The year the cars stopped

[vulgalour]

Old cars - up to 1975

Second hand - from 1980 to 1990

New - from 1990-1996

Modern - 1996-2000

 

Now, there's some obvious issues with this system, but that's how my brain seems to decypher cars.  Anything release after 2000 is in the future, I can't seem to equate it in my head with being anything other than brand spanking new even though quite a lot of cars in that category are now 15 years old!

 

It's like something happened that made me stop paying attention to new cars.  I've always been a bit in-the-past with cars and preferred older stuff, but what I've liked has never really changed with less modern cars interesting me than older cars.

 

Does anyone else find this?  Pictorial examples would be beneficial too, for entertainment value.

 

An old car.

 

A second hand car.

 

This car is quite new.

 

While this car has only just been released.

 

This has arrived from the future, or not been built yet because it's a concept car.

[Christine]

I thought the mk4 Golf , was the latest version

[captain_70s]

For me:

 

"Classic" cars - Pre 1985

Old cars - 1985 to 1995

Second hand cars - 1995 to 2005

Modern cars - 2005 to Present

 

I can still ID most motors on the road but sometimes my mind boggles a bit when I see a 2005 Fiesta and realise it's a decade old. I still see them as modern cars. In fact, to use the 'ol Fester as an example:

 

I'd see a Mk1 Fiesta as a classic.

 

a Mk2 as a car old enough to be warrant a second glance.

 

the Mk3 is extinct so it doesn't matter...

 

the Mk4/5 registers as some old banger*.

 

and every generation after that is a "modern" car.

 

Perhaps it's because I'm relatively young and I live in the wilds of Aberdeenshire where cars dissolve at an alarming rate, keeping shite levels relatively low, but I see stuff like Mk2 Golfs, Pug 205s and R8 Rovers as unusually old amongst normal traffic, mostly as they haven't been common for quite some time. I think I lost track of how old cars were around about the mid 2000s, after that it all seems fairly bland and unnoticeable... If I'm like this at 23 years old God knows what I'll be like in another half a decade!

 

*Also, am I the only person who thinks the pre-facelift Mk4 Fiesta with the miserable face looks a bit like a modern Austin Allegro?

[DS20]

A second-hand car, my brain tells me: 

 

[chaseracer]

Some cars just piss all OVER that theory!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Matt]

To me:

 

0000 to 1930 = Antique. Not of much interest but I would dearly love to have a bash at driving something from this period. 

 

1930 to 1959 = Vintage. Mostly American stuff comes to mind here probably because they were better off after the war.

 

1960 to 1979 = Classic. British stuff comes to mind here, not quite the retro style of the 80's but getting there

 

1980 to 1990 = Modern classic. Retro cool and straight lines, very much my thing.

 

1990 to 2005 = Used cars. Mostly the kind of stuff I would buy if I just needed a cheap car although there are cars from this period that interest me.

<Insert virtually any dreary, rounded blob from the 1990's or early 2000's here.>

 

~2005 to ~2008 = Dreary modern. Everything seemed to have been designed in a bit of a safe way at this time, nothing really interesting going on.

 

~2008 to 2015 = More interesting modern. Designers started taking a bit more risk in recent years which I appreciate, the Nissan Juke for example; hideous but I really respect Nissan for being so bold and actually making the things. Still not much of interest although I do like the odd one, the Vauxhall Adam for example.

[Jim Bergerac]

For me:

 

"Classic" cars - Pre 1985

Old cars - 1985 to 1995

Second hand cars - 1995 to 2005

Modern cars - 2005 to Present

 

Perhaps it's because I'm relatively young and I live in the wilds of Aberdeenshire where cars dissolve at an alarming rate, keeping shite levels relatively low, but I see stuff like Mk2 Golfs, Pug 205s and R8 Rovers as unusually old amongst normal traffic, mostly as they haven't been common for quite some time. I think I lost track of how old cars were around about the mid 2000s, after that it all seems fairly bland and unnoticeable... If I'm like this at 23 years old God knows what I'll be like in another half a decade!

