People depend on CAP experts for accurate car valuations but from time to time we like to look at some car-related numbers that are not so serious…

189? – The first British car

Our first number is a hotly-debated one; the year that a car was first made in the UK. In the early 1890s, Frederick Simms acquired the British rights for his friend Gottlieb Daimler‘s petrol engine. He went on to set up a syndicate in Coventry that built Daimler vehicles, but pedants point out that these were not really British cars, but German cars made in Britain.

The Lanchester car company was building cars in 1895 but they also featured French and German components. The first purely British car was either built by Welshman Richard Stephens at his bicycle works in Somerset, or by Arrol-Johnson in Scotland, but precise dates are debatable. Sadly we also don’t know the car prices that were involved.

Arrol-Johnson proved the more successful car manufacturer, lasting for almost forty years. Incidentally their works football team were a foundation for Scottish club Queen of the South, with ex-employees Dave Halliday and Ian Dickson going on to be top scorers at Sunderland and Aston Villa respectively.

127 – The chuffing land speed record

In 1906 a Stanley Rocket reached a speed of 127mph. It was the first time a car had held the land speed record, a title more commonly held by trains. However, it would be another five years before a petrol driven vehicle broke that record – the Rocket was steam-powered!

Incredibly the land speed record for a steam-powered car held for over 100 years. Incredible on two counts; firstly that is stood so long, and secondly that someone actually took the trouble to break it. In 2009 a British team averaged 139mph over two runs (achieving a top speed of 151mph) with their steam-powered car Inspiration.

3,000,000 – The highest car mileage

Used car prices are always affected by mileage, but there are some numbers too big even for CAP to calculate with. With a reputation for reliability, it is perhaps no surprise that the global mileage record is held by a Volvo. What might be more surprising is quite how amazingly high that cars mileage is. The Volvo P-1800S bought by American Irvin Gordon in 1966 (one careful owner since new) still clocks up around 100,000 miles a year, and is apparently going strong.

 9 – The number of vehicles that put all other car prices in the shade 

Unlikely to be a bargain at the best of times, Lamborghini surpassed even their substantial car prices with the release of the Veneno Roadster in 2014. Based on their Aventador, each one of the limited edition of nine vehicles retails at €3.3 million (plus tax). The brand has come a long way since Ferruccio Lamborghini sold his first tractor (what, you didn’t know Lamborghini originally made tractors?).

There isn’t a huge market for second hand Veneno Roadster’s yet, as they’ve only just gone on sale. But rest assured that CAP can give you a clear insight into used car prices with our car valuation tools.