Why You Shouldn't Overlook PPF on Modern Classics

There comes a point in the life of many great cars where they quietly stop being cars. They become possessions. Weekend ornaments. Something to admire rather than drive. Every extra mile becomes something to weigh up rather than enjoy.

997 GT3 RS. 360 Challenge Stradale. Gallardo Superleggera. They were all made to be driven. To be fast. To be exciting. But they aren’t just cars anymore. They’re appreciating assets, with that comes a reluctance to use them as intended.

That rang true when my colleague Lauren was speaking to a gentleman at a Porsche event recently, who had a classic 911 in a beautiful emerald green colour. He was truly enthusiastic about the car. He actually wanted to drive it! But ultimately, he said it didn’t see much use as he was concerned about blemishes and stone chips in the paintwork.

It’s understandable. Unlike a brand-new 911, replacement parts and paint aren't always straightforward. Original paint is increasingly valuable. Some colours and finishes are difficult to match. Every respray chips away (no pun intended) at originality.

But there’s a solution to that problem that almost every new supercar owner opts for, often before they even take delivery. Before the factory stickers have even been removed, owners will usually send their car for PPF, to make sure that perfect paint stays that way, and so they can actually drive the thing without worrying about every little stone chip.

Why should classics be any different? With that in mind, Lauren asked the green 911 owner why he doesn’t just cover the car in PPF, to which he responded, “I didn’t think of that. I thought that was just for new cars”.

“It’s just for new cars”. “They won’t have the patterns for classics”. “It doesn’t get used much, so there’s no point”. All of these assumptions keep modern classics sitting unused in garages, and they couldn’t be further from the truth.

It’s no secret that our love of modern classics has flourished into an obsession, and we’re seeing the same of so many Supercar Driver members who are adding icons from the ‘90s and early 2000s to their collections. But the thing is, we’re not just obsessed with looking at them. We’re obsessed with driving them, with feeling the rawness, with relishing the challenge of taming them, with basking in the noise they make. That’s why we lust after these cars, not to mollycoddle their paintwork.

PPF allows you to do both. It will keep your paintwork looking pristine, but will also unlock the biggest pleasure of modern classic ownership — driving the car! It will give you the peace of mind to actually enjoy these machines from a bygone era, rather than just look at them in the garage.

These cars cost a lot of money, so it’s understandable to want to protect your investment, which is what made you so cagey about driving the thing in the first place. Condition and originality are key factors in value. If your car is still wearing its original paintwork, PPF preserves that valuable asset. If you’ve spent thousands restoring your car back to its former glory, PPF will keep it that way. When you think about it, PPF is one of the few modifications that protects originality without permanently changing the car. It can be removed years later, and the paintwork underneath will look exactly as it did the day it was applied.

So buy that icon you dreamed of when you were learning to drive in a basic old hatchback, relive those old Top Gear episodes, bring something different to Secret Meet, join the incredible lineups of our Poster Car Drives, or just get out on a Sunday morning in something that takes you back to your youth and the posters on your bedroom walls. And do it all without a single thought about your paintwork, because you know it’s being taken care of.

Classic cars have survived because people cared enough to preserve them. But preserving a car doesn't have to mean hiding it away. The greatest compliment you can pay a special machine is maintain it properly, and drive it as intended. Create memories instead of worrying about mileage of stone chips. If PPF gives you the confidence to take the long way home instead of putting the cover back on, it's already done its job.

If you’re handing over your modern classic (or any car for that matter) with someone to protect, you want total trust in their workmanship, and that’s why we’ve partnered with Invisigroup. Invisigroup is made up of the UK’s finest award winning Xpel Certified PPF installation centres, and we have trusted them to protect cars in the Supercar Driver fleet with superb results.

INVISIGROUP MEMBER BENEFIT

10% Discount on PPF Packages* plus either Free Windscreen PPF or Ceramic coating with a Full Car PPF Package

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