A World of Classic Cars
In the UK, arguably the European birthplace of old vehicle preservation traditional authorities such as the Royal Automobile Club have planted their own markers in the sand.
According to these bodies, veteran cars such as the aged machines that take part in the famous annual London–Brighton run are defined as those built from 1885 to 1903. Edwardian cars are those made from 1904 to 1914, while vintage cars hail only from the period between 1919 to 1930.
Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the bankruptcy of Bentley, and the demise of several other great marques, a golden era is seen to have ended. According to these categories, any worthwhile car built from 1931 to 1939 is classified, perhaps derisively, as a Post-Vintage Thoroughbred.
Yet most of these decrees already seemed dated in the 1970s and ‘80s, when awareness of the value of a greater range of older cars was rising rapidly. Hand-built, pioneering, and expensive road and racing cars would always be collected and cherished, but enthusiasts were now banding together simply to save the few remaining cars that had populated their own childhoods.
A new-found nostalgia meant that the humblest of Dodges, Morris, Renaults, or Fiats now had a value. Clubs were formed, magazines published, histories written, memorabilia sought and saved, all in the name of preserving a bygone era of motoring.
And as time marched forward, so new waves of cars entered the classic vista, and had to be accommodated. Japanese cars for example, once the source of prejudice among long-time enthusiasts, became antiquated and scarce, and it was agreed that some of them really did stand the test of time.
For the purposes of this book, classic means cars made in the period after World War II until the beginning of the 1990s which itself is more than a quarter of a century ago. Beyond that, extraordinary lengths of research have brought every type of roadgoing car together within these pages.
They range from the most economical to the most powerful, popular family sedans to esoteric indulgences, ugly brutes to unrivaled beauties, and from the utterly conventional to the technically adventurous.
This breadth belies the truth behind the classic label. Besides the unmistakable fact that a car needs to be old and rare enough to evoke surprise and reawakened affection, what makes a classic is ultimately subjective.
The criteria are different in the minds of each and every car enthusiast; as personal as their taste in music, food, art, or partner. This fact is reflected in the extent and scope of this book. There is not a car here that someone, somewhere, would not want to own and drive, or simply to possess, perhaps restore, and feel proud of its historical significance.
Of course, there are many more that would cause frenzied bidding among collectors at an auction. There are cars that, perhaps, you have owned yourself, or wanted to own, or which still resonate for their looks, their features, their performance, or their ability to sum up a time, a place, a journey.
All of them have their place in the classic car firmament they have played their individual parts in the long and complicated evolution of the car.
And as time marched forward, so new waves of cars entered the classic vista, and had to be accommodated. Japanese cars for example, once the source of prejudice among long-time enthusiasts, became antiquated and scarce, and it was agreed that some of them really did stand the test of time.
For the purposes of this book, classic means cars made in the period after World War II until the beginning of the 1990s which itself is more than a quarter of a century ago. Beyond that, extraordinary lengths of research have brought every type of roadgoing car together within these pages.
They range from the most economical to the most powerful, popular family sedans to esoteric indulgences, ugly brutes to unrivaled beauties, and from the utterly conventional to the technically adventurous.
This breadth belies the truth behind the classic label. Besides the unmistakable fact that a car needs to be old and rare enough to evoke surprise and reawakened affection, what makes a classic is ultimately subjective. The criteria are different in the minds of each and every car enthusiast; as personal as their taste in music, food, art, or partner.
This fact is reflected in the extent and scope of this book. There is not a car here that someone, somewhere, would not want to own and drive, or simply to possess, perhaps restore, and feel proud of its historical significance. Of course, there are many more that would cause frenzied bidding among collectors at an auction.
There are cars that, perhaps, you have owned yourself, or wanted to own, or which still resonate for their looks, their features, their performance, or their ability to sum up a time, a place, a journey. All of them have their place in the classic car firmament they have played their individual parts in the long and complicated evolution of the car.