Yeah. Lots of peoples seem to apply the term 'Classic' to anything that they feel needs a bit of embelishment - regardless of age. IMO car-wise, anything 40+ years old it's fine. Newer than that ou're just Bs'ing....
Well.....doesn't it go to Classic and then Antique? I don't remember how old each has to be......??:confused:
Anything 25 years old qualifies as antique vehicle. (at least I know for sure in Louisiana and Mississippi having lived in both states)
IMO, the classic/vintage car plates/insurance has become a joke...where I live anyway.... They want a zillion pictures, proof of being locked in a garage when not driven, masive driving restrictions,,I could go on, and yet I see cars like this Rabbit driving around daily with collector plates......
Mississippi antique plates are permanent plates or at least were. Louisiana you have to renew it every 2 or 4 years I can't remember.They started that about 8 years ago because I had a '55 chevy 3100 p/u that had a permanent antique plate.When I sold it the plate got transferred.Then when I registered a '66 chevy p/u they told me I had to renew it like a regular plate. Maybe because in my town in the early 90's the cruise night's consisted of about 25 cars.As the years went by it has grown to 200 or so cars just here. So if every town see's this growth in antique cars on the road with permanent plates the state is missing out on plenty money. In my opinion that is why my state did away with permanent antique tags. And for the antique insurance that I had it limited to 7,500 miles a year but my dad and I have had one car totaled and the insurance adjuster came out looked,took pictures and sent us a check within about 10 days and never asked about the milage. So the only experience I had with antique insurance was all right. Hope I never have to do that again though.
I don't know guys, I have two cars with Collector plates here in BC, and they are great! The only driving restriction is you can't drive them to work. I don't have to get the cars emission tested every year, and the cost is really low at about $250/year. The plates are not transferrable, and any subsequent owner will have to reapply. It doesn't bother me to not drive the cars to work at all. I use the wagon a lot for various things, and my retired father can drive it when he needs it, and I have my daily driver for work. The convertible I use less, but still take it to shows around BC and in Washington State. Storage insurance on each car costs around $120/year, so why not pay the $250 so both cars are available all year round? The Collector insurance is the only reason I can (my wife let's me)keep the cars! I agree with Fat that there is some abuse, but those guys will pay if they have a problem/accident. It also helps in getting cars fixed. My father-in-law, who recently collector plated his one-owner pontiac parisienne, was recently side-swiped. The car was fixed, with the help of me finding some parts, but likely would have been written off if it didn't have the Collector plates.
i felt old when i saw an 86 monte carlo ss with classic tags. i felt really old when i saw tim swink's (bigblackbeasst on the ss forum and a personal friend) 94 impala ss with classic tags. the thing that bothers me was according to my sema-san newsletter, there were states trying to pass laws forcing people to emmissions test and retro fit cats and other smog equip to pre-75 cars....can you imagine the expense? here in pa 15yrs is a classic (i think its 20 for trucks) 20 for antique. for classic plates you can't drive them to work or daily. and you are allowed 5,000 miles per year. you have to get a state inspection yearly but no emissions. and the registration is a 1 time $80 and you never have to pay it again. unlike the rest of the plates in pa, a classic plate stays with the car if sold. antiques, no driving after sunset. no inspection or emmissions testing and everything else is the same as classic plates. if you have a classic truck (tractor trailer, dump truck etc) you cannot haul a load.
Big government IMO controlling every aspect of our lives. On another note, Dodge Shadows and Ford Taurus' from '86 may begin getting their plates now...
I am thinking of going with Collector Plates on the Colony Park. One time Payment and I don't plan on using it in winter unless my Silverado would take a dump on me. God forbid.
TRUE "Classic" status are ONLY the cars that are listed in the AACA listing of "Classics". They have been the defining standard in the US since before WWII. Everything else is simply an "antique" at 25 years old, as defined in most states' DMV regulations. The term "classic" has become nearly as meaningless as "restored". People misuse these terms so much that it really doesn't matter anymore.
