Aspects of vintage cars
Especially in our times, when people are paying more and more attention to an ecologically sensible and sustainable way of life, we classic car enthusiasts are often asked whether our hobby is still relevant and whether we don't have a bad conscience about it. There are certainly good arguments for preserving and driving classic cars.
The Federal Association of Oldtimer-Youngtimer eV (DEUVNET) has published a collection of aspects of vintage cars that provide us with sound arguments for our hobby in such discussions.
Here are the most important theses from the study:
Vintage cars are an important cultural asset
Everyday cars are consumer goods, they lose value quickly, and defects quickly exceed their current value. They are not sustainable.
Vintage cars are cultural assets; costs for maintenance and repairs play a minor role for owners because they want to preserve the vehicles.
Monument protection in relation to vintage cars does not only mean the protection of the vintage car, but also the duty of the owner to preserve it.
The classic car scene is of great importance to society
Historic vehicles are witnesses to past eras.
They arouse interest and memories in young and old, leading to shared experiences.
Vintage car owners organize themselves into structures such as communities and clubs; restricting their use through driving bans, additional taxes or duties and high gasoline prices endangers the exchange of experience between generations and would lead to a loss of these socially useful structures.
Vintage cars are sustainable
All materials of vintage cars are used over a long period of time.
Vintage cars are rarely parked in public spaces.
The mechanics of vintage cars can be repaired in almost all cases (in contrast to electric cars, for example, whose defective batteries have to be completely replaced and disposed of at great expense).
Classic cars can use the new synthetic fuel E-Fuel, which is climate-neutral.
Drivers of classic cars relieve the burden on the environment through careful and safe driving.
Driving performance and emissions of vintage cars play hardly any role in traffic
Of the 48.2 million registered vehicles in Germany (as of January 2021), only 2 percent are older than 30 years, and only 584,509 vehicles have an H license plate.
The average mileage of vintage cars is only 1,500 km per year, meaning that classic cars only account for 0.14% of the total mileage (642 billion km) of all passenger cars.
Modern fuels ensure that classic cars today have lower fuel consumption than when they were new.
