So the scrappage scheme has been up and running for a week and there’s been a flood of interested punters rushing to the showrooms.
Rather predictably, the scheme has claimed some undeserving victims as desperate buyers rush for the cash. Hyundai have revealed that classic sports-cars have been exchanged including an MG Midget, MGB GT, Nissan 300ZX and Fiat X1/9. Even old favourites have not been spared with a ’68 Morris Minor and a ’66 Austin 1100 destined for the breakers yard.
However, while there may be some great old cars being sacrificed, they’re not all dying in vain. Despite the government’s wish that we should all be buying 1.0-litre superminis, there are a couple of more discerning buyers who were at the front of the queue to claim their scrappage allowance. In the first five hours of the scheme starting up Nissan had welcomed two customers and their part-exs, who then put their £2,000 towards … GT-Rs. Yes, that’s right, a pair of twin-turbo V6 supercars with 485bhp capable of just 22mpg. Not quite the green revolution the British government had envisaged!