Blog from the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) on the future of heritage.
Shared in the lead-up to The Heritage Alliance’s Heritage Debate 2022: Heritage in 20 years.
Heritage in 20 Years: what will matter most?
Incorporated in 1988, the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) represents over 500 historic vehicle clubs, transport museums, trade and individual supporters, and is the UK representative of the Fédération International des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), which embodies the historic vehicle movement globally.
A vehicle is deemed historic when it reaches the age of 30 years. The FBHVC represents all mechanically propelled vehicles, over this threshold, and includes cars, motor cycles, buses, coaches, lorries, military, agricultural and steam vehicles. According to the Driver & Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA) there are 1,538,927 historic vehicles registered, but of these vehicles only 0.2% of all miles travelled on UK roads are accounted for by them.
The Federation’s principal objective is to “Maintain our Freedom to use Yesterday’s Vehicle’s on Tomorrow’s Roads”
In order to achieve this, the Federation has:
- Commenced research in 1997, and continues to do so on a regular 5 year cycle. According to this data the current value of the UK Historic Vehicle Movement is £5.2bn.
- Lobbied HM Government in association with the All-Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group to ensure appropriate fuels for vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (the Super E5 Protection Grade) is available by law until September 2026 and will be subject to a further review at that time.
- Commenced discussions with fuel suppliers to identify alternative fuels such as synthetic products.
- Launched a Historic Vehicle Apprenticeship in June 2014 to ensure the essential skills required to maintain historic vehicles are transferred from time-served craftsmen and women to ensure new participants have the ability to keep these vital machines alive.
- Formalised a relationship with a digitisation specialist to ensure vehicle production records, manufacturing drawings and specifications along with marketing materials are preserved for future use.
Recognised the need for the historic vehicle community to be more sustainable to limit the carbon impact of historic vehicles. So far in the first 11 months of launch, the Federation along with our environment partner Tree-V, have successfully carbon balanced more than 1.4 million vehicle miles. Please see here: https://tree.v.com or here: https://trees.fbhvc.co.uk
It is essential the Federation continues to communicate and listen to members and supporters even though this sector is primarily voluntary. The FBHVC provides a service in the form of Club Expo, whereby we invite our members and supporters to listen to various speakers to assist in their particular wants and needs. This provides a great basis to communicate the necessity for Heritage and Culture within today’s society.
One aspect of ensuring heritage is in the forefront of peoples mind is with the FBHVC Drive it Day & Ride it Day (for our two-wheeled enthusiasts). Drive it Day marks the Anniversary of the One Thousand Mile Trial originally organised in 1900 to prove the viability of the new invention, the motor vehicle. It is also a chance to raise awareness and support amongst the public for the historic vehicle movement and by keeping our transport heritage on our roads. We offer for sale Drive it Day and Ride it Day vehicle plates to be displayed all year round with all profits donated to our charity partner Childline®. Over the last two years the historic vehicle community has raised over £87,000 for Childline®. This is a prime example of how our heritage, taking part in marking an important milestone in our UK heritage, is used to provide the much-needed help and support for our children and young people, who will become the next heritage vehicle ambassadors. (www.driveitday.co.uk)
There are hundreds of different activities our members support within the historic vehicle community to celebrate heritage, and the Federation will continue to encourage this process long into the future!
– Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) [Alliance member]
Explore other perspectives on ‘Heritage in 20 Years: what will matter most’ over on our event page for Heritage Debate 2022.