what classifys as a classic?

[whiteballz]

what would u guys girls say to what is a classic? like cult classics? or certian age restrictions?

[DasModell]

yes .. to be considered a classic a car must be around 30 years old . but not all classic cars have historical value ..

[Matra et Alpine]

yes .. to be considered a classic a car must be around 30 years old . but not all classic cars have historical value ..

Been waiting for me to respond I guess ?????

A classis is what you want it to be.

My A610 is a 'classic', it's factory RHD, was faster than Porsche and Ferrari of the day and was a forgotten sportscar in the UK.
But it's only ~10 years old - so it's not just age.

Matra's are classics because of thier styling lines ( and age ).
Early Bagheera's are unmistakenly French in their design.
3-seat abreast seating also makes a difference
They're cheap to buy even now - so it's not just price.

Anything that was something 'special' when it was produced can be a classic.

Morris Marina in the UK are now considered 'classics' - I think that's more to do with novelty and how few of them are left on the road as most borke, rusted or were hidden in embarrasment.
So it's not even beauty !! or good engineering !!! or exclusivity !!!!

Their are clssifications used in classic and especially historic rallying to define these terms in age-only reference, but that's a strange world

If the car is in 'any' way "unusual" then I think it's OK to describe it as 'classic'.

Fixing some date in time and saying before is classic and after isn't is silly ( in rallies it's 1974 ). They're now adding "post-historic" and a new sectino to allow everything but the GroupB cars to compete again. But these are competition rules, not general descriptions.

So an Edsel was probably a 'classic' 2 years after production
A new Porsche 9xx, Ferrari, Lambo, Pagani, TVR etc are all "modern classics' as they carry a cachet with the label.

My view and that of many in the car clubs I'm a member of .....

Another easy definition of classic could be ..... can you get an insurance compay cover under a 'classic car' policy.
They're a lot cheaper and have more guarantees on value in the event of total loss. All my cars are on classic policies, so I've a piece of paer proving they're classics

[whiteballz]

thanx, so what your saying is basically, if the car is in any way abnormal, say the top of the range car, with huge amounts of respect and race/rally victorys, in some ways it would be considerd a classic?

[Nildo]

When I use the term 'classic' in reference to a car I mean it is a car around 30 years old or more, but which people sill choose to drive today over a modern car, either to relive an experience, or because it is still the equal of modern cars in the class. Or any reason. Like a Lotus Elan. Or a car which people restore due to a certain something it has, like the Jaguar/Eagle e-type. Or because of pedigree and history, like the Ford GT and Ferrari 250 GTO.

[whiteballz]

i might be the only unsure subaru fan in here, because i odnt know where my beloved 22b fits, 400 were made, niki grist and colin mcrae were given the first 2 off the roller, and the car has an extremely interesting history and many many race wins! its handmade, etc not 2 expensive considering it could knock off many a italian and german sports cars! not 2 mention other jap pocket rockets, it wouldnt stand a chance in a straight line againt a skyline or supra, but because its so small and light awd 2.2 litre its accel is astronimical! 0-100 4 flat. this is an amazing feat by subaru. and im MY books should be a classic, even if its not in the same classic class as the e type or 250. ( and the dino beautiful car)

[Matra et Alpine]

to relive an experience

Best explanatino of why the Morris Marina can be a classic'.
An experience !!!! Never a good one, but memorable.
I hope there aren't any Marina owners here

As you've said Nildo, a 'classic' is defined in MANY different ways.
A nice, simple summary.
Almost all cars can become classics.
The worst and the best

[Matra et Alpine]

its handmade

Nice car, but I think it's stretching to suggest it is handmade.
Bentley's Aston's TVR's, Morgan's are handmade
It is 'tuned'. Many of it's parts come off the same mass production line as the run-of-the-mill Scoobies.
It don't think it will be a current classic - but will carry a lot of kudos.
It may become a classic if they can get back winning rallies
In 20 years time, those that aren't wrapped around trees will be classics for sure.
( Using my suggseted simple test, call an insurance company and ask to put it on a Classic Car policy ?? )

[henk4]

In Holland the road tax authority uses a very simple definition. Anything over 25 years old is considered a classic and 100% exempted from road tax. In combination with the rule that having a company car means that 20% of its selling price has to be added to your income tax, this has resulted in a surge in the use of daily usable classics such as the DS, Jag MkII and the likes, as the original selling price could be used for income tax purposes.

