Have British Sports Cars Had Their Day?
Almost a year ago, The Roadster Factory, a beloved British car parts supplier suffered a tragic fire at its Pennsylvania warehouse. It might have been a metaphor for the classic British sports car world in general. From market data to shifting demographics, this part of the hobby is suffering setbacks.
In the timeline of sports cars (especially affordable ones) British cars had a run comparable to the dinosaurs. From roughly 1945 until 1980 or so, little English roadsters ruled the planet. From beachfront drives to SCCA race grids and autocross runs, they were absolutely everywhere. Then, labor issues, bad management, non-existent R&D budgets, and increased competition from other car-building nations brought things to a sad end. But that wasn’t quite the end of things. A massive subculture and aftermarket ecosystem sprouted up and flourished, keeping these cars on the road long after the demise of the OEMs and ushering them into “classic” status. The baby boomers who remembered British two-seaters when they were new made up the lion’s share of this culture. They loved their MGBs, Austin-Healeys and Triumph TR6s. Millennials and Gen-Zers, not so much. With flat values for the last decade, is the reign of the British sports car finally over? Maybe, maybe not.
From the early 2000s until roughly 2015, British sports cars had a pretty decent run in the collector car market. Excellent TR6s became $25,000+ cars, perfectly restored Austin-Healey 3000 MKIIIs could bring well over $100,000, and good Jaguar E-types more than double that. It was the knock-on effect of people buying the cars that imprinted on them in their youth. It happed with other 1950s-70s cars, too. But with older Boomers lightening their loads, it seems like the market is getting smaller for classic British sports cars.
Strangely, the only millennials that I know who own British sports cars own Spridgets (a portmanteau of Austin-Healey Sprite/MG Midget). I personally know four Spridget owners who are under 40. Some of the appeal for them is a factor of the cars’ simplicity and sheer cheekiness, but mostly, it’s because they’re super affordable. Interestingly, though, these seem to be dead-end acquisitions for millennial enthusiasts. By that I mean they’re not a gateway to other, more sophisticated British cars further up the ladder. Young Spitfire owners don’t move up to a TR6 and young Sprite owners don’t move up to a Big Healey, much less something like an E-Type. Boomers and Gen-Xers thought that was the most beautiful car ever, but it just doesn’t resonate with a lot of younger enthusiasts.
Hagerty’s insurance data backs this up. While first generation (1965-73) Ford Mustangs fit squarely into the baby boomer demographic by model year, they have significant appeal with younger buyers as over 20 percent of insurance quotes come from millennial buyers. For the 1961-67 E-Type, on the other hand, that number is less than 6 percent, and for the Austin-Healey 3000 it’s a little better at slightly above 10 percent. The MG TF, which carries a value low enough to be tempting to younger buyers, nevertheless sees a dismal 4.7 percent of quotes from millennials, and just 1.6 percent from Gen Z. As for values, Hagerty’s British Car Index has been conspicuously quiet even during the pandemic boom of the early 2020s. The index’s average price of $91,760 is basically the same as it was in 2015.
Classic British sports cars also suffer in comparison with the cars from the 1990s roadster revival. NA-generation Mazda Miatas, BMW Z3s, Porsche Boxsters and Mercedes-Benz SLKs are similarly cheap and plentiful, but they’re also significantly faster, more usable, and more reliable. To someone born in the 1990s, they also look plenty vintage and are getting old enough to become “classics” themselves.
Are British cars dead? Not by a longshot. The huge number of classic British cars out there aren’t going to just disappear. While their best days value-wise might be behind them, at least part of another generation will eventually succumb to their tweedy charms, just as any genre of car always gains a following. But it might be smaller, while any serious interest and value growth in British cars will likely be in models from the 1990s and beyond—classic Range Rovers, manual Aston Martin V8 Vantages, Lotus Elises/Exiges, McLarens, and even the odd TVR Cerbera and eventually (when it becomes legal here) the utterly mental TVR Sagaris. Basically, the cars of the Forza and Grand Turismo kids. The generational shift is here. Tastes change. Embrace it.
You do realize you marveled at why more young people aren’t asking for quotes for E-Types just a few paragraphs after noting good ones are $200k.
