Enthusiasts are being urged to have their say in a major new probe into Britain’s love of motoring heritage – and its findings will impact classic owners for years to come.

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) wants to present the National Historic Vehicle Survey to MPs when Parliament returns from its summer recess this September, with the aim that its results will persuade lawmakers of how important classics are to the nation’s heritage and of the billions of pounds they pump into the wider economy.

The bid to help classic owners was launched at the ClubExpo seminar, held at the British Motor Museum last Saturday (18 January). The research is being carried out on the FBHVC’s behalf by market research agency Turquoise, which said that the results will be used to help protect the future of the nation’s historic vehicle industry – and that it’s aiming to speak to more than 19,000 enthusiasts to garner evidence.

The company’s joint managing director, Mark Harvey, said: ‘The information collected in the survey is used by the Federation to provide evidence to policymakers to help them make decisions about how to support the sector and that is a really important element of its role. It really is your chance to demonstrate the importance of the historic vehicle sector.

‘We had an amazing response in 2019, with almost 16,000 owners and enthusiasts – including representatives from clubs and the trade. To put that into context, the government bases decisions from exit polls on the basis of 2000 people so this is a really robust – and it needs to because there are so many different types of historic vehicle, from motorcycles to steam-powered vehicles. The bigger the response, the more accurate it will be, so your participation is absolutely vital.’

The survey is due to be launched next month and will comprise four different elements, with the first being a chance for classic owners and enthusiasts to share more information about their enjoyment of older vehicles. There will also be research in which car clubs and representatives of classic businesses and museums, and a poll of 2500 demographically representative UK adults, will gauge how the wider public views classics.

The most recent research showed that the historic vehicle movement was worth £7.2bn a year to the national economy and supported more than 34,000 jobs; this was used to help argue the case for classic-friendly legislation, such as exemptions from city centre emission zones.

FBHVC chairman, David Whale, said: ‘This piece of research is probably the most important that we’ve ever done. The survey that we carried out in 2016 was the last proper report that we did and we really need enthusiasts to support it when it goes live next month.’