All around care and preservation of historical cultural assets
The most important fundamental prerequisite for preserving a classic car is a comprehensive supply of replacement parts. Since the regular supply of parts is maintained for a maximum of 15 years, the problem for historic departments of a company would have to start from scratch to supply replacement parts for old-timers, which, depending on the definition, are 20-, 25- or 30-year old vehicles. Besides the problem that there would be no parts supply for those vehicles falling into the gap between old car and old-timer, it would be practically impossible to newly manufacture all necessary parts. Thus, the aim of historic departments is to procure and keep long-term reserves of parts and to use the original suppliers whenever possible. In order to solve these problems, some manufacturers and suppliers decided to build up their on aftersales organizations for old-timers. They are normally responsible for the supply of all vehicles that are at least 15 years old. The good results that some of the manufacturing companies have obtained with such strategies give hope that the challenges will also be met for new old-timer generations with more complicated engineering and a wider range of models.
In addition to the supply of parts, expert technical support of classic cars is of increasing importance. Thus, a strategy was developed in cooperation with the ZDK that covers the needs of old-timer repair and restoration. On the one hand, a training program will be established for vehicle restoration and repairs and, on the other, qualified technical workshops will be identified and certified. The ZDK was supported in the necessary preparation of a training regulations draft and a workshop certification catalogue, so that the first results can be expected already at the end of 2008.
To ensure the continued existence of classic cars, cooperation and objective dialogue with political committees play an important role. In this connection, it is necessary to find a uniform argumentation and coordinated approach in order to give this usually subordinate subject the necessary clout. As the representative of the automotive industry, the VDA therefore supports the establishment of a round table, which will seat a strong lobby from the classic car community and the association of craftsmen as well as representation for the automotive cultural scene in addition to the VDA. In a first step, an attempt will be made to achieve EU-wide harmonization for historical vehicles in the European Parliament.
