{"id":6113,"date":"2020-04-19T08:58:39","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T08:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.co.uk\/magazine\/?p=6113"},"modified":"2024-09-12T10:21:03","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T09:21:03","slug":"the-concept-of-the-sustainable-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/the-concept-of-the-sustainable-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Concept of the Sustainable Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world is a strange place at the moment, what with the lockdown we\u2019re all subject to as part of the global fight against Coronavirus. We\u2019re all stuck indoors, nobody is commuting (except essential workers of course), the roads are eerily quiet. It\u2019s all very strange. And this gave me the chance to ponder something. Do we really need expensive, brand-new cars to get about? I\u2019m sure some do, and I\u2019m sure many would prefer that. And that\u2019s fine. However, my personal experience has left me to ponder just how much I need my eight-year-old C Max?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Travel is restricted at the moment, as well we know. However, we can still travel for vital reasons. Be that to the pharmacy, to the supermarket or in my case, to collect and drop off my daughter. And during lockdown, I\u2019ve found myself picking up the keys for the Rover Vitesse<\/a> or the Mercedes E Class<\/a>. The former is twenty-one, the latter twenty-nine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"classic,<\/p>\n

The initial train of thought was one of preservation. \u2018I should give them a run, it\u2019s good for them\u2019, that kind of thing. Then it quickly moved into plain old desire. I <\/span>wanted<\/span><\/i> to take one of the older cars. Not the C Max. Driving the older cars is more fun, and by using them on the most vital of journeys, they have further proved themselves to be reliable and capable. I\u2019m now looking at the modern Ford and wondering if I need it at all?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, I understand that this outlook is probably limited to modern classics from the last thirty years or so. If my Mercedes or Rover were, god forbid, involved in an accident, they\u2019re both reasonably strong. A 1928 Austin 7<\/a>, not so much. Nor would the Austin be able to mix it in modern, frankly aggressive traffic. I think driving a vintage car in amongst its modern cousins would, frankly, be terrifying. Cars such as that should indeed be used on a chosen route, away from hustle and bustle. Though that said, I\u2019m not your father. If you want to commute in a Riley RME<\/a>, have at it. I know I would.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Austin,<\/p>\n

The thing is, modern classics, or retro classics, or whatever Instagram is calling them this week, <\/span>are<\/span><\/i> perfectly usable every day. These cars have ample life in them if looked after. The Mercedes-Benz W124 I have is a perfect case in point. It has 203,000 on the clock. But since buying it, I have lavished it with care, attention and improvements and now I would drive it to Scotland. If I could. I actually will when the lockdown lifts. And before you say that said care and attention is costly, it\u2019s not. All in, the Mercedes owes me about \u00a3700. And that includes buying it. It\u2019s \u00a313 a month to insure and \u00a323 a month to tax. It\u2019s cheap motoring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also sustainable motoring, and this is the point I want to make. Some people need the security and reliability that comes from a new car. They need the warranty. They need it as a tool to do a job. And that\u2019s fine. But aside from those people, how many of us are paying out \u00a3400 a month for a new car? And of those, how many need it? And by that, I mean really need it. I\u2019ve never had a car on the \u2018never never\u2019. I don\u2019t understand the appeal. And there are people I know that don\u2019t really like it, but they do it anyway because they have this forced perception that new cars are better. But they\u2019re not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Monte<\/p>\n

By their very nature, a new car is not better than an old car. A new car isn\u2019t proven, instead we put our faith in them because we\u2019re told, endlessly, that new is good. In reality though, cars like my Mercedes are better. 203,000 on the clock, and still running like a top. Faultless in fact.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How many people out there could, if the \u2018new is best\u2019 blinkers were removed, happily drive about in classic car? Many, I suspect. And by driving older cars, we\u2019re also being kinder to the environment. An older car was built once, twenty years ago. If it\u2019s in use today, the carbon output of producing that car is still being capitalised on. If we buy new cars only to buy more news cars decades before a car\u2019s true mechanical expiry, we\u2019re simply doubling, tripling, quadrupling the carbon output. But because said new car is low emission, and new, we\u2019re told it\u2019s better. But it\u2019s not. Okay, my Mercedes and Rover might not be as economical as a new car, but neither are they rolling clouds of smoke. They\u2019re perfectly efficient, and while that efficiency may be less than a new car, it\u2019s efficiency that only stands against the carbon output of building one car. Twenty years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Carandclassic,<\/p>\n

The automotive industry is big, it is important and we need it. But we also need to be more careful with the resources we have already. To quote a good friend of mine, \u201ca car doesn\u2019t know how old it is, it\u2019s just a machine\u201d. And if you look after that machine, it will last forever. Plus, classic cars just look better and as such, are cooler. Nobody has looked cool in a 2020 Nissan Micra.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world is a strange place at the moment, what with the lockdown we\u2019re all subject to as part of the global fight against Coronavirus. We\u2019re all stuck indoors, nobody…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[2,988],"tags":[15,963,13,693,11,1885,105,14,16,58],"yoast_head":"\nThe Concept of the Sustainable Classic - Car & Classic Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our Editor ponders over the real world logistics of using a classic car every day. 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