What makes a car a classic car?
This question was posed a few days ago on this forum and I have been thinking about it since. I have been able to come up with a few answers but not as many as I would like. Clearly, the readers here know when a car is a classic. Like Justice Stewart said “I know it when I see it.”
In addition to classic cars, I love to fly fish for trout. There are many species of trout and I like catching them all. There are things that are similar in all trout and then there are things that really differentiate them from other species. Rainbow Trout have beautifully colored sides. Brown trout have spots of brown and orange. Brook Trout, which technically aren’t really trout, have orange bellies when they spawn. These are all markers of trout, and I think that classic cars have similar markers. We just need to know what to look for.
Vent windows. Vent windows are a wonderful invention that allows the driver to open a window in the car, even if it is raining, and get fresh air directed on to the occupants or the windshield. Modern cars all have sophisticated climate control systems some more than others. Almost all new cars have air conditioning. Vent windows can keep you cool, dry and keep your windshield clear. I still don’t understand why cars don’t have them anymore.
Metal keys. We’ve covered this territory already, but classic cars have metal keys. They don’t have fobs with batteries and Bluetooth. They have simple metal keys that go into slots which open doors, glove boxes, trunks and start cars. Metal keys are durable, reliable and cheap.
Lap belts. I don’t think that there is a new car made that has a lap belt in it. All seat belts now-a-days are three point affairs. To be honest, lap belts aren’t all that effective in preventing injury. Certainly, they are better than nothing, but this list is not about merits of any particular technology, but about ways to identify a classic car.
Carburetors This is an easy one. I cannot recall the last production car that had carbs, but I am sure it was quite some time ago. Pretty much everything has been fuel injected since the late 80s. So, if you have carburetors, then you might be a classic.
4 speed manual transmission/on the tree. Generally speaking, classics had 4 speed manual transmissions. Some classics have 5 speed transmissions, but that is the maximum. There are some that have automatics, but never more than four speeds, more likely three and some with just two. If the shifter is “on the tree” it’s definitely a classic car, so you old Saab guys can stop right here.
Jump seats. The way back of our 1966 Ford Country Squire wagon had seats that folded flat into the floor. These turned the wagon from a six passenger car to a ten passenger car in seconds. Rumble seats or whatever else you might refer to them as fit into this category. The only problem here is that it forces you to consider the Subaru Brat as a classic and I am unprepared to do that.
Single Gauge/Speedometer. Most of us recall the original Beetle. It has one gauge, a speedometer, in the middle of the dash behind the steering wheel. Some had added fuel gauges later, but all it needed was the one gauge. No tachometer, no voltmeter, none of those other gauges. Just the speedo and some hash marks on it to tell you when to up shift.
No cup holders. No self respecting classic car has them. Back then, when people ate in their cars, they stopped. Manufacturers didn’t start adding them to cars until the 80s with the advent of the minivan. Sure, there were aftermarket ones and special mugs for taking your morning coffee with you on your commute, but they were not standard equipment. And I think the lack of cup holders helps to really define what a classic car is.
Honorable mention.
Here are some other markers that you might consider as well:
Cigar lighter
No dead pedal
Knock off wheels (although they seem to be making a comeback in high end wheels)
Flip up headlights
Cloth sunroof
Manual choke
