The Cookie Jar is Empty...

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by PPS

Petrol is the equivalent of about A$2.30, and deisel in the region of A$2.45, a litre here in Northern Ireland. That works out at about A$10.40 a gallon for petrol and A$11.10 for diesel (for those of us who still work in gallons)

Ah yes, 'bout time for the current petrol prices. Holland's market leader Shell now charges EUR 1,462 per litre, nearly 2.5 AUD or 2.3 USD.

High petrol prices are most certainly not helpful, but I think it is the high prices of military vehicles and their parts which prevents the younger generations to step in. Here they are mostly the sons of the older club members, building on their father's collection.
As pointed out, less and less people are mechanically inclined, the pace of life is much quicker, property prices have soared (storage is a big problem here), etc, etc. - all limiting factors for our hobby.

Interestingly, because of the price settings, many dealers and service suppliers can make a proper living out of it. A dealer in Holland recently bought the remaining Jeep parts stock off the French Army, about 200 tons in total. Not something you do when there's no market to sell it on. . .

H.