You get fast ones, slow ones, big ones, small ones, Italian ones, then all the others.... Don't you just love classic cars?! We own a classic and work on loads more. They ALL have their quirks, some of them down to a lack of love in times when they were worth very little or just parked in a garage, but some of them designed into the car by accident. Take a Ferrari 275 for example, the A-posts are different lengths side-to-side! It's great to look over a manufacturer's classic car range and see where they've realised something was rubbish then designed it out as new ideas and technologies have come along. It gives a great story for the owner's, makes them a bit anoraky for the people that have researched all these little bits, but gives them amazing character that we lose in a lot of cars these days. I guess that's why the classic market is booming in an era of boring cars.
The classic car market has gone crazy in recent times. Of course you've got the Porsches, Ferrari's and Astons for example that have always been worth a lot which means that average Joe then looks further down the market, maybe to a 30k Alfa. The thing is, these 30k Alfas were getting so popular they then became 60k Alfas. Average Joe then has to go for something a little more affordable so looked at 20-30k Fords. These are now popular and more desirable so have gone up massively (you see where this is going now!) So what's the next big climber??? Maybe European hot hatches that are 10k now will be 30k in 5 years. Aston DB9's are sub 30k as are Maserati GranTurismos. The Mazza's are more like 20k right now, that's 20k for a V8 Italian from 10-11 years ago. If you can afford the parts it's got to be a good bet. We love Triumph Heralds, I don't know a lot about them but the angular front on a 13/60 or a Vitesse just looks cool! Each to their own I suppose.
From a business point of view classics are a good market for us too. Getting them driving well by sorting the geometry makes the owners want to use them more, or if they fancy giving them a freshen up we can supply a nice set of Koni classic dampers that will last for years too. We are enthusiastic about them and love chatting with owners who tell us about the last problem they've had to fix or about the history they've had with the car. They bring people together whether they own a classic or not and make a great sight (and smell!) when they are out on the road.
Anyway, enough from me, I should probably go and plan the next bit of work on my wife's Mustang, yep, a classic one...
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