It’s got an engine, so use it…

Everything has a use. Everything we have, and everything that is around us is there for a purpose, for a reason. Well, apart from wasps. Everything we have designed and engineered is built to do… something. It can be passive – a conservatory on the back of your house just needs to be a room. It fulfils its function by existing. Then, there are things that demonstrate their usefulness in an active way. The fan in the aforementioned conservatory has to work, it has to do something in order to fulfil its purpose. 

A car, classic or otherwise, falls into the ‘active’ category. No car was built as a classic. It was built as a car, as a means to transport one or more people from point A to destination B. A static car is not a car. It turns into something else. For some, that something else could be an exhibit, at the other end of the scale it could be a rusty annoyance for the neighbours. Doesn’t matter. The fact is, once you stop using a car, it ceases to be a car.

I understand that some cars, thanks to the progression of time, are now in museums. I get that, and if the museum owns them, then that’s all fine and dandy. A car museum business model relies on that transition from active to passive. And these cars become important time capsules for future generations who may seek to know more about how we got about before Elon Musk was beamed down from whatever planet he comes from. Fine. Lovely. 

What I don’t get is the private owner who has a car, but doesn’t drive it. It’s a concept that, frankly, baffles me. Yes, I know, ‘to each his own’ and all that, but why? Why have this thing and deny it of its very essence? Why stop it from being what it was built to be? Can one individual garner so much joy from looking at a car that it renders the notion of actually driving it moot? 

Years ago, when I worked on a specialist tuning magazine, I went to a show and had a mill around the concours section. To allow for complete anonymity, I won’t say what the car was, but there it was. I spoke to the owner, nice fella, who told me he bought the car in standard condition. However, the car was anything but standard. Six-pot AP Racing brakes, Compomotive wheels, Ohlins race suspension, a turbo bigger than the Dartford tunnel. It was an animal. The owner, nice fella that he was, told me it was running about 650bhp, which given the exhaustive specification, I could well believe. “I bet that’s a bit of a handful!” I said. And then, in an instant, his face changed and he exclaimed, “good grief no, I don’t drive it”. Let’s remember here, he modified the car. But. He. Doesn’t. Drive. It. Baffled, I made my excuses and went away. 

At the other end of the scale though, you have people like Jim. Jim owns a Mk1 Cortina saloon and it is the picture of originality. Much like the turbocharged car mentioned above, Jim’s Cortina regularly bags a concours trophy. To be honest, his car is better than when Ford built it. And here’s the thing – he drives it. Come rain or shine, Jim jumps in behind the wheel and heads to the show. No covered trailer, no nannying or nursing. And still he wins the trophies. Yeah, it’s a bit of extra work cleaning it, but he loves driving it. It is the fundamental reason the car exists. To Jim, I say yes. Jim is proof that no matter how mint, how precious or how preserved, classic cars can be used as intended. 

Why have a car and not use it, especially a classic. We live in the age of the electric car now, and their numbers are on the rise. And while I have nothing at all against them, there is no denying that they are without heart and soul because they don’t have engines. The engine is the car’s voice. Some are unmistakable. You know what an air-cooled Beetle sounds like. You know if that Mk2 Escort is on 45s. You know that big tank has a V8. All because of the engine. The sounds are becoming an increasingly rare treat, so why speed up the silence by never using the ones we do have? It baffles me. 

If you re-appropriate a thing, if you give it a new purpose, you slowly ebb away at its ability to be what it was built to be. That conservatory; if you start using it as a workshop, you’re going to ruin it. The fan? If you start using it as a coat rack it will eventually seize up and on that day when you’re too hot, it won’t work. And of cars, if you stop driving them, you in effect kill them. Cars are machines, they are active, not passive. They need to operate in order to offer longevity. They need different conditions, different speeds, different temperatures inside and out, they need oil changes and services and cleaning and… you get the idea. If a car doesn’t get exposure to all of that, it becomes no more useful than the model car on your mantelpiece. 

Of course, it’s not my place to tell you what to do. As I said earlier, to each his own. However, if you love that classic, and if you want to do right by it, take it out every now and then. If you just want to wait for summer and the certainty of dry weather, that’s okay. But just take it out. Use it, keep it active. Not only will it strengthen your love for the old machine, it will also bring you joy, it will do the car good, and it will brighten the day of whoever is lucky enough to see you on your little classic adventure. It’s what they’re made for, it’s their reason for being. Indulge them.