From the ’50s to the Modern Era, Enthusiasts Drive Their Cars Similar Miles
Once cars transition from merely used vehicles to collector pieces, driver behavior tends to change. Cars that were once put to regular use have become weekend cruisers or toys for special trips. As such, the annual mileage put on these vehicles tends to be considerably less than what was put on them years ago (with some very notable exceptions—looking at you, Toyota Land Cruiser).
That said, with cars from the ’90s through the modern era becoming collector-worthy, enthusiast vehicles are more reliable than ever. Fox-body Ford Mustangs, C6 Chevrolet Corvettes, and even Lexus LFAs can cover more ground in greater comfort and capability than the Mustangs, Corvettes, and Toyota 2000GTs of yesteryear. That got us wondering—does any one era of collector car get driven more than others?
Looking at the same vehicles offered through an online auction more than once is one way to determine how many miles people drive. If a car appeared in an online auction in 2022 with 63,000 miles and again in 2024 with 65,000 miles, it only covered 1,000 miles per year. Repeat public sales data does not capture examples like a single-owner-from-new 1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia still in daily use, but for the purposes of comparing usage between eras of cars, this information provides abundant data—our sample included over 9,000 vehicles.
What did we find? Vehicles from the 1950s through the 1970s were driven several hundred miles per year, while those from the RADwood era (1980s and 1990s) were driven 1316 and 1404 miles per year, respectively. The most modern vehicles from the 2020s were driven 1848 miles per year. Most interestingly, even with all the modern features and reliability found in the vehicles from the ’90s to today, people are still driving them only about two-and-a-half to three times as far as those 1960s cars and trucks—when it comes down to it, that’s only a few more fill-ups per year.
How many miles are being driven among the popular makes? Among the Big Three, Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge are first through third. Also, Toyotas are driven way more than Hondas, and Porsches are driven further than Ferraris.
Looking a bit deeper into the data, the median miles driven per year worked out to be about half the average (mean) miles per year driven for each model year decade. That the median is less tells us that a significant chunk of vehicles are not being driven much, and that a smaller number of people are laying down a lot of miles. Importantly, the consistency between median and mean data across every decade shows that era doesn’t appear to be much of a factor in how these vehicles are used.
How many miles per year are you driving your enthusiast vehicle?
Just serviced my wife’s 64 Corvair and in 2 years it has only been driven less then 400 miles!! And the 63 Corvette only 500 miles in two years!! Need to drive them more but the weather is a big factor here!!
I have a set of shows I attend at various distances. I usually keep in 2 hours one way. Still have original hoses. I will get to them since they are hanging on the wall.
I also attend a good number of cruise in events when time permits.
I generally drive a decent amount of miles to keep the cars in good shape.
I generally don’t drive in snow, I will drive in rain if caught out. But I never park the car Sherrod I cannot keep an eye on it.
Too many people get jealous of what you have and they will do some damaged. I was keyed once years ago mot on a show car but one I loved. Yes I can fix it but I will avoid the risk if needed.
I started out in 1967, when we bought it, driving 120 miles a day to and from work, The car was just a used sports car at that time. After the first few years I bought a winter car. VW type 1. My wife then used the Porsche for her daily commute. We moved in 1972 and I was then only .75 miles from work. We also now had a garage. We had one before, however, one evening my wife went out to the garage and the wind blew the door off its hinges right at her. No problem, nature sent me a message and I tore the whole thing down. My wife gave up working to look after our three children. ( Number 4 came about in 1981) I walked to work with my neighbor. I was lucky to put 200-300 miles on the Porsche in a year. Then it started to rapidly appreciate in value, it was no longer a used sports car and became collectible. I was invited to go on rallies with the local Porsche Dealership. I was putting over 2,000 miles a year on it and enjoying every minute. Most of the customers had never seen a 356B Cabriolet before. I led a couple of the rallies. The rallies never recovered from the Pandemic. Now I am lucky to put 1,000 miles on it in a year. Times change, now the car is aging better than I am, I am becoming the one factor dictating if the car will be driven. I now have a big problem getting in and out plus visual disturbances wherein I stay close to the breakdown lane.
I drive my 32 Ford hot rod coupe about 800 miles per year, mostly from Spring thru October. And my 84 Chevy C10 about 1,000 per year, but generally year round.
I have two cars, When I get bored with one I drive the other, ones an 04 MazdaSpeedMiata, I average 3,000 a year, and My 2000 NHRA T/A, I average 1500-2000 a year, the Trans Am I bought before Covid hit, with 11k, I figure we put 5500 on it the first year, 5 years later it has 23k, the Speed Miata has 86k on it and I absolutely love driving it. I’ve had trailer queens and boy that got Old!! Unless they’re $$$$ cars, even then, if it’s nice out, drive them, enjoy them, I know I’m getting any younger!
