A new report quantifying the carbon footprint of all classic cars registered in the UK has revealed that an average classic car’s annual emissions are comparable to a single roundtrip flight from London to New York, a typical three-day Christmas for one person or equivalent to drinking three lattes a day.
The report, by automotive PR and communications agency, loop, also shows that the total CO2 emissions for all classic cars in the UK represents just 0.22% of the emissions from the entire UK transport sector.
Drawing on years of data from official sources such as the DVLA and Department for Transport, the detailed report also offers insights on the make-up of the country’s classic car sector, how fuel efficiency and car use have changed over time, and the part global events have played in shaping the motoring landscape.
Alex Kefford, loop’s Technical Writer and author of the report, said: “Assigning a figure to the carbon footprint of the UK’s classic cars has long been a challenge. By taking a data-first approach that included developing our own software, delving into decades of dusty archives, and crunching our way through millions of datapoints, we’ve been able to shed some light on this particularly tricky topic.”
“Along the way we’ve discovered that the humble MGB is the most popular classic with Brits, that there are more classic Ford Escorts and Volkswagen Golfs declared as SORN as there are registered on our roads, and that average passenger car fuel economy has doubled since 1956.”
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