I am writing this while in Romania and part of my transport takes place in cars like the Dacia 1310, of which production ceased not so long ago. Elderly europeans will remember this car as the Renault 12, which in its original shape might be a classic, but certainly not as the Dacia. The same goes for the Fiat 124 and the ubiquitous Lada/Zhiguli.

[Matra et Alpine]

In Holland the road tax authority uses a very simple definition. Anything over 25 years old is considered a classic and 100% exempted from road tax.

In the UK we had this and after the first year there was a change of government.
New government didn't like the idea because it lost them revenue, so they froze the dates.
So cars built before January 1973 are tax exempt as "Historic Vehicles", anything after that is full road tax. Last year was when my Bagheeras would have become tax exempt if they'd retained the rolling 25 year rule of the origiinal law
It shows the crass stupidiy of our current govenrment and their willingness to tax the motorist as much as they can get away with !!

Returning to the main theme... the British government defines a car built before 1973 as
HISTORIC VEHICLE.
A slightly different defintion for the "what's a classic" question.
( But this one is borne from greed )

[Nildo]

Historic Vehicle, eh? Still, that's not 'classic', is it? It's like this, an egg, milk, flour, sugar and butter are most of what's in a cake, but by themselves they are not a cake. What makes a cake is information and method combined with the ingredients. Similarly a classic is an older vehicle, but more than that, must have some degree of value added. The value, as I mentioned before, could take a variety of forms. It could be sentimental, like peoples attatchment to the Mini, a retro thing, like old VW Beetles and Combi's or a historic value, like the Ford GT.

[Falcon500]

Historic Vehicle, eh? Still, that's not 'classic', is it? It's like this, an egg, milk, flour, sugar and butter are most of what's in a cake, but by themselves they are not a cake. What makes a cake is information and method combined with the ingredients. Similarly a classic is an older vehicle, but more than that, must have some degree of value added. The value, as I mentioned before, could take a variety of forms. It could be sentimental, like peoples attatchment to the Mini, a retro thing, like old VW Beetles and Combi's or a historic value, like the Ford GT.

I actually agree with that fully but for examplemy old mans studebaker cruisers even in top condition they wouldent be worth much...why because people forget them....fasted time at the most famous annaul race in 1965 just doesnt make great memories.
In australia the historic rego laws are if a cars 30 years old it can be put under historic rego in a club some restrictionsapply but its saves you muiltible $$$$ in rego my XY qualifies for historicrego...imconsdiering putting it under that kind of rego...also my decision is helpedby the fact i dont want to drive it every day.

[Batmobile_Turbo]

i'd say, any car that was superb that is not made anymore. things that are older than 25-30 years old that were peices of crap i wouldn't call them classics.

[henk4]

... The value, as I mentioned before, could take a variety of forms. It could be sentimental, like peoples attatchment to the Mini, a retro thing, like old VW Beetles and Combi's or a historic value, like the Ford GT.

For sentimental reasons then every car has classic potential, and the judgement whether a car is a classic becomes very subjective. Does it depend on which people have this sentimental attachment? How many individuals are needed to add up for classic status? It seems that even the already mentioned Morris Marina, always considered to be a real duck, is gaining some status, the Allegro might follow soon. Crisis might be surprised to hear that unmolested Citroen 2CV's are already commanding higher prices than when they were new.
In short there is no objective definition of a classic car, and may be that's good all the same.

[Falcon500]

It seems that even the already mentioned Morris Marina, always considered to be a real duck, is gaining some status.

We had a leyland marina same car diffrent badge and engine they shoe horned a 6 into it which was very unreliableand had a golfball for a bonnet catch makeing the frequent maintinece a real issue...only other thing their reknownfor is doing good burnouts.