Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[sgrants]

Gidday,
I was just wondering what would be the youngest vehicle to be considered worthy of the classic and vintage moniker ?
I have a vague idea that 40 years is the vintage cut off (in NZ).
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[peter scott]

Hi Grant,

I don't think there is any worldwide agreement on this. All that can be said is that in country X the generally accepted terminology is Y.

In the UK:

Veteran vehicles are those up to Dec 1904
Edwardian vehicles Jan 1905 to Dec 1918
Vintage vehicles Jan 1919 to Dec 1929
Post vintage vehicles Jan 1930 to May 1945
Classic vehicles are all old vehicles there after.

Peter
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1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Rick]

Yup 'classic' is all in the eye of the beholder, which leads to classic car shows featuring veteran cars, and much more modern cars that you can still trip over in a supermarket carpark. Cavaliers, Sierras, XK8 Jaguars etc etc have no place in a classic show IMHO.

To me the 70s is really the cut-off, if I pay to visit a show I'd not want to be tripping over 80s (or later) cars. My main interest is 1920s-1960s so a fairly broad church, but most 80s stuff should be in the public car park, or the scrapyard, not in the show

R
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[sgrants]

Thanks for the quick response guys! I agree with Rick about eye of beholder and the 70's cut-off, but another alternative to the scrap yard could be to stash them away in disused barns and sheds for a few decades so our children will have "old classics" to restore in the future!
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Fidelis Ad Urnam.

[Rick]

[Rick]

Just to add to the confusion, should a car, designed in the 'classic' era, but built later, still be on show at a classic event? I'm thinking of cars like the original Mini, still being churned out 30+ years after the car's debut in 1959, or the XJ6 of 1968, which evolved gently into being the Series 3 of the 1980s.

RJ
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[peter scott]

I think the sole determinant of era should be the period when the car was built.

If we were looking for another collective term or terms to segment the postwar period then I don't think "retro" would help much. Retro defines a style and has no relation to a period. All the previous classifications define periods and I think any new ones should do the same.

So perhaps we could have Pre and Post Thatcher (or Reagan for that matter)
Or pre and post GDR or any other memorable change.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Veteran and Edwardian are contained in the same catagory, Vereran is upto 1919, it is just there is a end of 1904 cut off for the Brighton

I think any car that someone wants to restore, or cherish is a classic, maybe a classic of the future.

Cheers

Dave

[peter scott]

I titled the newest category "Classic" because many clubs use that description for segmenting at shows.

If we can't apply "classic" exclusively to post war cars that's fine, let's just call them "post-war" but I think there is a general feeling that this category stretches over too many decades so how should we title the sub-divisions?

Peter
_________________
https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Scotty]

A "classic" vehicle is every vehicle type ever built - and how do I come to that conclusion ............. because no matter how many times I think I've heard them all there's always someone who wants "their" car to be recognised as either a classic or future classic.

I've lost count over the number of times I've heard "that'll never be a classic", only to see a few years later one of them appearing at some show or another.

No offence to any owners of these vehicles intended, however you'd have never convinced me that MkIII Cortina's, Morris Marina's, 2CV Citroen's, Vauxhall Cavalier's, Trabant's, etc, etc when new would ever fall into that category, but they have, and to be honest in many cases I can see why.

At the end of the day, no matter what we drive, one day in someone's eye its going to be a classic.

[peter scott]

Very true! I agree that the post war groups should not be called "classic" as the term has no generally agreed definition. It is useful where you deliberately want to have a vague definition but is a bad choice when trying to clearly define a group of vehicles.

Maybe the least controversial titles would be:

1940s postwar vehicles
1950s vehicles
1960s vehicles
1970s vehicles
etc.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[old gto]

I agree with Peter`s first post... it depends on the location.
In the US, it`s generally accepted that anything built before 1972 is considered a "classic".
In 1973, environmental regulations dealt a significant blow to performance. Auto makers claimed not enough time to integrate fuel economy, emissions standards, AND performance into one package. The resultant "last minute" smog devices designed to meet standards nearly choked to death the high performance engines of the "muscle cars" that Detroit had been pumping out.
At most US motor vehicle offices, any car 25 years old can be called "antique".
"Vintage" usually signifies older cars, pre-WWII.
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[47p2]

I have thought for a long time that postwar vehicles should be in a different catagory other than classic.

The majority of cars built before 1950 were after all, prewar models which appeared on the scene at the end of WWII.

The 50s saw an American influence on design with the exception of one or two British marques who still churned out traditional designs.

I often wonder if the 'classic' scene will include everything from the 40s in another 50 years time
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[Rick]

if 'classic' didn't cover the 40s-60s period, I'd have to rename the site!!!!

R
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[47p2]

Well let 'Classic' cover from 40s to 60s and change the 70s onwards to ''Modern Classics'

That way you won't need to change the name of the forum
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars