[quote]John875: Could'nt help but laugh at the possible conclusions to that last sentence of yours so I've settled on the owner looking as decrepid as the VW he was driving. (ha ha)[/quote] mike72 - Both actually quite well-preserved, the only notable defect on the VW was some primer over rust repairs at the bottom corners of the rear window. To inject some facts on current car sales in addition to Retroauto's comment, there were 47 brands counted in 2019 sales as per https://www.caradvice.com.au/817278/vfacts-2019-new-car-sales-results/ The top 10 brands make up 76% of sales, top 15 90%, top 20 95%, which still doesn't include Volvo or Skoda (both selling over 7,000 cars), Jeep, Porsche etc. Similarly the top 20 models make up 45% of sales, out of over 300 models. When considering older cars - 20 year old cars don't stand out any more (eg 1997 Fairmont seen recently). Compare to freeway64's earlier description of cars 10-15 years old being very much the exception. There are a lot of street-parked classics in inner-Melbourne areas without driveways, most of these cars wouldn't be daily drivers as public transport is good. JRM3150, I gather sound tests have set parameters and over the set rpm apparently isn't covered. I read that Europe is cracking down so new models won't have the same noise. In the early 90s I had teachers with Peugeot 404, Skoda 1100 and Holden HK ute. Grade 6 teacher had a Holden 1-tonner.