What is the main difference between the mechanical and the electronic/quartz watch? You probably guessed it. it's the battery!
And what is main difference between classical cars, including cars into the 90s and modern cars? Yes, its the same thing, its the electronics and and the battery.
I believe what happened to the watch market will happen to the car market. There will be a fusion of modern technology and craftsmanship. There will be a move from daily driven vehicles, which many used to be, to them becoming rare and special.
What happened, to my knowledge, in the mid 70s was that the Japanese came out with the electronic watches, which weren't all cheap to begin with and even names such as Rolex or Omega came to play on the field. The problem was that the quartz technology became cheaper and cheaper and the need for expensive switch watches vanished for a few years, and many brands going bankrupt.
Swatch, you know them, bought many classical producers out only to bring them back up as the market for high-end watches didn't disappear completely, but the marketing strategy they were using was faulty.
So, just as names such as Rolex, Omega, Hublot, Patek Philippe or Audermans Piguet are more expensive and higher end then they used to be, the same thing is happening to the car market.
It isn't all brands or models, but there are clear signs.
An example is the Porsche 911 (model 964), built between 1989 and 1994. It is a fusion of classical Porsche Design and modern technology still using the classical air-cooled engine which m
any love.
Brands such as Singer or Ruf are bringing back the design and adding more tech and better parts, albeit making them look older or "Retro" as it is termed and the cars prices range from 400,000$ and upwards!
The base models of the 964, where good ones were available from $30,000 or €, depending where you are at.
Using the Porsche 964 and registered vehicles in Germany as a sample:
| Year | 2018 | 2015 |
| Vehicles | 2748 | 2622 |
Owners above 60 yers |
782 | 713 |
| For sale, manual, C2, no convertible | +-25 (1-2% der Gesamtsumme) | -/- |
| Durschnittspreise (ohne Jubi, RS, | +-70.500€ | +-35.000€ |
The patern is clear, very few vehicles were on sale from the total number or registered vehicles as they have become collectors items and good specimen reach high prices.
I think this trend will continue, as it did with mechanical watches, and rare vehicles, no matter if it is an E30 M3, which used to run 5,000$, now costing over 50,000$, or the Porsche and even Japanese cars such as the Skyline GT-Rs of the 90s fandom.
So go get while you can, but don't forget that restoration and garages cost a lot for cars, where few persons or shops know what they are doing, so buy prime examples, that you can drive!
Sources
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-04/how-mechanical-watches-survived-after-quartz-a-concise-history
https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-mechanical-watch-industry-survive-the-onslaught-of-digital-watches
https://timepiecelegacy.com/why-are-mechanical-watches-better-than-quartz/
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