THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE HISTORIC AND CLASSIC MOTOR INDUSTRY IN THE UK

64 14. The historic and classic vehicle sector and the UK’s wider heritage sector 14.1 Introduction As the UK was the first economy in the world to industrialise, industry and mechanical products are a vital part of the UK’s heritage. Cebr has specialised amongst other things in the valuation of the heritage to the UK and has produced many reports on this. Specifically in this report we compare the classic and historic vehicle sector with the wider heritage sector, basing our data specifically on the Cebr report commissioned by Historic England and published on the Heritage Counts website. 24 In this section we also examine the distribution of the industry through the country, making estimates based on the locations of vehicles advertised for sale. 14.2 Valuation of the heritage The introduction to the Heritage Counts website explains the value of the heritage to the UK in resounding terms. It deals with issues of definition: ‘ Are we talking about the built historic environment, natural heritage or intangible culture such as stories, knowledge and practices that people and communities have amassed over the years. And who decides what counts as heritage? ‘Official’ heritage is generally identified through a top -down process in which public agencies classify and promote heritage sites according to established criteria and particular regional, national and international values – but ‘unofficial’ heritage is also brought about locally through the bottom-up relationships between people, objects, places and memories . ’ The report points ou t that the value of the heritage has ‘hard’ elements such as those that can relatively easily be identified and measured by economists and softer elements that are essentially unquantifiable but help to build up both personal and social capital. 14.3 Classic and historic motor vehicles as a contributor to the heritage But heritage is not just old buildings and museums. It goes much further into the various objects that form part of history. Britain was the first country to industrialise and many industrial processes originated in the country. But in many ways the motor industry has been the classic component of the country’s industrial heritage. Cars are the major consumer purchase other than houses. More than three quarters of households in the UK own a car and they are associated with providing freedom for many people. The most recently published National Cost of Ownership Survey report 25 published by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs in 2019 indicated that 9.8 million people in the UK were interested in historic vehicles; 21 million people see historic vehicles as an important part of the UK’s heritage and 5.1 million are interested in owning an historic vehicle. This is a huge vote of confidence in the sector. 14.4 Comparison of historic vehicles and buildings Both historic vehicles and buildings contribute to the economy. 2 4 https://historicengland.org.uk/research/heritage-counts/ 2 5 https://www.fbhvc.co.uk/uploads/files/2019%20FBHVC%20Cost%20of%20Ownership%20Summary.pdf