Thing is the age of the buyer/peak price thing is being affected by a new dynamic. The older 50’s/60’s MG’s etc which were unreliable and crap to drive have no appeal to anyone without the nostalgia element so prices die off with the owners, but cars from the 80’s/90’s/2000’s, especially the very highly regarded ones like the 205GTI, Golf GTI, E30 and so on, then into the later Japanese Imprezas, Mitsu Evos, Skylines etc etc have all got the advantage of being in a unique space of being brilliant to own and drive, and won’t ever be superseded.
EV’s are a monumental turn off for a lot of people, and what’s left of modern ICE’s are pitifully hampered by driver aids and lumbering weight, automatic transmission and so on, meaning the demand for the aforementioned brilliant drivers cars is where people are heading, pushing prices up and securing values indefinitely.
Personally, I hate the haemorrhaging of cash on depreciation, which is bad enough on a car you like, but would kill me to do that on an EV. I’d like to steer that money into say an extremely nice Impreza or Evo as a daily, the theory being it would still be a phenomenal drive, reliable and safe, yet cost neutral/appreciating over the ownership cycle. I’m not sure it’s possible to convince the wife on that one, and so may have to try hit the sweet spot of ICE/diesel instead, imv the 2023 (pre-turnoff 2024 legislation) 3.0D BMW being about as good as it gets.
None of that matters of course if you’re not interested in cars and are happy with a 3 year lease on an EV, but for everyone else we’re heading into unchartered territory and the spectacular effects on the ICE market, both classics and modern is something worth keeping an eye on.
