Also in Newsletter of SAHB a piece on survival rates by Robin Barraclough culled from a Smmt survey of 1938

Date of new reg % Survival
1923 0.75
1924 2.5
1925 5.75
1926 11.472
1927 19.691
1928 31.541
1929 45.0
1930 62.826
1931 76.25
1932 85.5
1933 91.5
1934 94.525
1935 96.75
1936 98.5
1937 99.75

Based on new sales and cars taxed each year

David, what an interesting piece of data. I am amazed that in under 10 years from the date of the information was compiled ( 1938 ) the survival rate was less than 50%. ( 1929 45% ) I wonder whether it was down to the standard of the roads and the drivers at the time?

I wonder what the survival rate is for cars made 10 years ago in 1997 ?

Malcolm,
I was amazed that by 1938 only .75% of new 1923 cars were taxed.

They are pretty amazing stats.

How strict was it regarding not having a taxed car at that time?

At a tangent, but now 3.3% of A7's survive, the same as Ford Model T's, just there's 10k of A7's and 500K (half million) Model T's. I expect the taxed % is about 50%.

Sandy

Hi

When graphed, the above figures produce an interesting curve (dark blue). The light blue bars show the proportion of vehicles not likely to be registered the next year - this rises to 70% for those from years 1923-4, showing the much reduced survival rate for cars from that time by 1938.