' whatever the hell they are.

 

So, if it comes to it, if it reaches a point where we are clearly trying to be forced to give up your hobby what will you do?

 

I'll tell you now, i won't sit back and let it happen in the 'oh so british way', no, i'll bloody fight it.

 

But hey, thats just me.

 

So, what do you think is going to happen over, say, the next 20 years? Will we be outlawed or will we be applauded for preserving our motoring heritage?

 

And if we are outlawed, will you fight it?

 

Discuss.....

[huxmk1estate]

fookin right i will........ i would rather be dead then not have a osf on going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and thats that!!!!

[Posse]

I for one will deffo be at any protests that are organised if and when.

 

But this is the future Chris

 

[Mr Sam]

i WILL have a classic on the road at all times

 

COS NEW CARS ARE SHIT

[Copey]

like hell i would ever give up having a classic car, they can kiss my arse if they think thats ever going to happen!!

[MEXY867M]

will fight all the fooking way,and I think I speak for everyone on here,

[omj624p]

I'l lhave to drop a 1.3 into my RS2000 soon, just to be able to afford to run it!!!

[Guest MK1gaz]

An old car running forever has less of a carbon footprint than making a poxy new one does !!!!!!! . Plus those shite hybrid motors are charged up with electric everynight (fossil fuel) and are full of acid batteries that only last a few years . Ooooooooh yes and they're dog poo !!!!!!!!

[bronze4door]

if they are worried about the environment and shit like that they should stop making new cars and wasting all them raw materials and plastic shit that does not decopose

 

as for having a classic car my mk1 is staying with me forever and will be driven and used how is was made to be for as long as i can drive

[hellblue]

I like to run old cars,thats why i just got the MK1 tina ~ free tax, no emissions test, no costly electronics to have fixed,no need to keep up services for a waranty, value goes up not down,loadsa fun

My mate has just bought a PT shiter the last owner had it a year & lost £2500 on it I can build a good OSF for that

[Guest MK1gaz]

My mate has just bought a PT shiter

A van with rear seats !!!!!!!!

[duttnut]

I'd say that if you do it right, a classic will always make good sense and be cheap to run.

It's the new cars of today which will have trouble passing an MOT in twenty years time because they'll have to pass todays standards.

Were the ones that will be able to keep passing by the standards set in the 60s and 70s just as vintage and veteran cars pass by turn of the century standards today. No health and Safey nonsense for us!

 

What's "carbon footprints" ??

[atomic punk]

No poxy government tells me what I can or cant drive. They'd have to forcibly take the car away - and isnt that stealing?

 

Freedom of choice - if they dont like it they can stick it.

[Stu_B]

I think it's Demolition Man where theres people living in an underground city & Sly stallone bursts up into the modern city in an old american muscle car whilst everyone else is zipping around in electric powered shite - thats my vision of the future!!

[Copey]

I think it's Demolition Man where theres people living in an underground city & Sly stallone bursts up into the modern city in an old american muscle car whilst everyone else is zipping around in electric powered shite - thats my vision of the future!!

 

haha love that film!!

[bortaf]

I recon historics will only be allowed on the road at weekends (like in some european countrys) or have to pay for road tax.

They will start back dating the emmisisons laws to include older cars (like in japan which is why we get all those cheap "grey" imports) and me? i'll keep fitting more modern engines and do my bit for the enviroment and NOT stick me head in the sand and blame everyone else for the polution problems

 

 

but i do agrre with this statemnet and my car shows what i think

 

[Nettles]

If the government ever do manage to ban classic cars then I have no option other than to move across the pond to the gas guzzling USA where they couldn’t give a flying fook about the environment.

[Rick]

its inevitable that somewhere along the line theyl; try and squeeze yet more money from us...

 

its fook all to do with the environment. i dont see and of the posh toffs taking bikes and public transport so why the fook should everyone else

 

climate change... i dont care il be dead before i see any global catastrophes

 

let them keep making plastic but soon theyl run out of holes to bury it in. then therel be car disposal tax

[Pudge]

An old car running forever has less of a carbon footprint than making a poxy new one does !!!!!!! . Plus those shite hybrid motors are charged up with electric everynight (fossil fuel) and are full of acid batteries that only last a few years . Ooooooooh yes and they're dog poo !!!!!!!!

And thats not the worst of it ,the nickel that is in the new ni-cab batterys in the hydrids is so toxic when it is mined that nothing will grow for miles around. And they think that ours are bad for enviroment!?!

