Getting old..and relativity? .

[Martin Evans]

When my grandfather was 90, I asked him what 90 years felt like and he said, without hesitation, "Not long when you look back on it". To him one year equalled 1/90th of his life. When I was in junior school, a year seemed forever but if I was ten years old, said year was 10% of my life. I once saw a TV documentary, that said perception of time is related to life expectancy and that to a fly, a second is a much bigger interval of time, than it is to humans. That’s apparently why it’s so hard to catch a fly, as what you do in a split second seems ages to them.

I have owned the Midget for nearly 28 years and if I think back on it, the 1980s period 1984 –90 seemed quite a long time (But not as long as 1980 –84), whilst the 1990s got quicker in a similar way. The year 2000 doesn’t seem very long ago at all and sometimes I forget what year it now is (And suddenly I think where have the years gone?).

Whilst the 1990 Nova isn’t quite old enough to be a classic or historic vehicle (That’s FIVA’s, not Gordon Brown’s definition of historic), it is simply a question of time. Due to the way cars have gone, it is certainly a rarity (I remember test driving a GTE; it was a nice nippy little car, perhaps a bit prone to understeer as Novas were) and I think the proportion of cars surviving into “Preservation” will continue to decrease.

[zipgun]

Yeah, nail on the head there but to kids today , are 20 30 year old cars "funny looking old things ? " Cripes what do they think of Austin 7's if they see one By the way , my Dad worked for Arnolds ...they made the Arnold Benz , Adam ? Now thats old ! Walter Arnold was the first person to get copped for speeding ....

[Martin Evans]

To the non enthusiast, for whom beyond being a means of transport, cars are a status symbol, I suppose older cars will always be ridiculed (If they are interested in anything, it’s image and the car is incidental to that). Plebs like that have always been the same. Back around 1960, my father owned a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica. Lots of the local ignoramuses, for whom a new Ford Consul was the last word (But they couldn’t have told you why), assumed the Frash was an Austin 7 Special and perceived that it was going to be in the way. Given that the car had lapped Le Mans at 98mph, which was faster than many cars would go flat out in those days, they often found out that their assumptions were wide of the mark. This isn't my father's car but it's one like it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjegXwnvB6o. Some of the narration is wrong. The engine was a Bristol engine, that was aquired from BMW after WW2. Pre was Frazer Nash BMWs (As opposed to chaingangs) were re badged BMWs but all post was cars of this type had Brisol engines, not BMW.

I have been interested in cars most of my life and as a schoolboy, in the early 1970s, certainly didn’t laugh at Vintage Bentleys (Which were no older then than 1960s cars are now…perhaps cars have changed less in appearance since the 1960s than they did between the 1920s and the 1960s) or any other vintage cars. I am sure some of my peers would have preferred a Capri but they weren’t interested in cars; it was all about image and if Reliant Regals had been “Cool”, they would have wanted one of those. In those days, City Road in Cardiff was Mecca (It was full of car showrooms) and a trip to a Vintage car event was also much enjoyed. I remember going to the National Motor Museum in about 1972/3 and I was very exited about the visit. I had (And still have) an LP called "World of Motoring", that was made at Beaulieu in the 1960s and to see the cars on my record added to the interest. For me cars were cars (Some I liked, some I didn't) and age didn't come into it. During the mid 1980s, I began to lose interest in contemporary stuff but that's another story.

[Dave3066]

I think from the days of the first Ford Sierra and that "jelly mould" shape and the need for ever more aerodynamic drag-reducing features, cars have looked more and more similar over longer periods of time. Modern cars of a particular class are also much bigger than their "older" counterparts. I see quite a few 80s and 90s cars around here and don't think they look that old. The more rounded shapes of early-mid 90s (20 years old now) cars are far closer to their modern equivalents than say early-mid 70s cars (20 years younger) are to their 90's equivalents. That for me is the difference.

Or could it just be that we refuse to think the cars that we grew up with are old, because that would be like admitting we are old too?

