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Danny Hopkins on why collections are under threat

The sale of eight more cars from the Vauxhall Heritage collection has set alarm bells ringing for many enthusiasts. Coming hot on the heals of the sell-off of Mitsubishi’s heritage fleet (after they quit the UK) and redundancies elsewhere in the UK’S motoring heritage sector there is unease about the future of manufacturer owned classics.

It is a marketing about-turn from the position we were in PRE-COVID, where makers saw heritage as a key element in building brand loyalty and awareness. I remember being on a Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders day at Millbrook three years ago when the heritage cars available to journalists almost outnumbered the new cars on show.

It was obvious, then, that every brand’s back catalogue had a key role to play in positioning and inspiring its future. I’m not sure that is the case now. The pandemic, and the financial belt tightening that has come with it, has provided the perfect excuse to lower the profile of heritage collections, and the future electrification of the automotive proposition means that many manufacturers seem happy to turn away from ‘older, more polluting cars’ in favour of a forward looking new dawn of ‘carbon neutral’ motoring.

We will be keeping a close eye on how things evolve; in fact we have already started. This month, my dad and I have put our money where our mouths are by buying one of the Vauxhall Heritage vehicles, the very last Frontera.

It’s not just the last Frontera, in fact. Our new purchase is the last passenger car produced in Luton of any type. It is of huge importance to the town – my home town – and that is why dad and I have committed to donating it to a future, Luton-based, Vauxhall museum.

‘For car makers, it’s a marketing about-turn’