When it comes to classic cars, rather than scrapping them, owners are taking them off the roads, particularly over the winter months, to keep them going for longer, according to Scrap Car Comparison.
Every year ATFs will see their fair share of older cars coming into yards for their final journey, but as the classic car market and industry continues to grow and become more and more lucrative, these older gems are becoming rarer. Why? Well, it seems that for many owners, rather than getting rid of a car that might not be suited all year ‘round, they’re just tucking them away in the winter.
How do we know that this is happening? Well, thanks to the stellar work from HowManyLeft.co.uk, we’re able to get a snapshot at certain cars that regularly get taken off the road during the winter months and then return again when the weather gets a little better. This is visible through road registered and Statutory Off-Road Notice data, and you’ll notice that some of the makes listed below rise and fall as the months go on, showing just which cars are more likely to be hidden away than driven in the wind and rain.
Caterham
Starting with a car that makes absolute sense not to take out in the winter, the Caterham is the epitome of a sunny-day car. A car without a roof isn’t likely to be your first port of call on a dark, icy December morning. It also makes sense that these wouldn’t be regular visitors to our yards as the majority of Caterhams, or Caterham-style cars, are built from kits, and it’s unlikely you will want to see your hard work go to the crusher.
TVR
We don’t often see TVRs come through our doors, but if one did, you can be rest assured we’d probably stop for a few minutes to ogle at it before it’s sent through the recycling process. Their immense power and lack of weight make them an ideal car for sunny drives around country lanes, but they’re not going to get you much in terms of a scrap figure,, thanks to that low weight. They’re also not going to be much fun in dim light or on wet roads, either, so we can see why their owners might choose to SORN them each winter.
Rolls Royce
The luxurious of luxury brands, Rolls-Royces, are rare when it comes to recycling, but their bulky frame can often mean a good price awaits their previous owner. However, around 500 of these road yachts get SORNed every year, suggesting their owners have no interest in driving them when the weather gets a bit dodgy. We’re not sure why, as you’d think this would be the ideal time to drive something this comfortable – but perhaps the increased mud and salt on the road does too much damage to the paintwork? Or maybe their owners are just chasing the sun themselves and moving to a second home. Whatever the reason, they’re not being driven, so they might as well SORN them.
Jaguar
Now we’re starting to get a little more interesting as we actually see quite a lot of Jaguars come through our ATF network, yet there’s a few thousand every year that get tucked away for the winter only to come out to play when the spring and summer come around. The fact is, Jaguar is a sought-after brand, and the E-type is regarded as one of the most desirable British cars in the history of motoring. As a result, you’re more likely to find someone keeping these cars as their personal project and caring for them for years on end than one being so poorly looked after that it ends up with no other location than the scrapyard.
Ferrari
Speaking of desirable, nearly every car-loving kid had either a toy Ferrari or a poster of one on their bedroom wall (or both), so the thought of one being sent on its final journey can feel like a dagger in your heart. While we get the odd Ferrari through our doors every so often, it’s not a very common occurrence, and when you see that there are around 1500 Ferraris that are put into hibernation each year, you can understand why that figure is so low. Ferrari owners like their cars to be perfect, and who’s going to want to drive one on a dark road that could catch you out? A nice, well-planned drive with no surprises is what you want when sampling these motoring marvels, otherwise we’d probably be seeing more of these every year…
