At a slight tangent. It is now noticeable that specialist restorers are selling off project sports cars that are leaping in price restored. If you follow this up you find that despite their being in the trade and able to get parts they still are unable to create a finished car for the price the restored cars are fetching. So the cars are passing to the 'capable enthusiast' who, while he might pay a little more on his spares budget, does not have the overheads of a business employing people. IN real terms some of these guys are under the radar dealers. No doubt there is a certain amount of feed back labour in reality to the companies selling as they have skills that are in demand. However what this shows is why prices are climbing and you can ignore Gov speak about inflation being 2.thrub% a year. Here is the real rate of inflation for all to see as these are items people want to buy. The drift up in prices is related to the cost of new spares which are going up and are not alloways completely accurate, much is imported now, and original spares naturally become collectors items. Microcars are part of this world now. They are no longer part of the wheelbarrow collectors world of bits and bobs, swaps and making dodgy repairs in the shed at the bottom of the garden.
This whole raised profile, raised value thing has pressurised the club aspect of ownership. Sadly I have taken to rarely allowing things to be borrowed as they tend not to return. Likewise restoring stuff leads to the expectation you will empty your collection of best spares for the benefit of customers. You bang on. Real quality parts are best swapped as the money you get swiftly is unable to buy an equivalent replacement. Partly inflation, partly increased value. It all goes back to the Bankers crisis and the fact they chose with Government connivance to undermine the value of cash money. They are still doing it. Parts are worth more than cash! Parts are not taxed. The City does not trade in parts so no percentage to them. I want parts!
