At what stage does an old car become a Classic? Or, going back, a Veteran, Vintage, Post Vintage Thoroughbred, Pre-War Classic, or Post War Classic? And what distinguishes any of these from any pile of junk in search of a scrapmetal yard?
Ask the Americans and they may categorise anything built after 1950 as ‘Vintage’. So ‘Vintage racing’ can be for cars built as late as the 1990s.
The British, of course, would never let these upstarts into the annual London-Brighton Veteran Rally – the longest-running motoring event in the world, that has taken place most years each November. To qualify, cars must have been built before 1905, although the definition of ‘Veteran’ has now been broadened to include vehicles built up to and including 1919.
At this stage, according…