Antique & Classic Cars Blog

I was talking to a guy at a friend’s party last night about “fun” cars. He noted that with credit many young people today have new Audis or BMWs. He said he’d much rather have an old Porsche or a classic BMW like a 2002.

With summer coming on (hopefully), here’s a pros and cons list of classic car ownership. As always, your input is welcome.

Classic car pros:
1. Looks–daring and distinctive lines.
2. Ease of troubleshooting and repair.
3. Memories.
4. Sense of greater ownership in a car you maintain or restore.
5. Community of fellow enthusiasts with whom to trade tips, lore, parts, and an extra set of hands.
6. Greater driver involvement–fewer automated features softening and homogenizing the feel through the wheel and pedals.
7. Uniqueness.
8. Generally sustained value (over price when new).

Classic car cons:
1. Rust–the fiendishly destructive and costly old-car nemesis.
2. Storage space/cost.
3. Insurance cost beyond daily driver.
4. Parts can be hard to find, expensive.
5. May require frequent maintenance or repair.
6. No airbags; may lack headrests, seatbelts.
7. Restoration takes longer and costs more than most owners project.
8. Many older cars do not perform to modern standards.

Nice thing about sustained values is that as long as you didn’t get taken on the purchase, or go upside-down on a restoration, you can usually sell a classic for little loss or some gain.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 10:21 am and is filed under Car parts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.