There have been a lot of posts in Facebook groups of late with seemingly good vehicles being broken up to sell in parts. In response, a few enthusiasts are voicing opinions on this, and wishing to save these vehicles.  Well, here’s one side of the argument…

Let us start with some historical reflection. Once upon a time you could pick up a classic VW Beetle for £10, in fact you could probably sweet talk yourself into a Samba for less than a weeks wages. In the ’70s and ’80s, there were an abundance of these cars, and they held no real value. We’ve heard shocking stories of cars being buried on golf courses, parted out to keep another on the road, all when it was perfectly serviceable by today’s standards. We need to look at where this has got us, and act on it while we can.

Today, Beetles are expensive. A rusty shell project will set you back at least £1000, and to imagine a Split bus for anything less than£10k would be a dream! The casual breaking and discarding of these cars in the past has just inflated the premium of the vehicles today.

So, what can we do about it, here and now? The models this really concerns now are Golfs, Polo’s and Corrados – the Volkswagens of the ’80s and ’90s. They have had a good run, and you still see far more of them on the road in comparison to models from their rivals (Ford, Vauxhall etc). But if we continue to break cars with ‘no real problems’ now, in ten years time the scene will be like the air-cooled one – a selection of well maintained ‘never welded’ vehicles that command big money, and the ‘basket cases’ that have chassis’s like a sieve. All the ‘alright’ vehicles will be long gone, broken up for a quick buck – leaving little in the way of choice for a potential project purchaser.

The people’s car has become something the people can no longer afford. The man in the street, who once the Ford Escort was aimed squarely at, has no chance of affording himself a Mk1 or Mk2 example. So many had been lost to banger racing and breakers in years gone. The VW Beetle hasn’t got to this stage yet, but arguably the Split is beyond it!

There are always going to be examples of a vehicle no longer fit to be used. Accident damaged, burnt out, severely rotten; you only need to search on Ebay for ‘Air-cooled VW projects’ to see the extent of issues that someone is prepared to fix in order to get onto the classic VW ladder. One day in the future, fans will be the same over Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3 models too.

You wouldn’t get away with buying a listed building just to use the fireplaces; so let’s be precious about our cars and follow the same theory too.

Just for a second though – let’s explore the second hand parts buying journey. After all, good cars are being broken as there is clearly a demand. I’m not going to say I never buy second hand parts, nor am I suggesting a breakers yard boycott. This is aimed at ‘unethical breaking’. Lazy breakers, who can’t be bothered and Serial dismantlers who will strip a good car bare, sell the parts, scrap the shell and do the same thing again the next day. Whilst they ‘get rich quick’ they’ll soon disappear or start breaking other models when they have bled the supply of your favourite model dry. Their business model isn’t sustainable, and is only supported by our need for parts.

Here’s an example I found today. I have removed any trace of the owner from it, I don’t know the story, but these are the kind of adverts that prompted my writing. The frustration here is, the total value of these parts is £440. It is likely someone would pay that for the car as a project, and then restore it back to its former glory, or modify it to suit their requirements; either way the car survives and the seller gets their money.

From a green perspective, when you break a car there will always be parts that don’t sell – these will just end up in land fill, as the seller won’t want to store them; which in turn is terrible for our environment.

It’s not just Facebook groups that you can find this in either.. A search on Gumtree brought up this lovely late Mk2 GTI described thus, “The general condition of this car is great and all of the interior is spotless.”  What an absolute waste! Ebay is another source of the same, with half finished projects, scrappage scheme survivors and part -ex vehicles from garages being broken to supply the demand for parts.

These cars deserve to be saved for future generations, and future enthusiasts.

Perhaps we need an action group to support our scene and keep these future classics on the road. Promoting restoration projects over breaking. Offering cars for sale as a whole -with a list of what it needs to fix it, rather than an advert that basically says ‘I bought an old car, and it was too much for me, now I’m going to try and break it to get my money back’. Old cars by definition need work, but that is part of the charm, and what separates Old Skool enthusiasts from Nu-Wave “Lowered on Wheels” modifying – it takes time and effort.

I can see an argument coming my way, saying “if the parts were better we wouldn’t need to buy second hand” and I get that. We are doing our best to provide all the parts we can, and investing in manufacture too. But ultimately some parts will always have to come second hand, as the tooling and production costs are impractical and uneconomical. By removing them from a good car, to put them onto your good car is like ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ it just doesn’t make sense!

Do you see yourself in the VW scene in 10-15 years time?  Personally I have been into this for 15 years at least, and can’t see my outlook changing. Let’s hypothetically fast forward to 2030 when we have this discussion again. Mk7 Golfs could be changing hands for £50 and a beaten up T5 is yours for a weeks wages.. but the Mk2 GTI you saved from being broken is a bonafida classic and still excellently represented on the road. It might not be worth a king’s ransom, but there are 50% more people to share your hobby with, as they can still afford one too! If that happens, then I’ll be happy. I don’t own an old dub to get rich. I own them as they are fun, and I enjoy meeting other people who share my passion.

I would love to know your thoughts on this. Do you think the same? What do you think can be done about it? Please comment below and share this post with your friends if you agree.

Andy

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage