The International Federation of Antique Vehicles (FIVA) has released the results of a survey carried out on more than 1,500 Spanish owners of historic vehicles. This is the X-ray of owners and vehicles older than 30 years, with a sufficient statistical basis.
About a year ago, the International Federation of Antique Vehicles (FIVA), represented in Spain by the Spanish Federation of Antique Vehicles (FEVA), conducted a worldwide survey. Of 55,000 people, more than 1,500 responded in Spain. They weren’t too many, but they were enough. Now the data is public.
With the survey data we can get an idea of what is the pattern of use of historical vehicles, how they usually are, and ditto with respect to their owners. In our country, OVs are considered as such after 30 years of their first legal registration, although the survey also collects data on youngtimers on the sidelines (20 years or more).
The results are valid before the COVID-19 pandemic (2019 scenario), so they have not been influenced by restrictions of any kind beyond those that existed then. The data covers 3,856 VHs of all types, 79% for passenger cars and 15% for motorcycles. The average age is 53 years for homeowners, cars and motorcycles alike.
Their use is rather scarce because they are not vehicles for daily use. The owners drive an average of 2,146 km per year, 936 km per car and 556 km per motorcycle. The main reasons for traveling are for leisure (51%), short walks (38%), organized trips (31%) and attending events (19%).
The owners declare that 82% of the VH they own are original, the rest have undergone modifications
On average, historic cars are used 14 times a year, motorcycles a little less, 12 times. They have a very low accident rate, only 5% of owners had an accident. Of all accidents, 3% involved serious damage and 1% caused the vehicle to be dropped. Virtually all damage is minor or of medium importance.
The average value of the VH analyzed is 22,900 euros for cars, and 4,600 for motorcycles, according to their owners. An average of 13 years remain in his hands, 15 in the case of motorcycles. 96% have a driving license. Around 7% of the park needs restoration.
As for the owners themselves, they have an average family income of 47,600 euros if they have cars or 58,900 euros if they have motorcycles (curiously, they have a much lower average value). 83% belong to a club and pay a fee of 40 euros per year. More than 60% live in cities.
41% of owners declare they also have a youngtimer (20 to 30 years old)
Regarding the use of social networks, 68% use Facebook, of them, half do so at least once a day. The most used social network is simply Youtube (79%), but less frequently, followed by Instagram (42%), Twitter (23%) and Pinterest (20%). Remember that the average age of the owners is 53 years.
There is an economic activity apart from the vehicles themselves. 85% of owners attend VH events throughout the year, spending a few 1,041 euros on average. This includes tickets, accommodation, food and drink. Most are national (31%), regional (26%) and local (10%) events. 10% of the events are international and 23% are limited to a specific club.
From these figures, we can conclude that public policies may well facilitate that individuals continue to preserve vehicle historical heritage. For example, the tax law allows city councils to discount 100% of the IVTM of the VH, but they do not oblige them.
When it comes to restricting traffic for environmental reasons, you can turn a blind eye to these vehicles, although they pollute a lot in relative terms, but in absolute terms it is pecata minuta. This is how it is done in the city of Paris, for example.
Although considerable progress has been made in terms of legislation to preserve vehicles, there is a lot to do. For example, FEVA is trying to speed up the VH classification procedures, especially for national vehicles and with all the papers in order. Flour from another sack are imports or that come from third countries, or directly without documentation (which is possible to register after the last reform of the RD 1247/1995, of July 14, which approves the Regulation of Historic Vehicles).