Old Cars information:
Great Old Cars classic cars for sale classifieds was created to provide information, research and a place for buyers and sellers of collector cars and specialty vehicles to browse and sell locally or on the world wide market. Our site attracts over 5000 unique visitors on a daily basis. All cars for sale ads are only $9.95. This includes up to eight photos. Your car stays listed until sold. Categories such as parts, announcements and collectibles are FREE. View some of our recently sold cars and customer feedback and testimonials . You are invited to visit our sites.
Great Old Cars classic cars for sale classifieds was created to provide information, research and a place for buyers and sellers of collector cars and specialty vehicles to browse and sell locally or on the world wide market. Our site attracts over 5000 unique visitors on a daily basis. All cars for sale ads are only $9.95. This includes up to eight photos. Your car stays listed until sold. Categories such as parts, announcements and collectibles are FREE. View some of our recently sold cars and customer feedback and testimonials . You are invited to visit our sites.
An introduction to Old classic Cars.
Probably the most discussed question raised by people with a new found interest in older cars, is 'What is a Classic Car?'. Finding an answer to this question ranks with establishing the meaning of life (well almost), as there can be no other debate likely to raise the hackles of one group of enthusiasts or another. This is what I'll try to discuss here, with key links included to other pertinent areas of my website including along the way.
Older cars can be grouped more or less by the year they were made, such as with vintage and veteran cars for instance, vintage cars (as defined by the Vintage Sports Car Club I think) are anything built pre-1930. A car built between 1930 and WW2 is generally classed as being a Post Vintage Thoroughbred, quite a grand moniker for many cars that fall into this group, which at the time were less than grand. After this time things get significantly less clear, with the term 'Classic Car' being applied by various quarters to any car from the 1940s right through in some cases to the 1980s even.
Confusing things even more, for the UK enthusiast of classic cars, is the zero rated road tax, and the new DVLA classification of historic car (formerly PLG, which remains for later cars). The zero rate road tax was introduced by the Conservative Government back in the early 1990s, the idea being that the cutoff would be on a rolling 25 year basis. However when Tony's cronies got in a few years back, they froze this rolling arrangement, and ever since the zero rated roadtax applies to any car *built* prior to 1/1/1973, so even if your BMW 2002 was registered in '73, if the build date on the V5 is a '72 date, you should be ok. In my mind therefore any car that qualifies for the free road tax is by and large a 'Classic' merely by its age, though there is no doubt that later examples of certain cars are correctly also classed as Classic Cars by the initiated fan.
A visit to your local classic & vintage car show will do little to clear up the situation. Amongst the many displays of accepted classics, such as MGBs, Rileys, old Jags, Triumphs and so on, there will be displays by enthusiasts of much later cars such as the Toyota MR2, Opel Manta, Ford Granada and other fairly recent cars. These later cars now have their own following of enthusiasts, which is great, although I must admit to balking at paying to enter a car show and being presented with (admittedly very shiny) examples of cars that you often still see propped up in 2nd rate car dealer forecourts and Tesco car parks. A local show costs around £3 to enter the grounds of the country estate that it is hosted at, then a further £5 - £6 per person to get into the show area itself, so thats £8+ before I get into the show.
But back to the main point. An alternative idea may be to pop down the local newsagent and buy a copy of a magazine devoted to classic cars. A quick flick through certain magazines will do little to help - alongside (say) a serialised restoration of an Austin A40 you stand a very good chance of seeing a buyers guide for a Peugeot 205GTi. Even insurance companies who specialise in older car's are now taking on board the fact that as many not-that-old cars now attract a strong following (witness the Pug GTi and MR2s again), branding cars over 10 years old as 'modern classics', which may be a satisfactory way of classifying things, with pre-1980 cars usually approaching the full 'classic' status. But, as I say, any true definition of what is a classic car cannot really be given, and much depends on who you speak to .. ask an owner of an Opel Senator whether his sparkling 3.0E is a classic and he/she will be in no doubt, however address the same question re the Opel to an owner of an established classic such as a P4 Rover and the reply may be somewhat different.
At the end of the day, the term 'classic car' is now accepted as applying to any car over say 15 years of age that has some fan base to draw upon, with one or two exceptions for truly interesting more recent automobiles.
I have made no mention of so-called 'Modern Classics' simply because these are cars that motoring pundits predict will attract the true full-on fanatical following of older car fans in the not-too-distant future.
Older cars can be grouped more or less by the year they were made, such as with vintage and veteran cars for instance, vintage cars (as defined by the Vintage Sports Car Club I think) are anything built pre-1930. A car built between 1930 and WW2 is generally classed as being a Post Vintage Thoroughbred, quite a grand moniker for many cars that fall into this group, which at the time were less than grand. After this time things get significantly less clear, with the term 'Classic Car' being applied by various quarters to any car from the 1940s right through in some cases to the 1980s even.
Confusing things even more, for the UK enthusiast of classic cars, is the zero rated road tax, and the new DVLA classification of historic car (formerly PLG, which remains for later cars). The zero rate road tax was introduced by the Conservative Government back in the early 1990s, the idea being that the cutoff would be on a rolling 25 year basis. However when Tony's cronies got in a few years back, they froze this rolling arrangement, and ever since the zero rated roadtax applies to any car *built* prior to 1/1/1973, so even if your BMW 2002 was registered in '73, if the build date on the V5 is a '72 date, you should be ok. In my mind therefore any car that qualifies for the free road tax is by and large a 'Classic' merely by its age, though there is no doubt that later examples of certain cars are correctly also classed as Classic Cars by the initiated fan.
A visit to your local classic & vintage car show will do little to clear up the situation. Amongst the many displays of accepted classics, such as MGBs, Rileys, old Jags, Triumphs and so on, there will be displays by enthusiasts of much later cars such as the Toyota MR2, Opel Manta, Ford Granada and other fairly recent cars. These later cars now have their own following of enthusiasts, which is great, although I must admit to balking at paying to enter a car show and being presented with (admittedly very shiny) examples of cars that you often still see propped up in 2nd rate car dealer forecourts and Tesco car parks. A local show costs around £3 to enter the grounds of the country estate that it is hosted at, then a further £5 - £6 per person to get into the show area itself, so thats £8+ before I get into the show.
But back to the main point. An alternative idea may be to pop down the local newsagent and buy a copy of a magazine devoted to classic cars. A quick flick through certain magazines will do little to help - alongside (say) a serialised restoration of an Austin A40 you stand a very good chance of seeing a buyers guide for a Peugeot 205GTi. Even insurance companies who specialise in older car's are now taking on board the fact that as many not-that-old cars now attract a strong following (witness the Pug GTi and MR2s again), branding cars over 10 years old as 'modern classics', which may be a satisfactory way of classifying things, with pre-1980 cars usually approaching the full 'classic' status. But, as I say, any true definition of what is a classic car cannot really be given, and much depends on who you speak to .. ask an owner of an Opel Senator whether his sparkling 3.0E is a classic and he/she will be in no doubt, however address the same question re the Opel to an owner of an established classic such as a P4 Rover and the reply may be somewhat different.
At the end of the day, the term 'classic car' is now accepted as applying to any car over say 15 years of age that has some fan base to draw upon, with one or two exceptions for truly interesting more recent automobiles.
I have made no mention of so-called 'Modern Classics' simply because these are cars that motoring pundits predict will attract the true full-on fanatical following of older car fans in the not-too-distant future.
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