Israel's classic car lovers get organized
A growing number of Israelis are indulging their interest for vintage cars as the car collecting hobby is booming.
The first conference of Israeli car collectors and appraisers was held last month with the participation of the chair of the Knesset's economic committee, Eitan Cabel of the Zionist Camp. The attendees sought to establish standards for appraising vintage vehicles that are valued as collectible items, as the number of collectible vehicles in Israel has been growing in recent years. Naturally, there arose a need to determine the monetary value of these expensive cars before their sale or purchase in order to insure them against theft or to assess damages in case of an accident.
In Israel, a vehicle is considered collectible if more than 30 years have passed since its manufacture. According to data from the Ministry of Transportation that was published in Rekhev veTahburah (Car and Traffic) Magazine, 20,597 collectible vehicles are registered today in Israel. The collector group in Israel is called the Five Club, which got its name in 1985, when 30-year-old vehicles had five-digit license plates.
