You’ve got to love an overly dramatic newspaper headline. According to The Express newspaper online, classic cars are under threat, with ‘total extinction’ looming due to changes in driving tests. But before we all panic and clutch our cherished wooden steering wheels, let’s take a step back and look at what’s actually going on.
The Rise of the Auto – But Not the Death of the Manual
The article highlights two key statistics:
- A 270% rise in driving tests taken in automatic cars between 2013 and 2023, according to DVLA data.
- 62% of new cars sold in 2021 had automatic gearboxes.
Yes, automatics are on the rise—but let’s not forget that still leaves 38% of new cars with a manual gearbox, and that’s not going to disappear overnight. Even when new manual cars stop rolling off production lines, millions of them will still be out there, driven daily by enthusiasts, petrolheads and purists like us! Will our kids even get the chance to take a manual test by 2052? Maybe not. But for now, the manual gearbox is still very much alive at RNG Classics with our COLLECTION
The real threat seems to be vanishing knowledge ironically, it’s not manual gearboxes that are causing us headaches—it’s automatics. In the restoration world, sourcing parts and expertise for rare classic automatic transmissions is getting tougher. Finding someone to refurbish a Borg Warner unit? Doable. But tracking down someone who still works on the rare DG (Detroit Gear) automatics? That’s a different story. More than once, we have heard the dreaded words: “We used to do them, but the guy has retired… or passed away.”
This is the real challenge classic cars face—not extinction, but the loss of hands-on expertise that keeps them on the road.
Maybe it’s time to pass down the love of three pedals before it’s too late. We learned to drive in an old car park before we were 15 yrs old…perhaps the next generation needs the same hands-on experience to keep the skill alive. So no, classic cars are not facing “total extinction” anytime soon. Not while there are still enthusiasts, restorers, and passionate drivers and hirers who refuse to let them fade away!
