I refuse to acknowledge, as an antique, any vehicle my children could lawfully have driven out of the dealer's showroom brand new!

Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

Boy, this topic really hits home. Whenever I see the word 'Classic' used on a 1970 or 1980 something car on Craigslist I contact the owner and try to tell them what a real classic is by suggesting they do a Google search under the letters CCCA. 4 out of 5 times I get a reply that tells me to go F myself or to mind my own F'n business. I've been in some interesting and colorful verbal sparring matches with a few of these nitwits. Another thing I've tried to do, and in this case was successful, was to contact the local newspaper and the Swap Sheet and explain to the editors what a classic car was since they never seem to have any real classics (as defined by the CCCA) in their columns labeled 'Classic'. Both editors listened and understood my explanation and both changed their column headings by taking out the word 'Classic' and replacing it with Antique and/or Collector cars. It's a small step but one that may help younger collectors who don't have a clue as to the meaning of the word 'Classic' better understand the category to which their 1985 Monte Carlo or 1974 Chevelle fits in. I agree wholeheartedly that the word 'Classic' is probably the most over used and wrongly used term in the car hobby right next to the term 'frame off' restoration.

attitudes that are killing the hobby.

Thank you all for your input... Unfortunately the more I research this issue the more I become confused!!! I will try to compose myself and address the Antique/Classic subject after work tonight. I will close for now only to mention that I do find it interesting that somehow we have gone from "Vintage" automobiles to "Antique" automobiles to "Classic" automobiles and somehow gone back to Antique.
Would it not be cool to set some realistic guidelines.
Vintage: 1889-1919
Antique: 1920-1949
Classic: 1950-1964
Modern: 1965-1985
JUNK: 1986-2008

"Classic" is a term thrown around by the general public and the media, used to describe anything that is out of production, an '89 Caprice Classic with 22" ghetto rims is described as "classic" To further explain what 58 mustang said, most states determine that any vehicle 25 years old or older to be an antique. I came into the antique car hobby in the 60s as a kid, so I have a hard time seeing a 1980 Monte Carlo as an antique, but by definition it is.
The Classic Car Club of America made a list not long after their forming that clearly states what is a classic car by their recognition, and what they will accept/judge at their meets. The cars the CCCA defines as "Full Classics" (a term they had to invent and trademark due to the inability of any group of people to "own" a word) were very expensive when new, sold to an exclusive clientele and sometimes featured advanced engineering, sometimes very un-advanced engineering, and were built between 1925 and 1948. Most, if not all of the post-war cars on their list ('46-'48) are built on chassis' that were used before the war and sometimes have superficial cosmetic changes to the bodies.
I personally prefer to only refer to cars on the CCCA list as "Classics" and use the other terms that apply to a given vehicle such as:

Gas Buggy
Early automobile
Brass car
antique car
'teens car
twenties car
thirties car
exotic car
forties car
fifties car
fin mobile
22 feet of bad taste
sixties car
compact car
sports car
muscle car
seventies junk
General Lee clone
eighties junk
struggle buggy
hobby horse (jacked up pick-up truck)
beater car
hooptie car
Pimp mobile

this is only a partial list. I am not in the CCCA, don't have any problem at all with their list or goals as a club, I just don't like the word "Classic" thrown around.