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Old cars 'can still be fuel efficient'

26th June 2008

A new report has stated that older cars can still be as efficient and safe as modern ones, as long as they are properly maintained.

The motoring association GEM Motoring Assist criticised the government's plans to penalise drivers of older cars with higher taxes, claiming they are misguided.

Chief executive David Williams explained that a well-maintained older vehicle could be as sustainable as a newer model.

"If the economists were to look at the cost and energy that is wasted in scrapping and disposing of perfectly good, if mature, cars and the massive use of resources it takes to build a new car the equation would be very different," he added.

In fact, Mr Williams suggested that classic car insurance customers might even argue that their vehicles were lighter and less polluting than newer equivalents.

"Because we have the room in these fat new vehicles we also tend to carry around unnecessary items and never clear out boots. This can dramatically add to a car’s weight and make it drink fuel," he argued.

What's more, Mr Williams said that driving style had a massive impact on fuel efficiency.

"Economic driving is often as much a matter of the style the operator uses as anything else … Even an out-and-out super car like a late 1970s BMW M1 that could accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds would return 30 miles per gallon." ADNFCR-1602-ID-18657580-ADNFCR