October 2021

C lassic cars make a regular appearance in many garages. Can businesses capitalise on this sector though, which has its own quirks and challenges. With this in mind, we spoke to David Bond, MD at classic car insurance specialists Footman James about what garages can do to make the most of this lucrative specialist segment. The classic car sector regularly comes up against lots of challenges, including clean air zones, Brexit etc, what does Footman James say about that? The classic car market has weathered many, many changes and challenges over the years, the change to unleaded fuel, manufacturing of parts, clean air zones etc. Thankfully the people within the classic car industry are a resourceful bunch and continue to find a way through these challenges. For example, a whole industry has now been created to remake/refabricate or source parts. The current hot topic which splits opinion in the industry 16 AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2021 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net CLASSIC METAL: FOOTMAN JAMES Aftermarket speaks to the MD at Footman James about opportunities that garages may find around classic cars is the conversion of classic cars to electric. There is a demand for this service, hence businesses in the industry now offering this type of work, however purists absolutely do not want this conversion carried out on their classics. This will be yet another change/challenge that I’m sure the robust classic car industry will continue to adapt, innovate, and come up with solutions for. Post-pandemic, the industry will continue to thrive. We have already seen a demand in enthusiasts wanting to get their cars out on the road, particularly to visit classic car shows. There seems to be a particular rise in the popularity of informal classic car breakfast meets. Who wouldn’t want to attend a meet with beautiful classics, a bacon buttie and a lovely brew! All in all, the classic car industry demonstrates true entrepreneurial spirit! It’s no coincidence the industry employs over 34,000 people, with an estimated total spend in the historic vehicle sector of £7.2bn (according to the FBHVC 2020/21 National Historic Vehicle Survey).