‘THEY’LL SURVIVE, BUT WILL THERE BE PEOPLE STILL DRIVING THEM?’
The world’s biggest classic lobbying organisation has just elected its new president. CCW speaks to FIVA’s outgoing head, Patrick Rollet, to find out what the classic movement’s priorities are as the new year approaches
David Simister: What is the historic vehicle movement’s biggest threat? Patrick Rollet:
There are two – the first is whether we’ll be able to use our vehicles in 20 or 30 years because of the threat of adverse legislation that affects our freedom to drive yesterday’s vehicles on tomorrow’s roads. The other is that even if we succeed in doing that, will there be people to drive them? In every country I’ve visited, there is a lack of young people coming into the historic vehicle movement.
DS: Emissions zones – and their impacts on classics – are being dealt with by many different councils across the UK. What’s the best way to respond? PR:
I’m reasonably optimistic. There was a big convention in New York in 1894 where representatives from all of the major cities met to discuss the problems of horses and all the problems they caused. The solution, of course, was the car, but the horse didn’t die off as a result – what changed was the way they were used. There’s a parallel between today’s very strong equestrian movement and where I see historic vehicles in 50 years’ time – we probably won’t see them in the centre of London, but we’ll still be driving them.
DS: Will the increasing use of smart road infrastructure impact on our ability to drive older vehicles?
PR: Even now I wouldn’t take my 1932 car on the motorway and I’m not sure I would in future – it wouldn’t be much fun! I see the heart of the movement being about enjoying classics on country roads, but it’s important that we’re still able to continue doing this in years to come. If technology is introduced, then I think exemptions will have to be made for historic vehicles. They cover a much lower annual mileage and have a better safety record – and we have statistics to prove it.
DS: There is a risk that emissions legislation will put older cars not yet classed as ‘Historic’ vehicles under threat. How do we protect them? PR:
These cars – between 20 and 30 years old – are tomorrow’s classics, and we’re already encouraging owners to preserve them. They’re also an important way of bringing young people into the movement. There have been arguments for classifying younger vehicles as Historic, but one thing we talk about when lobbying is the relatively small number of vehicles that governments are making exemptions for, which becomes more difficult when you include a higher quantity of younger vehicles. On the other hand, the movement becomes bigger – with more younger faces – if you include younger cars. We think a 30-year rule is the right balance.
DS: What is the best way of getting younger people hooked on classics?
PR: There is no one solution – this is why it’s such a big problem for the movement. It’s harder to get young people interested than it was, as they’re less likely to get a driving licence, less concerned about heritage and more likely to talk about Instagram than cars. I’ve seen in India the growth of classic car rallies aimed at whole families, so maybe this is part of the solution.
‘There is a lack of young people coming into the movement’