Mature motorists buy the TV cars of their dreams

The over 50s are taking their lead from their TV heroes when it comes to choosing their cars, according to research by Saga Motor Insurance. Analysis of its motor insurance book has shown that the over 50s have plenty of style and taste when it comes to choosing their dream car.

‘The Jaguar XJ-S as driven by ‘The Saint’ in the ‘70s show was one of the most popular ‘celebrity cars’ on the Saga database with more than 200 owned by the over 50s.

Saga found Ferrari 308s on its books, the car famously driven by Magnum PI in the 1980s TV series, there were over 6,000 of these cars ever built during the 80s. Staying with Ferrari, other motorists over 50 are driving around like Miami Vice’s Tubbs and Crockett in the stylish Testarossa of which just over 7,000 were made.

James Bond’s cars also prove to be popular – including the Lotus Espirit Turbo as driven by 007 in ‘For Your Eyes Only’ in 1981 and the Aston Martin V8 Volante, which featured in ‘The Living Daylights’ in 1987.

The research also revealed that the over 50s own some very rare and unusual cars. Possibly the rarest being the Bristol Blenheim, which is handmade in the UK and probably the wildest car was the AC Cobra, which incidentally featured in the film ‘Gumball Rally’. The fastest was the Bentley Continental, two of which are owned by Saga motorists in their 70s.

Andrew Goodsell, Chief Executive, Saga commented: "These results demonstrate that we are young at heart when it comes to choosing our cars. Once the children have left home and the mortgage has been paid off it is a time for realising our dreams and getting the car you have always aspired to own."