Okay, I know the statement above is pretty broad brush but only if you view my statement in the short term. A twelve-year-old car is fairly old by today's standards and has already become a part of history. I guess if you follow the rule that to be a classic it has to be some kind of icon then yes not every car can be considered a classic. However, if you also think that an Austin Seven built from 1923 to 1939 is a classic then you're probably thinking its age gives it that kind of relevance.

Of course that would be true as would the fact it will be a rarity on our roads today. Hence it's valued for its rarity rather than for being a major milestone in the annals of motoring.

At StillMotoring.com we're looking at vehicles likely to be future classics and as such generate significant purchase prices as have many fast and not-so-fast Fords. For example, a Ford Capri 3.0 GXL MK1 can sell for as much as £36K! I for one didn't appreciate that back in 1975 when I bought one for £1,200! However, what this experience does reveal is that what you consider as a regular even ordinary motor today may well prove to be a highly expensive classic over the next thirty or forty years.

It might even happen sooner with the advent of the Electric Vehicle (EV) and the intended demise of fossil fuel vehicles. However, I admit to being a skeptic over EVs believing they are not the answer govt. and manufacturers claim them to be. In another ten or twenty years I'm fairly certain hydrogen vehicles will finally take over. What's holding them back apart from science is I suspect to do with how energy companies make a profit selling hydrogen or hydrogen fuel cell. I accept that science is still problematic, but as with everything, it seems it is not impossible.

Back to fossil fuel classic cars. Today we have a very efficient range of such vehicles producing more power than was possible forty or fifty years ago. Technology has advanced enough to offer most ordinary cars manufactured in the 2020s to be fairly spritely by comparison to their ancestors. Top speeds are academic these days because of legal limits but the 0-60mph time remains a measure of a car's ability to out-accelerate rivals. For that reason, motor manufacturers continue to build fast versions of their more mundane vehicles Ford with their ST and RS models or Skoda with their VRS versions all offering rapid forms of transport that would have been considered as race machines back in the seventies. If you have what you consider a modern class email us with your reasons and images of your motor.

​

V8 ENGINES +

Are V8 gas guzzlers to be avoided?

I don't think anyone should turn away from purchasing a V8 or larger engine simply because they're renowned to be thirsty. Especially, if they're to be kept as a classic or second car.

There are numerous considerations to be taken into account when considering a V8 or larger petrol engine. Okay first off, they're not necessarily more expensive to insure than a 2000 turbo which more than likely can today blow a V8 into the weeds.

Importantly, the theory behind a big engine runs true today as much as it did fifty years ago. A big engine is less stressed covering huge mileages than a smaller engine. Meaning, what you lose in fuel thirst you gain from paying less in maintenance costs.

Next, how much mileage do you estimate doing with your V8? If you figure you cover 4,000 miles per annum that's roughly £2K in fuel (averaging 20 mpg). By comparison, you can expect say a 2007 Honda Type R to cover 30 mpg on average if you resist your right foot pressing to the floor whenever the road empties. So, roughly expect your fuel bill to be around £1,500 per annum. For that £500 saving you have a fairly reliable, fast saloon. What you won't have is the thunderous call to attention delivered by a V8 whenever you appear. For many the V8 musical is worth £500 per annum. I know that for sure because I'm one of them. Cars have grown up and people with them. Appreciating a motor these days includes the sound they make as much as the performance they provide and, make no mistake, a V8 usually has the torque to whisk it ahead of faster smaller engines in top gear. While a Type R driver drops a couple of gears to dominate the road a V8 driver will enjoy the sheer power of pushing boot to floor without the need to search for a lower cog.