When Is a Car Considered a Classic?

Sounding like everyone from my generation,' there used to be rules' ! You knew what was veteran, vintage, Edwardian , classic etc. by the era in which they were made. 

Age alone isn't enough.

There are many cars that will never be 'classics' no matter how old they are.  And there are cars that in their day were ubiquitous and one would have sworn that they'd never be worth anything special and yet they have become classics - VW Beetles and vans, for example.

Production numbers play a part as does performance level. The rarer the car is and the lower the production numbers enhances chances of classic status, and the performance version of a car is almost always rarer and more expensive to buy.  A Rambler with a straight 6 will never be a classic (although somehow a Chrysler Signet convertible is, regardless of engine), but any AMX is a collectible regardless of which engine it has.

Very hard to predict a couple of decades ahead of time what will or won't eventually become a classic.

Collectible and classic aren't the same thing.

Every car becomes interesting eventually. A beige Datsun 310 automatic is interesting if it's a survivor, and I'd call that classic. Sure, maybe it's not a Classic (tm) like a '57 Chevy and it'll never get bid into the stratosphere at Barrett-Jackson, but it still draws the onlookers.

Thanks to somebody above, I am now apparently an antique, therefore I can no longer be a classic.  Maybe Coke took the right path in calling itself a "classic" before anyone else bothered . . .

Something becomes a "classic" when someone decides that by naming it as such, they can make more money off of it.

It’s not a classic car unless older guys at the gas station say things like, “Don’t see those around much anymore.”

It's a classic when I say it's a classic.  I don't have to explain anything to you.  Because I said so.  (OK now I'm ready to go back and deal with the kids.)