The List V1.0

The list is technically simple. Identify every make that is a collectible by default (any Bentley, Ferrari or Bitter). Then identify models that are collectible, even if other models are not (Honda NSX, Corvette). The list in the column to the left has over a thousand makes, while the number of daily drivers (Toyota, Ford, VW) has perhaps twenty or thirty manufacturers. Some vehicles will be defined by option package such as a 2000 Range Rover Holland and Holland edition that is now becoming a collectible (100 RHD were made). While one would think a Toyota Corolla was a garden variety daily driver, a look on TradeMe finds 1984 Corollas asking $70,000 – clearly a collectible albeit by rego number, not any 1984 Corolla still on the road.

The importance of the list

1. It makes clear the Federation is limiting amendments to regulations to collectible motor vehicles.  This will cut off the naysayers yes-butting by citing hoon cars that are old bangers, not collectible.
2. It establishes the Federation as the NZ authority who can speak for the whole industry.
3. It gives NZTA the template to merge into its system to classify what qualifies as a collectible.

Then work on Version 2.0

Creating the list is not hard. It begins with the column in the left column and crowdsources member clubs to vet. 

Version 2.0 is where the list becomes of lasting value.

In V2.0, the Federation buys disk space on a server and invites qualified clubs and forums (worldwide) to record important information on each make, model, year-range and grouping (such as different engines). It becomes a Wikipedia of motor vehicle knowledge.

Create the headings, beginning with descriptions, features, options, reviews. Then break down headings the same as found in a repair manual.  Engine, transmission, body, interior, etc. Each club or online forum is then invited to populate their site with knowledge that is now scattered all over the internet and at risk of being lost. Each make tends to have a few gurus with deep knowledge. For example, the late PapaJam on alfabb,com and alfaowner,com was a font of knowledge on 105 series Alfa Romeos, but all that remains are the postings he made in the forums. Once they are gone, there is a real risk of losing that knowledge, especially as forums are only as stable as the volunteers willing to keep them going. And within the forums, finding the gems among the dross is always a major problem.

With new cars, the factory repair manual works fine, provided you take it to the dealer who has all the tools, the diagnostics and the parts. But when a vehicle gets to 30+, that manual is not so helpful.

• Beware these bolts snap. Here’s how to get them out.
• There has to be an easier way to replace a part than taking apart half the car.
• Part no longer available, but here is a workaround (or did you know the same part is on a [insert make]
• Here is a tool I made with machine-shop drawings for you to replicate.

Initially, this will be populated by volunteers who trawl their forums for knowledge. But ongoing, contributors will be asked to document new knowledge (If your SLK R170 suddenly throws up a Christmas tree of error lights on the dash, it may be microcracks in the soldering of the ECU – it’s a Chrysler era problem).  A template will show how to do a proper documentation, complete with photographs. Others may add knowledge, but each moderator will be asked to cull out the superfluous commentary. As the motor vehicles grow older, and their current custodians pass away, this resource will become invaluable.

Eventually the Federation may reach out to its peers in other countries, such as the Fédération française des véhicules d’époque (FFVE), to invite them to contribute knowledge in their languages, making V2.0 a global project of cooperation.

All the Federation does is to create the framework and issue the invitations. Ongoing it funds the cost of the servers, and ensures there are sufficient backups to preserve the knowledge in perpetuity or until the last collectible returns to dust.