Brand Loyalty – It’s Alive and Well

7

Dale Vinten

Meet David Franklin. David likes Fiat. In fact, David LOVES Fiat. You could say he’s a little obsessed, if you wanted to be dramatic about it, but the fact of the matter remains, David is a big fan of the Italian auto manufacturer. So much so that he has just taken delivery of his 55th model – a fully-electric New 500 (RED) edition. Don’t worry, this isn’t an article where we wax lyrical about EVs and their place in the classic car world. No, we want to talk about brand loyalty when it comes to classics and David’s story aroused the old grey matter in that respect.

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We can totally understand David’s allegiance. Having begun his career with the company in 1962 he purchased his first 500D that same year, kick-starting his love affair with all things Fiat. David then set up shop and stayed for 12 years, progressing through numerous roles, from Car Tester to Operations Manager, all the while tearing up off-road production car trials around the country in whichever model Fiat he happened to be driving at the time. He was good too, scooping up a ton of silverware along the way.

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During his time at Fiat David also met the love of his life; an Italian by the name of Michela who had come to work at the company in 1964. It was yet another reason for David’s attachment to the brand and the pair were married two years later. We’re sure you can guess what they chose as their wedding car… Yep, a Fiat. A 2300 estate to be precise.

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Listing the pretty 850 Coupé and the somewhat divisive Multipla as some of his favourite Fiats David reckons he’s clocked up over 600,000 miles behind the wheel of the various models he has owned over the past 60 years. The “Fix It Again Tomorrow“ jibes won’t wash either as David states: “Fiat never let me down, so I didn’t let them down”. It’s a wonderfully honest and heartfelt endorsement of the brand and it’s great to see such loyalty and passion for one company spanning so many years and so many models.

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But what about the rest of us? Can any of us claim to be as ardent, as devoted to one particular manufacturer as David? Personally speaking, my favourite car has always been the one I’m currently driving and tinkering with. I’ve owned many cars in the past, all of them classics to varying degrees, but I’ve never felt a particular fidelity to any one brand. At this moment in time I love all things Volvo, but that’s mainly because I now drive a 940 turbo estate. Before that I was obsessed with Ford Capris, because yep, you guessed it, my previous car was a 1983 2.8 Injection. I still receive numerous emails from the various model-specific forums and owner’s clubs I have signed up to in the past and then promptly ditched as soon as the corresponding car had been moved on. Onwards and upwards I say. OK, sometimes it’s onwards and sideways and occasionally onwards and downwards but you get the point.

We get it though. Some of the team here at Car & Classic are true devotees. One of our auction consigners is a Jaguar man through and through, for instance, and we have a hardcore Harley Davidson fan in our customer support team. I’m sure you all know about our Editor Chris Pollitt’s affinity for his Rover too, but even then he isn’t obsessed. Despite owning a rather lovely 800 (his second), and recently pulling another out of a bush, he’s not a Rover fan boy. Like me, he just loves his particular car.

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On a recent trip to Wales we came across a couple of friends who had driven their Triumph TR6s over from Ireland for a jolly and we got to chatting, because any excuse to talk classics, right? Not only had they always had Triumphs, with one of the pair having owned his current car for 25 years, but they also had the gear. You know the type; they had the t-shirts, the hats, all of the Triumph-branded paraphernalia. It was more than a hobby for them, more than just a car or a brand. Like David, it was an obsession and we love to see it.

Can the same be said for companies like Tesla or Polestar though, we wonder? Will there be such brand loyalty, such devotion in the future? Will like-minded enthusiasts remain loyal to their chosen manufacturers and extol the virtues of their go-to brand to strangers in a hotel car park? We’re not sure, but it would be a real shame if that wasn’t still the case. We could sit down with a beer and talk to people like David and the two chaps from Ireland for hours, enthusiastically discussing the merits of their particular favourites and all of the myriad stories, anecdotes and adventures that come along with that discourse.

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It’s clear that brand loyalty continues to exist in the classic world today. David and his love of Fiat is testament to that and long may it continue. Cars are emotive. A lot of us buy with our hearts rather than our heads and that’s especially true when it comes to classics. For whatever reason, we believe that a particular brand or manufacturer represents better quality than others and they evoke certain inexplicably positive feelings in us. Whether that be based on personal experience or just gut instinct it can’t necessarily be explained, merely embraced.

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