Will cars of today ever become classics in the future?

Max_Damage

I was just thinking this the other day. Given the fact that the majority of cars today are just seen as disposable 'white goods' (like washing machines and so on) and complicated computers and electronics in cars these days which making maintaning such a vehicle into a the future incredibly difficult and probably not worth while, I don't see how many cars (with the exception of maybe supercars and a few others) of today will ever be seen as 'collectable' items any time in the future.

I just see the likes of the current Punto, Corsa, Yaris, Passat, Micra, etc., as cars that 25 years down the line will probably be extinct of the face of the planet.

As the saying goes "They don't make 'em like they use to".

redmund

probably also the fact that the numbers in which they are produced would preclude them ever becoming so rare as to make them desirable as classics in the usual sense.

dubtom

Or the fact that the goverment are supposed to be introducing scrappage for older cars as the norm.I don't really know how that would work tbh, maybe it won't cost anything to scrap or your guarenteed a minimum price. Whatever they do,it doesn'tt bode well for the classic lover, be it a puntio or a porche, if some stupid penalty system or other is introduced for older, dirtyer cars.

2cv

My first reaction would be to say no they won't become classics. But that's probably what people said when the Ford Escort first came out as well and look at the crazy prices they're fetching :-)

I think some of the cars will survive (hopefully not the Punto, Micra and Fiesta though cos i hate them with a passion)... Cars that are worth saving will survive any scrapage deal (same thing happened in France in the 90s) and more and more companies will start specialising in car electronics because there's money to be made there...

So my conclusion would be: in 30 years time the situation won't be much different then today. The cars that are worth saving will still be around and admired by many. I can hear myself say: "oh look honey, a Peugeot 207, remember the time we had a brand new one?" And we'll all feel ancient :-)

v-deniso

My opinion would be that you will see a continuation of past/current trend that brands such as BMW, Merc, Porsche & Jaguar will all provide some of the future classics but these will only be from models with a reduced production run i.e. Coupe, Cabrio & Limited editions.

Others that might make it would be the likes of the Alpha Spider, GT, TVR's Ford Escort Cosworth etc etc

Brand snobery still goes a long way in classic car circles but thankfully there are plenty of real people left who love cars for being just cars.

Anan1

I think the Alfa 156 will be a classic, in much the same way as the Giulia is today.

v240gltse

hi,

I have mixed feelings about todays cars lasting to become classics. Look at it this way, most of us are not fully qualified mechanics but are able to learn as we go along with help from forum friends and mr Haynes. Its relatively a manual task to keep our cars running well today . OK maybe we use the odd stobe-light for tuning and we make sure all our electrical contacts are good but by and by we don't have the need to go delving into complex electronics.

The pre 80/90's car were not stuffed to the vents with electronics that require a Masters in Computer science to get working or even understand what controls what in the car.

For example we currently have the OBD, OBD2 electronic diagnosis systems and then along comes the CAN methodology just to cap it all off.

What does this mean for the average DIY mechanic,

(1) a trip to the garage to find out whats wrong with the car

or

(2) buy the applicable Code reader(and remember there all not compatable ).

Then having identified the fault he may have to purchase a damm expensive replacement part or the fault may require a software update that can only carried out at the Main dealer.

Many of today's cars have various faults fixed (masked) by software updates from the manufactors. On my GOlf GTi there is a list of settings from "home time lights on" to "auto locking" the doors at a certain speed to my volvo were you can set the degree of heat you want in the heated seats

So now we have moved from the tool box of spanners.hammer,gauges etc ( that we can keep for a life time) to requiring in addition a laptop with the relevent software application on it to help us diagnose the problem and all the relevent updates that software may require.

Sorry if I sound glum but I really feel that in the future the DIY person may not exist as more Goverenment incentives/laws are introduced to clean old cars off our roads and the complexity of maintenance is no longer worth while.

I hope this is not the case

regards

brendan

macplaxton

I think what we commonly think of as classic cars need redefining as it's getting a bit open ended in some of the magazines and I'm not really interested in MX5s and MR2s being counted in even if they are collectable because they are from a different era.

You need to put some date ranges to the different generations:

"veteran" (to 1919)
"vintage" (1920 - 1930)
"pre-war" (1930-1939)
"post-war" (1945-1960)

In my mind after about 1975 up to 1990 is all fairly similar technology wise and
anything after 1990 is all the stuff with cats on them and electronic engine stuff to keep the cat happy call that something else - different era again.

"classic" (1960-1975)
"retro" (1975-1990)
"modern" (1991-)

I think some of them will from every era will still be collectable - yes the toolbox will be different - but all classes of historic vehicle will be cherished in the future.

Eric318

The Renault Avantime will definitely be a classic I believe. Amazing design and technology, but commercial failure. They only built 8,545 of them.

fish-head

I think the Jag XKR/8 will be a classic in years to come..

cormee

I reckon any of the Pininfarina designed Puegeots would have a good chance if they last that long. Love their design!

RobAMerc

I think the new C6 is defo going to be a classic particulary in rhd, I have only seen one so far and I am pretty sure that guy works for Citroen.

In my opinion there is a raft of cars that will become classics in the future. I would love a 1.9 205gti or clean r5 gt turbo if there is such thing.

I think what will make some modern cars classic will be little boys' first loves. When they get older and the pockets get a bit deeper, they may buy and keep something as a sentimental hark to the past.

They may not be rare, but classic none the less.

RichyX

The late 70's Toyota Corolla is considered a classic among some people.
If that mass produced sh*te box can be a classic then why not the current Hyundai Accent

Boomer23

cormee wrote:

I reckon any of the Pininfarina designed

dont forget the Fiat Coupe.....shocking car, ye dont see many of them about, but gorgeous

Wibbs

RobAMerc wrote:

In my opinion there is a raft of cars that will become classics in the future. I would love a 1.9 205gti or clean r5 gt turbo if there is such thing.

Yep nice cars both, though the R5 is a delicate little bugger, plus most have been max powered up. I haven't seen one about in years. I used to have one so I'd notice.:D

I think what will make some modern cars classic will be little boys' first loves. When they get older and the pockets get a bit deeper, they may buy and keep something as a sentimental hark to the past.

Exactly.

I think some of the Japanese stuff will become collectable in unmolested condition(rare even now). Earlier scooby imprezas, skylines etc. honda type r's should too as they are a fairly basic car to work on.

Gerry

I'd like to hope that the saab 900 becomes a proper classic, since I have one . It has been in the twilight zone in between nothing and classic for a good while now. At the moment, the classic label is applied to it a lot, and it is featured in classic car magazines a bit.

But still, a lot of the people calling it a classic are saab enthusiasts, this practise started to distinguish it from the new generation, vectra based 900. I think it has backfired a bit, if the enthusiasts weren't trying so hard to paint it as a classic, maybe more "neutral" people would regard it as such. It has now gotten to stage where the saab 9000 is being labelled as the "classic saab 9000". Nope, sorry.
Anyway, I think early examples of the 900 are regarded as proper classics, and prices for mint late ones are steady or increasing. It will be a while before my '91 is regarded as a classic though.