You’re a chatty bunch. Whether that’s in person at a cars and coffee, at our Hagerty Events, or online in the comments, the Hagerty community has plenty to say.
And nothing gets you more vocal, it seems, than the debate around electric vehicles. When James Mills wrote about the shocking news that EVs cost more to charge than petrol it received the most comments of any story in 2023. There was, as we’d expect from our knowledgeable audience, plenty of “robust discussion.”
It’s therefore not too much of a surprise to discover that the most talked about car review in 2023 was Electrogenic’s Jaguar E-Type electro-mod. Some say it’s sacrilege to remove the Jag’s six-cylinder for a silent-running motor, but others among you are more pragmatic. “Like it or loathe it, Electrogenic should be applauded for producing a solution that leaves the car itself unmodified so that at some future date the owner can restore it to its original power source,” said user Rubisouth.
Whether electric or not, resto-mods are all the rage, but as Nik Berg pointed out in his cautionary tale on the risks of modifying your classic it can be all too easy to be caught out by the DVLA, and several readers had further tales of woe.
For some cars, the problems came straight from the factory, however. Giles Chapman’s story on 13 British cars floored by flaws prompted many fond – and not so fond – memories of the British Leyland days. “My father spent nearly 30 years in auto spare parts here in Australia,” commented Andrew Ryan. “He always said “thank God for the British auto industry, they made me very comfortable!”
Antony Ingram’s look back at 10 cars that mastered aerodynamics got the Hagerty hive mind buzzing, with dozens of additional designs suggested by the community. You also chimed in on his list of nine forgotten hot hatchbacks of the 1990s showing a wealth of knowledge on these heroes of the Radwood era.
Two cars that certainly fit the bill are Adrian Clarke’s 1983 Ferrari Mondial and Nik Berg’s 1982 Lotus Esprit S3. With both having the potentially to cause financial ruin Nik and Adrian can at least be reassured that their trials and tribulations are entertaining you. Ian Roberston quipped: “As my old man often said ‘my son, there may be two of the happiest days of your life ahead, the day you buy a Ferrari and the day you sell.’”
Hopefully less ruinous, but still appealing were the seven fast estate cars under £2,000 that Antony Ingram unearthed, while you had many more suggestions to add to the mix. The topic of old money cars also had you eagerly adding to the list of classy-but-cost-effective cars.
You seemed to enjoy adding your ideas to the 83 cars celebrating anniversaries in 2023 and, especially, contributing your thoughts on 100 years of MG.
On the subject of history, the amazing story of Silver City Airways and its Channel-hopping, car-carrying flights, brought out even more terrific tales from previous frequent flyers. Radio 2 fans also seemed to enjoy the personal history of Sally “Traffic” Boazman and her Hillman Imp.
Traffic is one of the things that London Mayor Sadiq Kahn is trying to reduce with the controversial ULEZ zone which was expanded in 2023. While you enjoyed the prospect of avoiding the charges with nine ULEZ-compliant classic cars for less than £3,000 the majority of you thought the prospect of a new pay by the milescheme was preposterous.
Will it still be one of the hottest topics in 2024? As always, we’ll be watching the comments to find out.
In the meantime we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributes to the comments section and wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.