I own eight classics so I don’t drive each a lot. It seems car shows are fewer on my area than they once were. Yesterday, I took out my 65 Chevy C10 for the first time in 2024. I was scheduled for another show today but last week for an unexplained reason that show was canceled. So, the 56 Chevy Sport Sedan sits for another weekend.
I find myself liking to drive some of my Malaise Era cars, two 78 Olds and an 84 Olds wagon. Why? Comfortable might be the reason as I’m no longer a spring chicken. I even drove the 78 Olds Delta 88 to Reno for Hot August Nights. No problems like the older cars give me even though they’re meticulously maintained.
Longer a spring chicken!
One seeming flaw in your perceived analysis is that you’re looking at cars which are auctioned multiple times. Many of us true hobbyist/collectors hang onto the cars we cherish, tour them more extensively both on organized club tours, and on our own when reasonable. This applies to virtually all eras. Our current Brass-Era car is a very drivable 1915 Hudson which the prior owner is reputed to have toured nearly 200,xxx miles. Our 1912 Oakland and 1914 Buick B-37 each averaged better than 2,500 miles annually. Our 1930 Packard Touring tends to rack up a few thousand miles annually, but the 1937 Roadmaster Phaeton and 1941 Cadillac convertible add more than that as they’re more frequently on tour, including cross-country CARavans. The 1954 Cadillac convertible is modified with aftermarket A/C and is a frequent weekend club event driver, as well as multiple AACA, VMCCA, and other club week-long drives in remote areas – one year we actually did a three-month, ten thousand mile journey visiting friends, collections and driving multiple tours. The ’65 Corvair and ’88 Corvette convertibles have also been driven cross-country, the ‘Vette having added nearly 50,000 miles since receiving it after the passing of her original owner, my cousin who used it every weekend but never let it stay out overnight. He drove it 104,xxx miles but now it registers north of 150K, and has been awarded AACA’s First, Senior, and Repeat Preservation despite being an unrestored original, and other than fluids and normal maintenance, only tires, brakes, belt, and exhaust having been replaced over the years.
My point is that many of the best collector cars don’t go through auction, but rather are passed among friends, club members, and other true hobby types via word of mouth, club ads, club forum messages, etc – and these are not within your somewhat limited scope of repeat auction cars.
Over the last 20 years we have driven our Model A Ford an average of 1000 miles per year in general use.
Our IHC Highwheeler and the 1909 Brush about 200 miles on tours per year. They also go on short local runs every couple of weeks.
So on my yearly state inspection I check the mileage in between. They are not done on the exact day or even month some times but it is a relative indicator of what I have driven. I was shocked I only pt around 1000 miles on my car. I usually vary between 1500-3000 a year. Maybe that is heading down, don’t know.
My wife recently sold her 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible after 20 years of ownership, during that time she put over 4,800 miles on the odometer.
2 collectors, 2 ‘moderns’. My 91 JDM Honda is very reliable, but as a 38 hp car, it is not meant for highway driving. Plus, it has a paint job that cost more than the purchase price of the car. It goes to cruise nights, local errands and weekend use. 1000/miles/year. My 93 Miata LE is an all original car. I’ve driven Miatas all over the country, but trying to maintain as much originality as possible. Same use as above, but the Miata will go on the highway, enabling trips to more distant shows. Some regular driving 1300 miles. Wife has a ‘new 2019 Miata GTS, but, at almost 80, is not driving much anymore. Mostly to poker and groceries, and generally in the ‘big’ car 3000 miles. Then there’s the 328iT BMW. That’s the family car. Only automatic, AWD, has all the creature comforts, and room to haul and relax 10,000 miles. As I get older, I’m just traveling less. Covid changed my work world to a largely virtual one, and, as we get older, we just flat drive less.
What…. no one drives a Triumph??? Over the years I’ve had and restored many (8) still have two that I drive regularly.
My two fun cars are hardly classics. I alternately drive them during fair weather non winter days.
My 2012 Cadillac CTS-V coupe was my daily non-winter car for the first 3-4 years of ownership, but over the past 6 years only comes out on dry days and it has averaged approximately 2K miles/year during that time. The odometer currently shows 56K miles with the bulk of those miles coming in those early years.
My other car is a 2016 Stage 3 Phase 2 Roush Mustang convertible with just under 17K miles on the odometer. That car too averages just over 2K miles a year.
I drive my ’70 Eliminator about 1500 miles a year. 428SCJ, 4-speed, 3.91 gears… I drive it and love every mile of it.
1550 miles so far this year in my 1959-built Morgan Plus 4 and this has been a quiet year for me with few events attended and no multi-day reliability runs. Driving opportunities will reduce from now on and end mid-November but should resume in April.