It’s an investment! Car lovers splash out $9.9bn each year on their classics

On average owners are paying out more than $10,000 each for their pride and joy.

Australia’s classic car owners are spending $9.9 billion every year to fuel their passion for historic motors, a new survey has found.

The study, which involved polling more than 6000 Australian car owners from over 800 motoring clubs nationally, found that the roughly 970,000 such vehicles are setting their keepers back on average $10,240 a year – almost 13 per cent more than they fork out for their daily drivers.

Around half of those who took part in the Economic Value Study (EVS) – which was conducted for the Australian Motor Heritage Foundation (AMHF) and is the first of its scale to be carried out nationally – owned just one historic vehicle, while the other 50 per cent said they owned two or more.

“Despite the end of local vehicle manufacturing, Australia maintains a rich and diverse automotive industry, which employs hundreds of thousands of people across a range of roles,” said Stavros Yallouridis, CEO of the Motor Traders’ Association of NSW (MTA NSW), in a statement.

“The automotive sector is one of the backbones of our economy and is also at the heart of our communities. This survey, and the enthusiastic response, highlights the necessity for Australia to back its automotive sector with world-class training, local skills development and career pathways.”

Overall, the research revealed Australians' penchant for classic motors injects a total of $25.2 billion into the economy – with the sector creating almost 79,000 jobs.

“The findings of this report have certainly highlighted the significance of the historic vehicle sector to both the community at large and the economic sector,” added Hugh King, Chairman of the AMHF.