Buying cars to... not drive them

[Orange Cola]

My neighbour has a Eunos Roadster tucked away in his garage and covered up, from my conversations with him it’s got all the options and it hasn’t been out for a number of years (it’s never been out since we moved here), before that it only came out for an MoT. I believe it’s got relatively small miles on it, it’s all original too.

It seems he gets more pleasure from knowing he has it rather than actually doing anything with it, its certainly not an investment piece. Im half tempted to make him an offer on it because it’s a shame that’s it’s not being used and is essentially slowly perishing way

Another person I came across this week was a bloke who’s bought a brand new Mustang, unregistered, and sat it in their garage. It appears to have managed 800 miles somehow so is neither a pristine delivery miles original nor a is it a car that’s being used. I just find it odd.

Is it a new trend or something that I’ve missed?

[Mito Man]

I watched one of the Barrett-Jackson auctions last year as it was on TV and there were loads of random pretty ordinary cars and trucks which were 10 plus years old with only a few thousand miles on them. I assumed they’re just from people who have vast collections but it’s weird if you only have a few cars and never drive one.

[integrale_evo]

People like to own stuff. Sometimes that stuff just happens to be cars.

[Coaster1]

My neighbour’s Midnight Purple R33 Skyline GTR has never been used in the three years since I’ve moved in here.

It’s had a full respray, but admittedly he said that it never ran quite right since he had had the engine rebuilt due to head gasket issue.

[Nathan]

Seems to be very common with Golf clubsports and MK3 Focus RS for some reason

[Barry]

My mate bought a Triumph Bobber purely as he thought it looks fantastic. To the best of my knowledge he's done about 100 miles on it in nearly a year. He just likes looking at it and polishing it (and he has three other bikes, for riding..).

[jamcg]

Seems to be very common with Golf clubsports and MK3 Focus RS for some reason

If their owners are anything like one of my workmates, they’ll be telling everyone “it’s s future classic this”. Probably the same people with a complete Star Trek film collection on vhs, still the the cellophane, ‘coz it’s worth loads

[JLv3.0]

Disagree. As Harry says - some people take different pleasure from owning stuff to us. It's not to be overthought.

[evostick]

It can be quite puzzling though.

A neighbour up the road (only a couple of years older than me) has an MGB roadster in his very small garage. Not my cup of tea but a nice enough old motor. We've lived here for three years now and to my knowledge he's not driven it in that time.

He's always tinkering with it. Inventing problems, changing the unused oil, taking bits off and re-fitting them etc. Every time I walk past he's out there fucking around with it and he's always debating whether to take it out or not. He never does.

He's a nice chap and his mrs is alright too. Sadly she is currently undergoing cancer treatment for one of the most aggressive forms of the disease and I wish her all the best with it.

I can't help but think that he should have taken the opportunity on a few of those sunny days for them both to enjoy the damn thing a bit.

[JLv3.0]

Hear you mate but that seems to be the way he enjoys it. Mate of mine here is the same, thankfully without the health issues - 997 GT3, Ducati V4 Speciale and a '74 911 in the garage, and a Ducati 1098R in his office. Enjoys using them but most of the time just enjoys owning them and "having" them.

[Nathan]

Seems to be very common with Golf clubsports and MK3 Focus RS for some reason

If their owners are anything like one of my workmates, they’ll be telling everyone “it’s s future classic this”. Probably the same people with a complete Star Trek film collection on vhs, still the the cellophane, ‘coz it’s worth loads

I follow a garage who are sending transporters out everyday to buy these garage queens and resell them within the week.

RS Direct , Bristol

[Jobbo]

Why am I not surprised that Nath has posted in this thread

[Pete_]

TBF I've got a jar of fancy pasta in my kitchen that I don't plan on eating, it just looks nice.

[Orange Cola]

I struggle a bit with it because if you ignore the fact it’s an A to B machine the experience of driving a particular car is most of the reason why you buy one, it’s what manufacturers put years and years, tens of thousands of man hours of effort into getting right. Having it sat in the garage or on the drive for you to admire and tinker with is a great extra but the experience of taking it out, even rarely, is one to really savour. Some folk just go out in their car and meet other like minded folk to discuss their cars. For me just having the car sat there under a load of old curtains for years on end would fall well short of expectations and I’d be itchin to get out to try it and experience it.

I suppose I’ll just have to keep encouraging my neighbour to dig it out and use it on one of the nice sunny days we occasionally get.

[Rich B]

Just don’t trouble yourself with it. It’s not a big deal and it keeps some interesting cars in decent low mileage nick for others to enjoy in the future.

[scotta]

For two years Neil put less that 500 miles on the Cerbera.

[tim]

I've been out to look at a Ducati 848 Evo tonight that's on ebay locally, 2012 with 4,500 miles on it. The bloke who's selling it just likes owning it, and spending money on owning it. 2017 £750 invoice for belts. 2018 +200 miles, another £750 invoice for belts.

One off Rossi paint scheme, it's absolutely stunning.

[Simon]

It's literally got your name on it.

[mik]

Not keen on the yellow arse surround, but otherwise (as a no knowledge of bikes guy) that looks fantastic.

[nuttinnew]

2017 £750 invoice for belts. 2018 +200 miles, another £750 invoice for belts.

Fair enough not riding it much, and I can imagine the belts needed doing for age not mileage, but doing them again a year later