Well yeah, the statistics were educated guesses by
someone who once researched older cars and would try
to locate certain models- and because of such, these
numbers are not Imperial-specific... I'm sure many
more factors play into this (i.e. the design of the
car- some cars rust faster or have weaker engines and
thus would die faster, etc.).
And then there would also be a survival factor baised
on how it is liked by its owners. An Imperial would
probably have better odds of being kept up then a car
that most people hate (aka Pintos, etc.).
Value may also play in, as the more a car is worth,
the less chances of it getting totaled out in a crash,
and therefore more likely that an insuramce company
would pay to fix it.
Though that's just my personal take on it (I haven't
actually been able to track a model like that to
see...).
--- Bob Wilson <limoguy1950@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> [Since no one (or no company) has access to DMV
> records for all the states, those percentages are,
> at
> best, only a guess.
>
> Bob]
>
> --- Mark McDonald <tomswift@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Jim,
> >
> > Thanks for that info. Kind of sad, to me, to
> think
> > that %90 of the 68s
> > are gone.
> >
> > I do think while those statistics may be true in
> > general, some cars are
> > exceptions. For instance, convertibles, and/or
> the
> > first and last model
> > of anything. I think people tend to preserve
> rarer
> > bodystyles, or if
> > they think the car will be more valuable later on.
>
> > The reason I say
> > this is, there seem to be an awful lot of '68
> > convertibles out there.
> >
> > Jim Gathmann wrote:
> >
> > > Actually, the '71 car would be about as rare (if
> > not
> > > more rare) due to the rate in which cars are
> > > destroyed.
> > >
> > > Once I had stats on the % of cars which survive
> > after
> > > production. It basically came down to a small
> > majority
> > > of cars of a specific model (+/-65%) will be
> > destroyed
> > > within the first decade after production.
> > >
> > > By two decades, that number is up to +/- 80%
> > destroyed
> > > since production date (also- destroyed referes
> to
> > > being crashed, sent to a junk yard, recycled,
> > etc.).
> > >
> > > By three or more decades, about 90% of the cars
> > made
> > > since production date are gone. Fogret if those
> > > numbers are right (going by memory- had it all
> > nicely
> > > done up on a poster once).
> > >
> > > So if you really think about it, your '83 is far
> > more
> > > common then the 1987 Reliant KPL21 sedan (2
> door),
> > as
> > > only 200 of those were made originally! (as seen
> @
> > > www.allpar.com).
> >
> >
> >
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