You and balistic are probaby spot on what you say, but It's bloody crap that a car that's older than newer models get a more tarnished (for want of a better word) than the classics. You mention alarms, I was asked what I had on mine and if it had a tracker (Ive got both), a Clifford concept 50 which I believe at the time (maybe still by todays standards I dont know) was top notch. But even with that and the tracker has made fk all diffirence. Then again, maybe if I tried a quote without eiher I'd sh*t myself.
What Ive found though when out in it, it's probably the exhaust note ie the boxer (standard though) it still some turns some heads, especially neds/chavs. And I guess that's a perfect fkn excuse the Dick Turpin & co to shaft us even harder