Quote:
Originally Posted by chris vickery
This brings up an interesting subject...
I got into a debate days ago with a fellow who claims that the mv restoration hobby is on a downturn, that is to say that whats left out there that is restorable is hardly worth the bother. Lets hear some input on this ?????
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Chris,
Depends on one's perspective, but it is definitely changing here in Holland. In general, people have less time and disposable income available, and the remaining WW2 vehicles need more time, money and skills to restore than three/four decades ago when this hobby started to take off. Back in those days sandblasting and painting was easier/cheaper as there were less strict environmental regulations, prices of paint and parts have gone up, etc., etc.
The HMV club I am a member of has a serious problem with getting younger members signed up (I belong to the youngsters - hah!). Apart from the fact that the traditional club organisation has seen its best days (who needs a quarterly printed newsletter when you have sites like MLU?), more and more younger people simply cannot afford the money and time needed to buy, restore and store a rusty old army truck.
It is interesting to see however that more and more interesting (not necessarily rare) vehicles are being acquired by collectors. British and Canadian vehicles have an increased interest here, partly because collectors want something different than a Jeep, Beep or Jimmy and also because the effort to restore one of the former is the comparable to the latter.
The past few years some HMV categories have seen a sharp price increase. Jeeps for example, as they are easy to maintain and store and spares are still plentiful. AFVs have soared, mainly because there are new babyboomers on the scene with spare money coming from the sale of their business or house upon retirement etc. As the next generation does not have silly money to spend on a boyhood dream (they dream of other stuff these days), I doubt if all those "investments" will prove to be a sound financial one in the long run. But the owners surely get a lot of dividend in the shape or pure enjoyment, and that is worth a lot of course!
HTH,
Hanno