[JAY PS]

its inevitable that somewhere along the line theyl; try and squeeze yet more money from us...

 

its fook all to do with the environment. i dont see and of the posh toffs taking bikes and public transport so why the fook should everyone else

 

climate change... i dont care il be dead before i see any global catastrophes

 

let them keep making plastic but soon theyl run out of holes to bury it in. then therel be car disposal tax

 

 

Nothing will surprise me now ,the emissions debate has been rolling for years and it would need all of us to stand together with other like minded soles to fight it ,but you need EVERYONE to fight it not just a few and im afraid this isnt the English way anymore

Trust me with fuel likely to hit £1.10 and predictions of £1.50 in a years time ,how many of us will be driving!!

Ive just done my fuel bills for October and i spent £150 on fuel just to get to work and back and some local trips ,and thats in either a diesel van or car !( i average 2,000miles a month).

Im now looking for more local employment !!!!!!

[bortaf]

its inevitable that somewhere along the line theyl; try and squeeze yet more money from us...

 

its fook all to do with the environment. i dont see and of the posh toffs taking bikes and public transport so why the fook should everyone else

 

climate change... i dont care il be dead before i see any global catastrophes

 

let them keep making plastic but soon theyl run out of holes to bury it in. then therel be car disposal tax

 

Exactly my point, i have kids ,i'd like to leave some sort of planet for them to live on

 

You cant just say "an old car has less of a footprint than a new one" (which i agree it does) then go out and pump more than the new cars manufacturing footprint out in excess fuel in you "enviromentle" classic, sort of negates the argument really

 

Not talking weekend cars, show cars or toys here because

A: they hold to the argument "already built cars are better than building new ones"

and

B: do a negligable millage using higher poluting engines

 

I'm talking everyday drivers here which i guess i'm in a minoraty here having a classic as a daily driver

[ezydriver]

I'd get around it. I'd simply fit solar panels into the back door of my mk2 Escort estate and run a hydro-electric motor from it. I'm sure I'd squeeze 40mph out of it.

 

Then, I'd load the back up with ICE and play, at a volume which would make plod squirm, a rip-roaring melody of V8 sounds.

 

I can hear the arse-slackening screams of the carbon footprint tits years before they even manifest!

 

When plod pulls me up, accompanied with a representative of the group "A Reasonably Safe Enviroment" (check out that for an acronym!!) I can pop my bonnet to gleefully show him a strange contraption resembling the innards of one of Hotpoints finest tumble dryers.

 

Oh yes, I'll have the ministers and bureaucrats scratching their heads. I'll make them wish they had still left cooking oil untaxed so that we could at least have some form of combustion engine to tinker with. Even after we have resorted to diesel transplants in our cossies we will find a way to make them paranoid.

 

VIVA LA OSF.

 

(And that is the last time the word Viva will appear on this forum, they became extinct years ago for a reason)

[oldbus]

Can´t really comment on the situation in the UK, because i´m not there!!

 

In Germany the future doesn´t look too rosy....

 

The Government is just in the process of setting up "environment zones" in the main cities. All cars (no exceptions for classics) are being issued with stickers which have to be displayed on the windscreen.

 

These stickers are colour coded "green for good" new cats etc down to no sticker if youre emmissions are not up to modern standards...i.e all the fun stuff.

 

When the smog levels reach a certain limit in these areas then they are going to start banning the usage of cars, starting with "no stickers"and working there way up!!!!!

 

If you don´t live in one of these areas then you can obviousy drive around the problem, if you can´t afford new cars or run a classic then you´re fooked!!!

 

The classic car lobby has been trying for years to work against this system, without any success and personally I reckon it´s going to get worse not better.

 

 

As there is a finite amount of crude oil left the oil companys are going to give it there best and get as much money for it as possible.

 

With a barrel of oil up to 100 Dollars and our old cars using more than the modern plastics it´s only a question of time before our fantastic hobby is going to be out of fanancial reach of the next generation.

 

Comparing the running costs of a classic compared to a modern, we don´t have any tax exemption for classics, most of the insurance companies only do limited mileage policies which puts the classic out of contention if you want to (legally) run it as a daily...

 

If you can live with 3000 or 5000kms a year then the classic can hold it´s own, cost wise but any more and you don´t have a chance.

 

 

Lets just enjoy it as long as we can and hope that our children will still be able to have a bit of fun..........

[Slik 50]

Id just save mine for for weekends and shows and if they banned them on the public highways then I would buy myself a trialer!

[Noodles]

Like a lot of people I would piss off out the country and take the car with me