Just asking…
I’ve always wondered why the Austin Healeys haven’t been considered more in the press. Those of us that have one or more seem to keep them “squirreled away” out of the mainstream. But when time for car shows comes, we get out and display them and the onlookers seem to enjoy them. Having had 2, a BT7 now owned by my son, and a BJ7 which resides with me, there are always people that enjoy them and ask questions about them, especially when invited to sit in them. The huge amount of seeming “dumping” Healeys in the past few years has made many very affordable. Granted, there are the super conditioned ones that bring big bucks, but many are almost given away. As far as parts, one company in England makes many of their own, and one could assemble (less engine) a complete car from their parts bins.
I am 70 years old and fortunate enough to have several old Lotuses and MG’s (e.g., Lotus Eleven, MG TF, etc.). I also “hang out” with a group of “twenty-something” car guys which I enjoy greatly.
One thing stopping them from owning older cars simply is the carburetors. They are raised on FI and really are not comfortable with carburetors in general, and particularly not multiple carburetors that have “dip sticks” on them. 😉
Another thing is just tuning them. They are used to flashing ECU’s, adding boost to the turbo’s, etc., but the idea of a distributor, points, etc., is just very foreign to them.
They easily can speak with each other about how much boost to use, etc., but most do not have access to knowledgeable persons with British expertise.
These young guys love the looks of my old British cars, but no car guy wants to be ignorant, and jumping from computer-controlled, fuel-injected, turbocharged engines to a mechanical naturally aspirated engine is a big jump for many of them.
There also are all of the tools they would need to buy, timing lights, special tools, synchronizers, fractional and Whitworth wrench sets. etc. It is all doable, but the initial cost/effort to enter our world can be an obstacle for them.
Hey Douglas, why not mentor your young friends a bit on British car tuning. Once they realize they aren’t that complex they’ll enjoy the occasional tweaking.
I recently took my MG Midget to a car show that had 500 cars of which 5 were LBCs. Small children loved the Midget and I let them sit in it. Maybe I got a few future converts.
Hey Eric, I guess you’ve not experienced the troubles of mechanical fuel injection with early 911’s or the CIS cars with fuel distributor contamination!
My Porsche 981S and 982 GT4 and BMW M3 are my practical cars. My Europa S2 Type 65 is my „throwback“ car. Europas remain affordable. They were cheap when new and are still cheap by today‘s standards. Morgan Plus 8s have held their value. Still in the market for a nice one.
In HS, friends had TR-250s, Alpines, Midgets, and MGCs. Fun cars for HS kids. I drove a Mustang back then. The cars were fast enough to scare us. We all survived and moved on to faster, more sophisticated machinery (although the Alpine owner stayed true to tradition, replacing the Alpine with a Tiger and later an F-Type R – although he drives a Jeep or Corvette to work).
I scoffed at the SU tuning by ear until I tried it. Wow! One certainly can hear the change. No more scoffing.
Very interesting article & reader’s comments on LBC’s & their current “attractiveness demographics” !!
I own a ’73 MGB w/ OD (since 1975) & a ’65 Austin-Healey BJ8 that I’d completely restored myself in the late ’90s. I love ’em both and drive them as much as possible despite my not-so-young demographic !!
But enough of the memory lane stuff. Another hard reality one has to factor in, is that driving conditions in the real world now are obviously completely different & have changed drastically since the heydays of LBCs of the 50s, 60s & 70s: much higher traffic volumes and average cruising speeds, coupled with greater heavy trucking volumes, on all types of roads, must be added to the equation of overall “LBC attractiveness” nowadays. A few of the readers above have also alluded to this in their comments: a good example- “… distracted drivers in large trucks/SUV’s usually cruise close to 95 mph… Trying to flow with traffic in an old Brit car will wear you down to a nub really quick.” Sadly, this is so true for many current and potential drivers of LBCs, young and not so young alike.
I’m a boomer and I’ll admit I had a 68 MGB and loved that car. Wish I still had it today.
I learned how to “properly drive” in my father’s BJ7. To this day the most comfortable sports car I have ever been in for my 6’3” frame. It’s like it was made for me. I learned to drift in that car before the term was coined. I remember my father complaining about “cheap rims from India!” Because the spokes kept mysteriously snapping!
Owned my Triumph TR8 since 1980’s with all the desirable mods. A much more practical car than was my Sunbeam Tiger. Tick’s all the right boxes – limited production, great competition history and that V8 engine. They should be more valuable on the market but I love the way it flies under the radar. I’ve owned a ton of various classic sports cars in the past, but my TR8 is the one I’ve always held on to.