The path to classic status.

chb

chb

Well-Known Member
Folks, I am intrigued.
I think the A2 might be one of the first cars that has taken its path to classic status in the digital age.
I have been on car forums for 10 years or more and what I have seen is that forums change over time.
In the first 5 years of a models life they are full of "what a fantastic car, so glad I bought one" followed by owners of 3 year old models saying "I bought this car how do I fix it" OR " I wanted this when new, but now bought it 3 years olds for half price and its brill".
By the time a car gets to 10 years old its a real mix of bargain drivers wanting to just keep the thing on the road, and also people who love the car and will still be keeping it in 5 years or more time.

So that brings me to the A2.


Clearly as a reliable car our forum has many "daily users" who see the A2 as a tool to use (heck I do too to a large degree).
But there is clearly an undercurrent of longevity in this car and A2OC is probably one of the first forums on the interweb that will make the shift from daily drivers to true classic car status.

How do folk think this forum will evolve over time?
 
chb said:
Folks, I am intrigued.
I think the A2 might be one of the first cars that has taken its path to classic status in the digital age.
I have been on car forums for 10 years or more and what I have seen is that forums change over time.
In the first 5 years of a models life they are full of "what a fantastic car, so glad I bought one" followed by owners of 3 year old models saying "I bought this car how do I fix it" OR " I wanted this when new, but now bought it 3 years olds for half price and its brill".
By the time a car gets to 10 years old its a real mix of bargain drivers wanting to just keep the thing on the road, and also people who love the car and will still be keeping it in 5 years or more time.

So that brings me to the A2.


Clearly as a reliable car our forum has many "daily users" who see the A2 as a tool to use (heck I do too to a large degree).
But there is clearly an undercurrent of longevity in this car and A2OC is probably one of the first forums on the interweb that will make the shift from daily drivers to true classic car status.

How do folk think this forum will evolve over time?
Click to expand...


Hi,

I think you are right.

I am not sure that the forum will radically change, but more of a gentle switch to more members that see the car as a long and pleasant experience, rather than an "A2"B car (if you see what I mean).

I think you are spot on with your analysis. This could be a nice little thread / debate, and the more people that agree with your analysis, the more it proves you are right. Because the "A2"B'ers will probably disagree a little, the "A2" "Classic owners will agree!!

So lets get this thread started. (I think you all know which "camp" I am in!)

Nice one.

Steve B
 
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The A2 is a special car, but the reason I started this thread is because I used to own a Volvo V40 and I saw that cars bit of the volvo forum change from "special car must be fixed" to "how do I fix this, or is it time to scrap it". I have never been on a forum that has seen a car come out of the other side of that struggle. I mean can you imagine a post on the jag e-type forum..."my car is running rough, is it time to call it a day?"
The a2 is 20 years from that status, but the forum path to that position intrigues me!
 
I think the A2 will definately reach classic status. To what scale it is hard to tell at present. From my experience most people i've come across don't even know what an A2 is. I think the A2 will never reach the same status as say a Mk1 Escort but amoung the petrolhead community it will definately become a respected classic.

I certainly have no intention of selling our A2's, mainly because i simply can't think of any other car that offers a more complete package.
 
A2Steve said:
i simply can't think of any other car that offers a more complete package.
Click to expand...

Hear Hear !!!!!!!

My thoughts exactly and after 40 years of owning almost every kind of car imaginable (and some that are NOT imaginable!) I have chosen the A2 because it is by far the best "all round" car available!!!

Steve B
 
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I think other things going in the A2's favour to reach classic status is its potential for longevity. Its never going to rust and we know the TDi engines can do 250k miles so anyone with a decent mileage TDi now has no reason why they couldn't be still using it in 10 years time. I suppose parts supply will be the limiting factor in the end but as we have seen many poor examples are now being sacrificed so that the decent ones can go on for years to come.

Also, while there are still people around who are willing to spend large amounts of money on what is essentially a 10 year old car (Mr Birchall) then the A2 has a healthy future infront of it.
 
A2Steve said:
I think the A2 will definately reach classic status. To what scale it is hard to tell at present.
Click to expand...

Yes, especially with the really tragic rate of scrappage that you see with this model .... just look at "Ebay", each day! .... ( tip here ... search under "wheel-nut"! LOL!) ... some are being disposed-of with very little obvious damage! It's almost like seeing the decline of elephants in Africa!

David
 
DJ190, you are right that's theres a lot of scrapped cars at the moment and spares are cheap. I think in 5 years time that spares will be less available and more expensive as most of the "abused" cars will be turned to coke cans or MacBook chassis by then!
 
A worthy thread.

One factor affecting the long term viability of the A2 will be the ongoing availability of spares.

The dichotomy is that if they do become a 'classic' the fewer there are the more valuable they would become but I think we (i.e. the Forum) want to keep as many running as we can.

The more that are kept running the fewer donor cars there will be around. Fortunately some spares are common to other VAG cars but not that many. One thing I think we can rely on is spares will continue to become more expensive.

Will technology come to our aid?

At AITP today I discussed with a couple of members the possibility of using 3D printing to produce some of the hard to get plastic trim pieces. This could make low volume production viable for things like the jacking point covers (especially for the Storm Sills as these are simply not available). Maybe other scarce trim pieces could be made this way. The real clincher would be if we could reproduce the soft touch and textured finish!

Are there other technologies that could come to our rescue?

Geoff
 
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Sootywg said:
At AITP today I discussed with a couple of members the possibility of using 3D printing to produce some of the hard to get plastic trip pieces.
Geoff
Click to expand...
There's certainly good money to be made for reproducing that "Votex" rear-spoiler!

David
 
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