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James Walshe asks which cars will be the classics of tomorrow
If you haven’t yet signed up to social media, I can tell you that quite often, when users aren’t showing you pictures of their dinner, they’re bickering about whether Rostyle or Minilites are better. But in this case, a topic we posted to our 55,000 followers on Facebook went down well and drew some very eager responses. Frankly, we expected a lot more arguemnt than we got and that, I think, is very encouraging for the future of our hobby.
According to you, the Alpine A110, Jaguar F-type and Alfa Giulia are surefire future classics, with an overwhelming gush of enthusiasm for the much-acclaimed i-pace, too. The recent crop of ‘retro’ cars – Mini, Fiat 500 and Beetle – were also favourites, as well as affordable sportsters such as the MX-5 and VW UP! GTI. Boxy, practical runabouts such as the Suzuki Jimny, Citroën Cactus and Fiat Panda are also clear contenders for classic status and there were shouts for the current Mondeo and Insignia.
There was an occasional glimmer of pessimism and in one instance, it was suggested that by the time modern cars become classics, we won’t be permitted to drive them anyway. And another chap suggested that there won’t be enough current generation cars left to be on the classic radar in future but then… they once said that about the Escort MKI.
The list of suggestions was long and the enthusiasm for them great, confirming the emergence of a new generation of enthusiast. Maintenance is unlikely to be an issue either, given how repair techniques change with the times in line with advancements in automotive technology. (Remember when doom-mongers said we’d never be able to repair ‘complex’ Nineties cars?) So, in the class of 2019, which will become a classic? The answer is probably ‘all of them’. And why not?
‘The list was long, the enthusiasm enormous’