Dr.Jeff
True Classic
Preface: no real relevance to be found here, just sharing thoughts.....
I find it interesting how different owners view the purpose or intended utilization of their X's. Having owned countless vintage or classic vehicles of all types, to me they are all "hobby cars". Something for occasional enjoyment, a break from "normal" driving, and never my daily driver. Or what I might refer to as my "fourth car"; my 'first' one being the daily commuter, the "second" being another 'back up' for the first when it is being serviced, the "third" is something utilitarian such as a pickup truck, and finally the "fourth" (of which there are usually several) is strictly for fun....a "toy". That means mainly short drives along the coast on a nice afternoon, and no distance travel. [I suppose I also have a "fifth" category of recreational vehicles - offroad, race, travel, etc]. But I realize other owners have very different purposes for their X's.
Most of the vintage cars I've had were at least 40 or more years old, and most have had roughly 60 to 70,000 verifiable miles on them. Looking at service records it appears the majority of those miles were accumulated in the first few years from new. I suppose they were considered "modern" reliable cars at the time and the newness of them enticed the proud owner to drive them more. But as issues develop and the cars become less reliable they tend to get pushed aside. Often sitting unused for decades at a time. So very few miles are acquired as the years pass. And when viewed as I do, for occasional use only, they will still collect very little mileage over a period of many years to come.
A recent comment in another thread brought this to mind. It was in reference to how long a particular part may last on their X. While certain items will deteriorate over time regardless of the amount of use, most parts are primarily 'wear' dependant - the less they get used the longer they last. Therefore on my cars it is reasonable to assume many things can last the life of the car, at least as far as my lifetime matters. When you consider that many components had lasted for 40 years and 60,000 miles already, and the car will get used even less in the future, then that assumption seems valid.
Aside from those that use their X as a daily driver or long distance vacation traveler, I'm sure the same is true for a lot of X owners. Yet we (including myself) often like to replace everything with all new parts as we go through the vehicle. Minor repairs usually grow into major restorations. Simple services become complete overhauls. It's the adage, "while I'm in there I might as well...". In essence I suppose it might be considered a waste of money (or materials if viewed ecologically) to do so, considering it isn't necessary. But it seems to give a certain satisfaction to know everything is fresh and new.
The extreme version of this is the companies that are taking vintage cars and restoring them with all modern mechanicals and upgraded materials and engineering. Effectively turning them into new "modern" cars that look old. According to a recent article from SEMA this is becoming a rapidly growing trend in the automotive market. And the prices for these cars are staggering, with waiting lists to buy them. I'm not sure the X1/9 will make that list of such cars, but on a individual basis it could be a candidate. So long as it is realized going in that you will never recoup even a small percentage of your investment. And that may be the difference why those companies choose certain models over others for these remakes, there is more value to be had. The article included a list of some of the more popular models for this; Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, etc.
In a related article a new law was discussed, allowing companies like the ones described above to sell their vehicles as "newly" manufactured. And that opens the door to remake vehicles from all new materials, like aftermarket reproduction bodies. Now a car can be created from scratch and sold as a new car, not a kit car or restored old car or remanufactured or such. That may not sound like a big difference but in legal terms it is.
So is there a market for a "new" X1/9, made from all new components with all modern mechanicals and materials? Think full carbon fiber body over a 300 HP engine and performance suspension/brakes, all bespoke and new. Or would that be a failed business due to the resultant selling price?
I find it interesting how different owners view the purpose or intended utilization of their X's. Having owned countless vintage or classic vehicles of all types, to me they are all "hobby cars". Something for occasional enjoyment, a break from "normal" driving, and never my daily driver. Or what I might refer to as my "fourth car"; my 'first' one being the daily commuter, the "second" being another 'back up' for the first when it is being serviced, the "third" is something utilitarian such as a pickup truck, and finally the "fourth" (of which there are usually several) is strictly for fun....a "toy". That means mainly short drives along the coast on a nice afternoon, and no distance travel. [I suppose I also have a "fifth" category of recreational vehicles - offroad, race, travel, etc]. But I realize other owners have very different purposes for their X's.
Most of the vintage cars I've had were at least 40 or more years old, and most have had roughly 60 to 70,000 verifiable miles on them. Looking at service records it appears the majority of those miles were accumulated in the first few years from new. I suppose they were considered "modern" reliable cars at the time and the newness of them enticed the proud owner to drive them more. But as issues develop and the cars become less reliable they tend to get pushed aside. Often sitting unused for decades at a time. So very few miles are acquired as the years pass. And when viewed as I do, for occasional use only, they will still collect very little mileage over a period of many years to come.
A recent comment in another thread brought this to mind. It was in reference to how long a particular part may last on their X. While certain items will deteriorate over time regardless of the amount of use, most parts are primarily 'wear' dependant - the less they get used the longer they last. Therefore on my cars it is reasonable to assume many things can last the life of the car, at least as far as my lifetime matters. When you consider that many components had lasted for 40 years and 60,000 miles already, and the car will get used even less in the future, then that assumption seems valid.
Aside from those that use their X as a daily driver or long distance vacation traveler, I'm sure the same is true for a lot of X owners. Yet we (including myself) often like to replace everything with all new parts as we go through the vehicle. Minor repairs usually grow into major restorations. Simple services become complete overhauls. It's the adage, "while I'm in there I might as well...". In essence I suppose it might be considered a waste of money (or materials if viewed ecologically) to do so, considering it isn't necessary. But it seems to give a certain satisfaction to know everything is fresh and new.
The extreme version of this is the companies that are taking vintage cars and restoring them with all modern mechanicals and upgraded materials and engineering. Effectively turning them into new "modern" cars that look old. According to a recent article from SEMA this is becoming a rapidly growing trend in the automotive market. And the prices for these cars are staggering, with waiting lists to buy them. I'm not sure the X1/9 will make that list of such cars, but on a individual basis it could be a candidate. So long as it is realized going in that you will never recoup even a small percentage of your investment. And that may be the difference why those companies choose certain models over others for these remakes, there is more value to be had. The article included a list of some of the more popular models for this; Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, etc.
In a related article a new law was discussed, allowing companies like the ones described above to sell their vehicles as "newly" manufactured. And that opens the door to remake vehicles from all new materials, like aftermarket reproduction bodies. Now a car can be created from scratch and sold as a new car, not a kit car or restored old car or remanufactured or such. That may not sound like a big difference but in legal terms it is.
So is there a market for a "new" X1/9, made from all new components with all modern mechanicals and materials? Think full carbon fiber body over a 300 HP engine and performance suspension/brakes, all bespoke and new. Or would that be a failed business due to the resultant selling price?