Interesting topic (or argument in the case of my friends and our parents when we’re all together)! We’re Millenials and our parents are Baby Boomers. They love cars, see them as investments, and somehow link them with ‘freedom’. We see them as polluters that make London air poisonous, and we’d rather catch an Uber - preferably electric. I’m hopeful that my parents are immortal, but the odds are against. If we’re representative (which we may very well not be) who is going to be buying those classic cars in the long term? Institutions/museums? We all appreciate a beautiful vintage watch though.
You generalize, young urban millennial. There are members of your generation who are total gear heads, who regard self driving cars and ride sharing as apostasy. Plus electrics are getting more gear head attention by the day.
Alternative theory: Whispers amongst collectors that soon you will only be able to drive your vintage auto at a collector's club-owned track with a special permit. The streets and highways will be populated by clean running self-driving cars. Thats within 5 years.
From the comments of the linked article: And a related take: http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/motor-mouth-6
Whoa there. First of all, millennials are a huge lot, with insanely varied interests. For instance, lots of millennials I know wouldn't be caught dead on a watch forum, preferring to tell the time on their smartphone or Apple watch - yet here I am (along with quite a few other members). Cars are the same way. As an urban millennial, I have no wish or need for a car in my daily life, preferring the lower stress levels of public transportation. But cars do represent freedom, at least in the US where we lack a good nationwide public transportation system. Plus, cars are fun - so that's why this young urban millennial has an S2000 parked in the garage...
I have read that there are many millenials not interested in driving and owning cars. As an interesting side-note, my daughter (who turns 13 in a few weeks) recently complained that she doesn’t like the push toward autonomous vehicles. “I want to drive” she proclaimed when I suggested there will likely be dedicated lanes (if not entire roads) in the future where only autonomous vehicles will be allowed. (She also has her first car picked out... red Mini convertible, not vintage)
This is something I have major issues with and I think denigrates real race car drivers. People thinking somehow millennials playing video games relate to real driving. No wonder Nissan became a laughing stock with their GTR-LM. https://www.nissanusa.com/gtacademyshow/
Classic cars,… like vintage watches are an emotional purchase…triggered by childhood memories But, I suspect…… here is the difference…they are more of a ‘Generational’ thing than watches………insofar as when one has established a career base, & has achieved sufficient affluency... one buys the car you saw with your Dad, or your Dad maybe owned……and for 30 / 40 somethings,… that might be a Mark 1 Golf GTI or a Renault 5 Turbo, or a Ford XR3i……in ten years time, maybe Audi Quattro ? Those of us, who are more mature, in age still remember an earlier period……At the turn of the Century, I bought a series 1.5 E type… & I seem to remember that @Spacefruit has recently bought his Wife an MGB, to runround in But I suspect our generation is a declining market for such cars……( & I entirely accept there are no hard and fast rules ) Car buying / car appreciation is also about to undergo the kind of dramatic transition, that quartz had on the traditional watchmaking industry in the 70’s……with the widespread introduction / adoption / affordability of electric vehicles Classic cars, like vinyl, and video tape, are old technology……Maybe that explains the decline ?
Nissan's GT Academy drivers are actually extremely fast in actual cars for their level of driving experience - so much so that they aren't allowed to race in amateur categories, despite being, in fact, amateurs. https://jalopnik.com/5982998/gt-academy-drivers-cant-race-in-real-life-because-theyre-too-fast The GTR-LM was a terrible car and had many problems, but the driver lineup wasn't one of them.
For cars, it's undergoing two dramatic transitions almost at once - electric and self-driving. I think this will be a monumental shift in society...depending on how the self-driving market pans out. Now I don't know anyone who still prefers video tape, but vinyl and yes even cassette tapes are making a comeback. Not because of sound quality though, but for other psychological reasons in my view (generation that has never owned the physical music item wants to own it and be "old school"). But other than the diehard vinyl fans, I don't think this will last, and I think collector cars will go the same way eventually with only a small group left that really care about them.
It's the trucks, and the taxis that pollute London... and it's a terrible place to drive, or be a passenger in a car. People of our generation (I was born in 1981) are still in to cars... I drive a 2010 Golf GTi... and I've owned a lot of silly things... twin charged VR6 corrado... series 1 Audi S8... 1986 UR Quattro... it's not the lack of interest that had me selling them, it's the cost of running, and storage. As @ICONO says, I think it is a generational thing, in that you want to own the cars you idolised when growing up... sadly an Aston Martin V8 Wolfpack is out of the question... and as a result, you see ebbs and flows when things go in and out of fashion with different audiences.
They race more often in national GT3, GT4, and GP-class series as the GT-R LM was more of a one-and-done marketing stunt. From ~5 minutes of Googling I've found that two or three of them have ended up on the class podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It may not be a win, but if you followed sports-car racing in any depth you'd understand what an achievement that is, especially when you consider they've only been racing cars for a few years' time at that point (compared to most drivers at their level who start in karts in their single-digits). Makes more sense if you keep in mind that these kids aren't pressing buttons on controllers, they're using the latest high-tech wheel and pedal add-ons. Also important to note, the year that Nissan raced the GT-R LM (2015), a driver lineup of three millennials won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Two of whom won it again just last year, too.
5 years... And what will we all be driving? We don't all live in cities and use a company that says it's just an "app" enabling it to treat it's "non employees" any way it feels. I don't know about US but there are best part of 30 million cars in UK and that means they'd need to sell 6 million cars a year to replace the existing ones. How will people with a £1000 car go out and buy a new one at ten times that? And no-one cares about the classic market in terms of emissions as there are so few cars out there doing low mileage plus, they must be carbon neutral by now. I've owned my 63 E- type for 20 years and 80% of it is 55 years old. For people who change a car every 5 years, that'd be 11 new cars in that time. I really can't believe the second scenario isn't worse for the environment. By the way, people have been predicting a classic car market crash for years and it hasn't happened yet... It just ebbs and flows as @tyrantlizardrex says. The eighties crash was a different issue in my opinion. My 25 years old nephew has one as well. Great cars! Cheers, Chris
Most of the electric and self-driving car projections for the US that I see tend to be from people in major metropolitan areas. Places where many are opting not to even have cars these days. Get out in the 'burbs of farmland and it is a different story. Face it, not everyone wants to live their life within a 2 mile radius.
Couple years of the Bathurst 12hr where some of the drivers started in their GT Academy "video game" talent search https://www.gran-turismo.com/us/news/00_1378363.html Bathurst is a great race - the downhill is harrowing