how old does a car/truck have to be to be considered a classic or an antique, ive heard many different answers, but i want to know the real story......

 

I think it varies from state to state. Here in Ohio, if a vehicle is at least 20 years old, it is considered a classic. If the vehicle is 25 years or older, it can be registered as an antique. Had to fight with license bureau to get antique plates for my '78 Kenworth a couple years back. But that's a different story altogether now! I would check at your local DMV. Or a local car club. Thanks to my truck club, I found state exemption letters for my truck and another for my vintage plates.

Good Luck!
Chris

P.S. Don't forget, there are stipulations for antique and classic tags. Mainly not using it as an everyday cruiser. Most of the time you won't be bothered. But I have had friends pulled over and ticketed for driving their antique car or truck without any varifiable proof of an event (i.e. car show, cruise-in, parade, etc....).

 

In CA, "horseless carriage" plates are available for 1925 and older model years. "Classic" plates are something like 50 years or older.

As far as a common, not legal, definition who knows? It used to be that the "classic" period was considered by antique car clubs to be pre-WWII. The problem with using a fixed number of years is that it does not define an actual period of a particular style. For example, the late 1940's Ford introduced the "smooth" style with no hint of running boards or separate fenders.

Jim

 

Here in Mississippi...over 25 years old is an antique with NO stipulations on when you can drive it so it's common to see old beat-up vehicles with antique tags on the road everyday here.

 

Cool!! I wish the laws were the same here in Illinois. In IL, antique plates can only be used on 25+ year old vehicles that are only driven to car shows, cruise nites, etc.

 

In Alberta, any thing over 20 years can be plated as an antique.

A classic , though, is in the eye of the beholder. Some people think a Nash Metropolitan is a classic.
A classic , to me has nice lines and is well beloved. Something like a '68 GT500KR convertible for instance.

 

Here in Saskatchewan, Can. It use to be 20 years. Now they say 30 years. We have a lot of 20 year vehicles here. The insurance provider(gov. owned) started spot inspections and are taking a lot of cars of the road. It hurts us that are doing projects and trying to enjoy driving them a bit to see how things work and look.
These spot checks are more for the benefits of the auto industry trying to force us buy new cars or take the cars in to the shops to give them business. If caught in a spot check you have only 30 days to have everything repaired. This can cost thousands of dollars and most lower income people are left with out a vehicle. This has happened to fella at work. For the last year he has been taking the bus and walking to work. He is a single parent and providing food for kids comes first before buying a new car.

 

You might find an answer on Kelly Blue Book dot-com, or the like.

 

Here in Md. It's 25 yrs.& no inspection, plus tags are a fraction of the price of a modern vehicle. and no emissions test.

 

This is a much discussed topic in the old car hobby. Here's what the Geezers I hang out with think....Pre WWII=Antique 46-59=Old Car 59-70=Special Interest

 

So Bullet-Nose- what's '71 and up? Just a piece of junk? LOL! Saskatchewan sounds like it's not very 'car-friendly'. What happens if you don't get the car fixed in time? Do they pull the registration, or take the vehicle? I'm really getting tired of situations like this that don't leave any alternatives for us poor folk. I drive an '86 Ranger that I bought 2 years ago for $500. My wife drives a 15 y/o Buick. Right now, there is nothing else we could afford, so I keep fixin' 'em and drivin' 'em. If I got pulled off the road and made to fix everything, it would be bicycle time! FL is pretty easy about that stuff, so there's a lot of beaters on the road.

 

thanx for your responses, got more than i exspected.....sounds like it pretty different depending on where you are, i will have to research it here in OK and post it on here.......man, id be walking if i were in canada, not to say that my truck is a bucket, but its not in pristine condition, they did away with inspection here in oklahoma in 2000, that means there are some real P.O.S.'s running around this part of the world.........i would like to get classic plates for my truck, but if it will raise my insurance, ill wait till im done with the restore first..............thanx for all your posts.......

 

70-current=junk! (except for muscle cars) I drove a 1952 F-1, all original except for paint, seat cover, and rear bumper. Had it for 8 years until I sold it two months ago. Hauled a boat, moved furniture, used it in a painting business, made dump runs, drove it to Northern Maine all the time. My other car is a 51 Studebaker-original, including the interior. Been driving it for seven years.

 

if thats the case my 76 F-150 is the best running junk ive ever seen.....ill put my junk on the line against your junk!!!

 

Gents...
When I said 70-current=Junk I meant in the world of the antique/old car hobby.
Outside of muscle, orphan, and odd-ball cars, you don't see many 70's in collections.