Erin Baker: Why are women buying more classic cars than ever?

Women are entering the world of classic cars at a faster rate than ever - the number of female owners grew by 40 per cent last year. They still only account for 11 per cent of the market overall, proving that it is at heart still an old boys’ club, but it’s changing rapidly, with a quarter of women willing to consider buying a classic car.

What motivates women to buy classics? Nostalgia appears to be the biggest variable with 21 per cent citing the emotion as their primary influence, followed by the potential return on investment, which looks rosier by the month in the current economic climate.

Should nostalgia be sneered at as the biggest factor when buying a classic? It’s too easy to say “Typical women, ruled by emotion”, but isn’t a car nearly always an emotional purchase, and shouldn’t it be that way? Expensive cars bought as investment pieces are too likely to spend their lives in humidified purpose-built, finest oak heritage garages on gravelled drives.

Still, despite not buying cars for investment purposes, when it comes to picking out the rising classics, women apparently have more of an eye for the right investment than men. When Footman James showed 1,000 women a list of potential classics, they correctly identified two out of the top five classic cars that have seen the biggest increases this year (according to analysis of 55,000 insurance policies) - the Lamborghini Muira (a rise in value of 62 per cent) and Land Rover Defender (43 per cent). The others were the Fiat Dino (113 per cent?!?!), Peugeot 205 and VW Golf GTI MkI.

Men, meanwhile, identified only the Miura, suggesting the other four were the Aston Martin DB4, Jaguar E-type, Ferrari 275 GTB and Porsche 911 (various).

Oh, and in case you’re wondering where to pick up a classic-car-loving, financially astute female of the species, after Birmingham, in descending order, the top four towns with female owners are: Tonbridge, Bristol, Sheffield and Brighton. Even better news: the average age of a female owner is steadily falling, to 52 years old currently.

I suggest a Tinder-style app for single classic-car owners to find a mate. Instead of faces, pictures would be of the cars, with a sign indicating a male or female owner. After that, you take the gamble. To be honest, I don’t think it’s much of a gamble - you can tell an awful lot about a person from the classic they own. Take me for example: currently considering the purchase of an Austin Metro. You’d instantly know I was female, because this is a purchase that only the heart could make, and you’d probably also guess I was in my late thirties or forties, because what else would lead to the purchase of such a rust bucket, other than nostalgia relating to first cars after passing the driving test aged 17?

And if the date didn’t pan out, you’d at least be able to get a lift home in an interesting car. Unless it was the Metro I’m looking at, in which case, we’d probably be on the bus.