Dave

[JPB]

I think from the days of the first Ford Sierra and that "jelly mould" shape and the need for ever more aerodynamic drag-reducing features, cars have looked more and more similar over longer periods of time. Modern cars of a particular class are also much bigger than their "older" counterparts. I see quite a few 80s and 90s cars around here and don't think they look that old. The more rounded shapes of early-mid 90s (20 years old now) cars are far closer to their modern equivalents than say early-mid 70s cars (20 years younger) are to their 90's equivalents. That for me is the difference.

Nail on head, IMHO.

Or could it just be that we refuse to think the cars that we grew up with are old, because that would be like admitting we are old too?

Yes.

[zipgun]

Ahh of course , Sierra caused it Bumpers made of metal and glass fitted with rubber extrusion all faded away after that ... and goodbye gutters too ..(which when its raining give you a wet seat in todays cars ! )

[mach1rob]

Don't care what anyone says, you can't say this isn't a Classic!!

[harvey]

Don't care what anyone says, you can't say this isn't a Classic!!

Is someone else going to tell him, or have I drawn the short straw.....

[alfaspecial]

It's interesting how a couple of posters have said that modern cars last longer than 'oldies'. On balance, I disagree.
Old cars usually died due to rust (being beyond economical repair), newer cars die usually because of electronic problems or parts obsolescence (beying beyond economical repair). So what has really changed?
There are few car breakers now (high value of steel plus costs of disposal of plastics/tyres etc) and so there is no longer a supply of secondhand parts to help 3rd & 4th owners of cars to keep their vehicles on the road.

I remember back in the late 80's new cars supposedly had a life of around 15 years....... when the scrappage scheme was introduced in 2009 the cut off was 10 years (barely 'run in' IMHO)......

Have a look at the website http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk it's staggering how few cars are on the road - not of sports models but ordinary run arounds. Perhaps these will be the classics of the future ?

eg http://howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/austin_mini_metro
only 89 actually licenced? in 2011 A mini mero - less of them on the road than there are the Lotus Esprit! (http://howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=lotus+esprit)

[tractorman]

I'm not sure about that one alfa, the scrappage wouldn't have worked that well if only 15+ cars were included. After all, how many owners of such cars could afford a new one?

I agree that rust doesn't kill the 10 - 15 year old cars nowadays, but it isn't just electronics or lack of parts that kills 'em either - it's economics! A friend sold her J reg Peugot 205 (Diesel) about four years ago. I don't think that had many computers etc! The body was in good enough order, the engine ran well, but the quote for £300+ to have two new front struts fitted (for MOT) made the car, in her eyes, not viable (I think it was valued at about £200 at the time). My beloved 96 Passat was the same as far as I was concerned. On a good day, it would have been worth about £750 (it had 200K miles). However, someone had fitted the cam belt by taking the pulley off the crank (you should undo three bolts between "vee" and crank flange). That meant the locating pin failed (a common problem with that engine!) and the car kept losing its timing. Added to that, the injector pump sounded like a hammer drill and I was looking at a £2K+ figure to keep the car another year.

Although my 2005 Golf has two or three computers, I am fairly confident that they will last and, if they fail, VW will be able to repair them (they are coded to the VIN etc, so a scrapyard one won't work!). However, if it becomes "negative equity" when a repair is due, it will go to the scrapyard - with an "everyday" car, there is no classic value and no emotion involved!

Incidentally, I was noticing the cars around here after reading a comment on this thread about "5X" cars. Apart from my "52" Golf, there are three or four "51" registered cars in good order (one being a Vectra mentioned elsewhere), next door have an "X" reg Audi A6 (and they have been asked by strangers if they want to sell it), one of the farming types has just bought an 95/6 Disco (sold a Diahatsu for it the idiot!) and another farmer has upgraded to a "W" reg Xantia from an "N" reg baby Volvo! None of the cars look like old bangers - all seem in good condition (apart from the Disco) and most actually have a shine on them!