Classic Tails

Andrew recalls a time not so long ago when the cars we cherish today as classics really were worthless old bangers, and wonders if history will soon be repeating itself.

Andrew Everett wonders if the days of worthless old bangers is set to return.

Imagine if you will stumbling across an abandoned 2012 Jaguar XF saloon next week. It’s filthy dirty with some advanced rot in one front wing, and over the period of a week the front and rear screens get smashed, a wheel or two are removed and stuffed under the sill to support the shell as bits are nicked from it underneath, along with the boot lid and front seats. You can’t imagine it can you?

Yet the same thing happened in 1974 as Canadian photographer Homer Sykes, with a commission from the AA for their Drive magazine, documented on film the gradual demise of a 1965 S-Type. At the time this was just nine years old, like our imaginary XF. Doubtless it was driven (or maybe towed) to its final resting place before the scrapyard, outside what is now the Document Solution Centre on Buckner Road, Brixton.

In June 1974 when the poor Jag’s tax disc expired, Britain was almost free from the grip of the fuel crisis sparked by OPEC, who placed an oil embargo on countries that were seen to be supporting Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur conflict. When it really hit hard in January 1974, 18 million petrol ration coupons had been printed and scenes of cars being pushed, petrol-less into filling stations after queuing for an hour or more were common. Cars that were suddenly in favour were Minis, Imps and anything that could get 40 miles or more from each precious gallon of two star. Cars that were most definitely out were old Jaguars. New XJ6 and XJ12 sales were slightly depressed, but not massively because if you could afford the car, you could afford the fuel, but anyone who could afford to fuel a 15mpg Jaguar generally wasn’t interested in an old one worth a couple of hundred quid.

So what was a 1965 S-Type worth in 1974? Next to nothing, especially if it was a rough one like this. Before the oil crisis, a really tidy one sold by a garage would have cost you in the region of £400, and even then they were a hard sell. Jaguars had a reputation for being money pits in old age as, despite the wood and leather image, they weren’t especially well made – rust, oil leaks, smokey old engine and 15mpg meant they were just not sought after. Really smart 3.8 Mk2s had a following, but 2.4s and S-Types? Forget it. Think about how valuable a 2003 S-Type is now... The other reason was of course the XJ6, the best thing Jaguar had ever made and now that early ones in good condition were becoming attainable, the old 1950s and 1960s saloons were next to worthless.

That was then, and something along similar lines is possibly on the way again. Assuming the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars actually comes to pass, you can guarantee that petrol and diesel prices will start to creep up. This will in turn mean that values of big old cars such as XJs, 7 Series BMWs, S Class Mercedes, Audi A8s and stuff like that should really start to hammer down to the extent where, just like that Jag was in 1974, they are practically worthless – chop the catalytic converters off and throw the rest away.

Don’t expect to see anything just dumped by the side of the road though, because things have changed in the scrap car business in the last 45 years. In 1970, there were more scrap cars than yards could deal with and very few had a crusher. In the lulls when scrap metal was worth next to nothing, it was easier just to drive your banger a few miles out of town, park it up and drop the keys down a drain before getting a lift back. Pre-DVLA (or DVLC as they were then) it was much harder to trace a car’s owner than it is now, and even if a bobby did come and knock on your front door, you ‘sold it last week officer.’

The AA Drive magazine article was about a sudden end to the plague of scrap cars that were infesting cities and countryside alike. It was a serious issue at the time, but as the oil crisis ended, the price of scrap steel went through the roof. In late 1974, general steel rubbish such as an old car squashed into a cube was £15 a ton, wiring, trim, rubber and all – that £15 is £157 today – while yards that were stripping a car properly and separating the steel from the rest were getting £20 a ton. Suddenly it was worth going around with a car transporter and hoovering up as many cars as you could. That begs the question of why KVX 305C was just dumped when scrap cars had a value? Maybe it was one of the few that got away from The Sweeney.