What decade is your cutoff for old vs new cars?

[edkwon]

Which decade of car making do you make your arbitrary cutoff line in your head when you consider a car 'older/classic' vs 'newer/modern'

for me that fuzzy line straddles between the 70s and 80s.

[jetsetter]

Well, the smog law for California is what I go with, a rolling 30 years.

[KaJuN]

In general, I consider anything 1980 or older a classic. (hey that includes my bike!) But there are a few newer cars I also consider classics. The Buick Grand National and some of the nicer Regals/Olds 442's come to mind as just a few examples.

[watto]

Oh, this is hard. My Dad's car is 1989, I don't consider that old. But I would consider a car from 1985 old. SInce Dad's is so close to 1990, I'll pick the 81-90 option.

[teeb]

Somewhere between the 80s and 90s.

I think it depends on the car though. Some cars will look and feel modern long after their sell-by date (the Ford Ka still looks fresh as a button), whereas some cars look dated as soon as they're released (hello, Rover 25).

[thedguy]

at this point pre '91 is old. anything 20 years old or close that age.

[geeman]

80s is definently old. Early 90s is oldish too, but late 90s cars are still rather new. I voted for 81-90 as a compromise.

[Blind_Io]

Mid to late 1980s.

My basic rule is that 20 years makes it a Young Classic, once you approach 30 years it becomes a Classic, and a few cars are Collector's Pieces. 1990s cars are not classics, but I can see a few that will become classics with time, others simply get old.

I had a shock a while ago when I was commenting on a 1987 Mercedes and how much I liked it. My family had a 1983 when I was younger and I learned to drive in it, so a 1987 seems like a step up from that. Someone asked if I really wanted a 20 year old car. I responded, "It's not 20 years old! It can't be! We had a 1983, and that wasn't so long ago."
"Yeah? When was this one made?"
"1987"
"Dude, your math skills suck."
"Damn, I feel old now."

Then there was beer.

[Svempa]

Late 70ies to early/mid 80ies

[Donington]

Mid/late eighties, but as time moves on i'll probably consider it early nineties soon.

[HondaF1]

Based on what I have heard during the Classic Adelaide car rallies in the past, the cut-off is 30 years and the car has to have passed certain criteria to be considered a classic.

[jebjeb]

30 years old for classic 8+ years old to be old rubbish anything newer is ok

[epp_b]

I said 1981 to 1990. I don't think there are any cars older than 1980 that I would be interested in. That said, also, there are only a few cars I would consider from the 80's, namely a 300ZX or a 5L Mustang.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by epp_b

I said 1981 to 1990. I don't think there are any cars older than 1980 that I would be interested in. That said, also, there are only a few cars I would consider from the 80's, namely a 300ZX or a 5L Mustang.

I feel sorry for you. You are missing out on sooo much.

[watto]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

I feel sorry for you. You are missing out on sooo much.

Agreed. My Dad keeping his car for this long and keeping it in such good nick has made me appreciate even more, cars from the 80's and older.

[SL65]

To me, theres a distinct difference between a car from the mid 80's and the mid 90's. I therefore pick the 1980-90 option as I consider cars from the 80's 'old'. Yes I'm young, lol!

There are plenty of cars from 1989 that I don't consider old however...

[chaos386]

I voted 1981-1990, as Group B rallying gave us plenty of classics in the 80s.

[Deanodriver]

I'd say 'old' is anything pre-unleaded in Australia (pre-1986), maybe a bit later, ~1990 for some cars. Classic is a different matter, though. Some cars from the late 80's are almost classics, but I'd say generally over about 25-30 years.

Thing is, even if you compare two cars of the same age and both in good condition, one can feel much older than the other, purely because of the design.

I don't consider my 1993 car to be that old. It's not new (has just under 200k on the odo), but it still looks modern enough, and drives fairly well.

[mautzel]

I'll go with German legislation to register a car as a classic car, and for doing so it has to be at least 30 years old. Cars that don't already reach that age are called "Youngtimers" over here, and that can be virtually anything as long as it isn't produced any more.

[Adunaphel]

Almost everything driving around here that was built before 1990 is either a rustbucket or a classic, so i'm going with 1981-1990