Defining the Classic Car

[britjojo]

I posted just before this about the Reliant. This was an often mocked car-the joke of the nation, but much loved by those who owned it. It meets some criteria of being a classic, other than such things as cost of course. But really....it was a laughing stock.

So what makes a car a classic?

[kisna]

For me classic car is a old car with old design, which gives the late memories like I remember my grandfather.

[britjojo]

It could be old and still tank-still be a stinker of a car. So I think that maybe age alone isn't enough.

[shinningstar]

There are many opinions about the meaning of classic car. I heard that for Americans a classic car is a fine or distinctive automobile, either American or foreign built, produced between 1925 and 1948. How true?

[britjojo]

Many of the classics that we are discussing here are far newer than that so fall outside of that definition. Those would be mostly pre war cars, and are a category all to themselves.

[shinningstar]

I remembered traditional designs of pre war classic cars in which the  cars have removable fenders, trunk and headlights. Does it mean classic cars can be also called antique cars?

[britjojo]

When talking about some, such as the mini, they would not meet the requirements for being an antique. The mini was made until very recently, and yet was still one of the classics. Of course, there are older individual minis out there.