Is Mine a Classic Yet?

Shahwar frowns upon those awaiting ‘Classic’ status for their machines

The news that a Classic Car museum will be commissioned to the public very soon at Manesar, in the NCR, sure is music to our collective ears. It certainly promises to be a good place to flip through the pages of automotive history.

The concept of collecting cars in India is a relatively new one, especially when you compare it with the West. Within the span of a few years, though, the cost of ‘OLD’ cars and bikes have gone through the roof – many times over. People now take for granted that any old car or bike is worth a fortune. In 1993, I bought a 1955 Jawa motorcycle for `5,000. It was a lot of money back then, but I paid it because this Jawa was different. It had a separate kick and gear lever, and a saddle seat. It was in a decent condition too. About 6-7 years later, I was offered another such Jawa. It was in a pretty bad shape, but I wanted it as a spare parts bike. But the guy was asking `30,000 for it, and in 1998 that was a lot of money for such a bike so I passed on the offer. I’ve known people who’ve been riding such Jawa motorcycles in the tea gardens for ages. For them, it’s an everyday bike. For us in the big cities, it’s a ‘collector’s item.’

In the cities, we ride or drive bikes and cars for a few years, then upgrade to whichever swanky new model hits showrooms. Then, years later, when we see someone using a vehicle like the one we had back in the day, we suddenly want our old car and bike once again. And so the prices go up many times over – even for the most unremarkable vehicles.

I recently went to a friend’s place and saw some fantastic LD scooters. But what struck me were a pair of Luna and DART mopeds, and a Honda Cub tucked away in one corner. The Luna and the Cub were made in the thousands, and they were everywhere. And all of a sudden they disappeared, and have become collectible now.

People usually want to buy some vehicles because they owned them when they were young, or have fond memories of them. These cars or bikes aren’t necessarily beautiful, but they have truckloads of nostalgic value. Nobody wanted the Morris Minor or the Landmaster a few decades back. But they go for obscene amounts of money now.
In many cases, people simply want an old car because it looks different and gets instant attention.

People look at carburetted cars with the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia. But I wonder if the cars that we have today will ever be collectible. We live in a ‘replace’ – not ‘repair’ – age. And since today’s models get replaced in a matter of a few years, we’re unlikely to find enough replaceable parts to keep these cars running for decades to come. These machines seem destined, thus, to head to the scrap yard.

A friend has an Ambassador Mark II in his garage. It appears in reasonably good condition outwardly, although I’ve never seen him driving it. He says he’s waiting for it to attain ‘Classic’ status, so he can sell it for a bomb.

But to me that’s a stupid idea. A car that’s been stationary for too long is sure to go wrong in a lot of places. To all those who are waiting for their cars and bikes to attain ‘Classic’ status, all I can say is good luck to them – because they sure are staring at an expensive repair job.