The historic vehicle market is worth more today than it was five years ago but growth is slowing dramatically and more must be done to increase the number of young enthusiasts if it is to survive in the future.
That's the warning from the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC), whose annual National Historic Vehicle Survey found that while the market is worth a record £7.3 billion today, the £100 million growth since 2020 is far less than the £1.7bn increase reported five years ago, when prices peaked during the Covid pandemic.
FBHVC secretary Mel Holley said this "reflects the weakening of the wider economy and the changes in the historic vehicle market". Since Covid, the average value of a historic car has fallen from £26,000 to £22,700 today.
However, Karl Fasulo, founder of KGF Classics, a Peterborough-based specialist in modern classics, told Autocar that "I don't see values falling off a cliff any time soon", as a result of the prices of prime specimens (low mileage, service history, factory specifications) that are still highly sought after.
"Such cars are rare, but although they're not rocketing in value, prices for them are at least stable," he said. However, Fasulo admitted that the price of classics falling may not be a bad thing in the longer run because "any softening will encourage more people to enter the market".
This could help the market to build the number of owners especially younger ones. According to the FBHVC survey, the average age of people owning a historic vehicle has risen to 66 years old from 63 years old in 2020.
Interest among people below the age of 35 is growing, though, from both non-owners and those drawn to so-called 'youngtimer' classic cars - defined as being no older than 30 years.
"It's encouraging but the federation acknowledges more must be done to attract younger enthusiasts," said Holley.
"We are all living longer and there simply aren't enough younger people coming into the sector to slow the increase in the average age of owners."
One of those younger owners is 24-year-old Lorenzo Wojtanowski - and he owns four: a 1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super, a 1990 Mazda MX-5, a 1995 Jaguar XJ and a 1999 Volvo V70.
He believes that more young people own classic cars than the FBHVC survey suggests.
"Between us, me and my friends - all of us in our early-to mid-twenties own around 30 traditional and youngtimer classics," said Wojtanowski.
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I am actually quite pleased that classic car values are falling away.
The market has been over-heated for so long, crazy prices being paid month in month out, has attracted speculators most of whom have absolutely no interest in the vehicles, and squirrel them away like vintage wine or old paintings.
Their actions were likely to attract the interest of the exchequer sooner or later.
Hopefully most, (not so much the blue chip vehicles), will fall back into the realms of the attainable, so that they can be enjoyed and used by enthusiasts, while the speculators catch a cold. I have no sympathy for them.
Today’s stats show almost a million young people are NEETS.
Just learning to drive is too expensive for many youngsters let alone the luxury of owning a classic car…