Can a 1980s classic save you cash?

IT’S A DISTRESSING thought for anyone who was a child in the early 1980s, but the cars that our parents were driving back then are now classics. Not in the romantic “wow, wasn’t that a great car?” sense, but classics in the legalese of the Department of the Environment.

With the rolling 30-year cut-off for classic status, there is now a world of 1980s vehicles that qualifies for €52 a year motor tax, cheaper insurance – albeit with various mileage provisos – and it only costs €200 in import duties to bring one in from outside the State.

It’s a tempting threshold to cross, what with the killer combination of nostalgia, chrome and potential savings. But you must cross it at your peril and make sure you take advice from those in the know before you start down the classic road.

Let’s start with an image issue. Can it really be possible that cars from the 1980s are now be considered classics? It seems reasonable to talk about classics when discussing Steve McQueen era Mustangs and the cosy, woody types of Wolseley and Riley, but an Escort MkIII? A Cortina? Really?

“The classic community is in constant change: people tend to like the cars that they knew when they were kids, so the rolling 30-year vintage status goes hand-in-hand with the changing likes and dislikes of the new classic car enthusiast,” says Paul Kanters from Wexford-based classic car dealer Classic Car Ireland.

“When I was a kid, growing up in Holland, the classic car scene was alive and kicking, but seemed to evolve around cars that were old in my book – 1930s, 1940s and 1950s cars, Jaguars, MGs, Austin Healeys, etc. Whereas I was keen on cars from the 1960s and early 1970s – cars that were around and that I drooled about when I was a kid. Now you see the same thing happening all over again, with younger enthusiasts getting excited about cars from the 1980s, which didn’t seem to be that special at the time they were around. So I don’t think it’s an image problem as such, but you just have generation gaps between the various classic car lovers. Each to their own era, I say.”

James Elliot, group editor at Classic Sports Car magazine agrees. “A lot of people think that the mid-1970s to mid-1980s were a bit of a motoring dark ages, but they couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, it was probably one of the finest eras in that cars still had personality and a classic feel – you drove them rather than them driving you – and they were still an extension of the driver rather than just an appliance. Best of all, however, from the point of view of enjoying the tax break and using one regularly, this was also the era in which modern reliability started to kick in.

“If you want a little fun for reasonable money, get yourself into a Golf GTI or an Alfa GTV6, but for a little bit more, say £5,000 to £10,000, you could be driving around in the rally god Audi Quattro. These are pretty indestructible, too, but if they do go wrong they are costly.”

Ah yes, reliability. Surely, with the rise of electronics, 1980s cars are going to be much harder to maintain than their simpler 1960s and 1970s counterparts?

“If the cars have a strong following, there will always be plenty of parts in supply but, yes, you will see that some parts, especially the electronics, will become harder and harder to find,” say Paul Kanter.

“Repair and restoration time is no different from older cars. However, you will find that with the rise in plastics as main components of the car, different techniques will need to be used by the restorers. So, it’s no longer pure metal welding, leather stitching and woodworking skills that are required, but also skills for fibreglass and other resin-based materials are needed.”

You do have to be realistic. We’ve become spoiled in recent years by almost total reliability, the near elimination of rust and computer control of the engine. Classics offer none of those things, and will need much more care than a modern car. But on the upside, cars of the early 1980s are still just about simple enough to be worked on with a socket set and a screwdriver.

One final wrinkle is insurance. Paul Kavanagh of McCarthy Insurance Group says “most insurers will only cover a classic if you have another non-classic in use as a daily car. No-one will cover a classic as a 365-day use car. Your mileage will be limited to 8,000-16,000km a year as well, but then the premiums would reflect that and would be cheaper than for a new car.

“Some insurers require you to be a member of a classic club, but actually we don’t, although you will have to be 25 or older to get classic cover. Then again, most classic owners would tend to be older.”

Classic hits: three from the 1980s

1981 BMW 520

Dealer sale.Asking price: €6,995.

Why: Looks as crisp and fresh as a modern 5, practical, deft chassis, this one has stunningly low mileage.

Why not:Rust is a massive issue on old Beemers, brand new 520d only €100 more a year to tax.

1982 Ford Escort XR3i

Dealer sale.Asking price: €3,900.

Why: This could be our best find of all. Simple, rugged, cheap to run and beltingly good fun to drive.

Why not:Rust again a major issue, plastic cabin bits hard to find these days, boy racer image.

1982 Mercedes-Benz 280SL cabriolet

Private seller.Asking price: €9,550.

Why:Not known as "Der Panzerwagen" for nothing, these SLs are built like the proverbial tank and would easily stand up to regular use.

Why not:Thirsty, expensive if anything goes wrong, people will ask you where your Hart To Hartbox set is.

Classic Cribs

So, this classic car lark could save me a bundle, right?

Well, yes, potentially. Insurance and tax are both significantly cheaper, as is import duty if you’re bringing one in from the UK or Europe.

Excellent, sign me up for some stringback gloves and a flat cap.

Hold your horses. Tax and insurance might be cheaper but everything else is tricky. Parts can be a problem for some cars, rampant rust is always a worry and little things like cabin heating, road holding and braking technology are, literally, decades behind modern cars.

So I can’t just leave it on my driveway then?

Not if you want it to start in the morning you can’t. You’ll need a garage, realistically, and better get delving into the Haynes manual so that you can troubleshoot morning start issues. You’ll need to get used to getting regular Waxoyl treatments too, to keep the tin worm at bay. And your maintenance schedule will have to be spot on. If your car was registered after Jan 1st, 1980, classic or not, it’ll have to have an NCT every year.

But hey, at least I’ll be saving money on my insurance?

Yes and no. Yes, classic premiums are cheaper, but you’ll have to have a “normal” modern car insured at the same time, or you won’t be able to get a classic policy. Watch mileage limits too.

Hmmm. This is sounding complicated. Perhaps I should give it a miss.

No, no. I don’t meant to put you off. Classic cars are wonderful, often much more fun to drive than their modern counterparts and there’s a ready-made social scene out there. You just have to be prepared.