Not that these cars are doing very much, even on this year’s inflated total. Only 44 per cent of them are actually licenced and on the road, very few of them are driven regularly and the average number of times each one is taken out is 16 times a year, for an average annual mileage of only 1,200. That means the total average mileage for the fleet is 800 million miles, which is less than 0.2 per cent of the total 356.5 billion miles driven every year on British roads.
Not that classic car owners aren’t above doing their bit for the environment. According to the survey, 35% of them say they are already contributing to or would consider contributing to a carbon reduction scheme.
All this classic car malarkey is good business, too, with the sector contributing an estimated £7.2 billion to the UK economy, up from £5.5 billion in 2015 and more than the equestrian sector’s contribution. Classic car businesses of all types number about 4,000. These employ more than 34,000 people and most would consider employing apprentices or are already doing so.
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