 

 

Similar age, similar answer. To an extent, I still think of the Rover 75 (and other things released around that time like the MK1 Focus and the Peugeot 206) as newish cars (maybe not quite new) because I remember them getting launched and reading about them being 'new' in mags. Anything on a new format plate I'd also consider to be newish. I'm not sure why this is, as I still 'follow' new cars to an extent so shouldn't really be seeing 10-15 year old cars as 'newish'.

[Junkman]

They started making cars in 1886 and stopped in 1986.

Note: Some cars launched in 1986, but built for another few years afterwards, still qualify as cars.

Since 1986, not a single car was launched.

[Ghosty]

And so I must ask the honourable Vulg what 1977 is classed as? 'car' perhaps?

[Junkman]

Oh bummer, I just now read the thread title properly.

 

The year cars stopped is the year before they started to equip them with ABS, which was around 1986, if I'm not mistaken.

ABS = Accelerate - Brake - Shit.

[mercrocker]

No pictures needed from me.   Please refer to the original post.

 

Austin A60 - Secondhand car

 

VW Breadvan - Modern car. 

 

Concept car - that silver Citroen

 

I don't see any other cars. 

 

As for when they stopped.....I cant recall any A60 I have driven actually stopping when asked to.   They only stopped when you didn't want them to.

[Dippy]

Old cars should run on points and dizzy and not have any superfluous electronic shit other than a radio or 8 track.

 

Old cars should baffle any main dealer "mechanic" as he cannot ask the computer what is wrong and may have to do some skilled work like diagnosing a problem then dismantling and repairing a component instead of just fitting a complete new engine to solve a problem.

 

Old cars should have vibrant coloured or brown interiors and comfortable velour seats that you sink into.

[fordperv]

Here's a question, what about models that were current for one bracket then the run out models fell one or 2 years into the cut off for the next, what would they be classed as?

 

Let's use this as an example

Old cars - 1985 to 1995

Second hand cars - 1995 to 2005

 

The mk1 Mondeo came in on 1992/1993 so that would be an old car but they ran until 1996 would they become second hand cars or would they fall into the old cars bracket

[michael1703]

I still can't accept 80's cars as classics, its got to be pre 80 to be a classic for me.

[steve_earwig]

Old cars - up to 1975

Second hand - from 1980 to 1990

So no cars were built between 1976 and 1979?

 

I've been wondering about this for a while, like when I scan through the "old timers" in Njuskalo and come across a mk3 Escort - "mk 3 Escort? What the fuck's that doing in here? Morons." It really shocks me to think these are some 30 years old when it seems like they were new a few short years ago.

 

I wonder if it's an age thing, I tend to think that classic cars are those which were about during my teenage years (1978 to 1984) which covers cars from maybe1965 to 1982 or 3, anything older than this is vintage, a car likely to be lots of work and probably beyond my skill level. Anything newer than 1985 is modern, the fact that they're rusty hulks is down to poor design/bad craftsmanship/neglect/act of god. If they're not unusual or interesting from an engineering perspective I'd be quite happy to send them all over the bridge and the world would be a better place without them.

[purplebargeken]

Anything after 1996 is modern. Very modern.

 

I can cope with most things up until around 1985, that is my kind of comfort zone, although some things might still look a bit modern. It really does vary.

[Partridge]

I'm only really interested in stuff made between 1960 and 2000. I can't relate to anything older than that, and anything made after 2000 just seems dull and everyday. That will change in a few years though, I'm sure.

 

In terms of cut off points, this is the newest car I want to own.

 

And the oldest:

[danthecapriman]

For me:

 

Pre war; vintage.

 

Upto about 1985; classic. This includes stuff made after 1985 but was a carryover from before this date.

 

1985 - 1995; old (or dare I say it retro!) generally interesting and DIY friendly.

 

1995 - 2002ish; bangers, old enough to be cheap and largely 'throw away' when it breaks. Mostly uninteresting to me, there are a few exceptions though.

 

2002 -present; modern, boring, not DIY friendly and not worth a second glance. With the odd exception.

 

This of course is just my own opinion, and not a strict guideline as there are plenty of cars that don't fit within those dates etc but generally that's how I see it.

[messerschmitt owner]

there are stunning beautiful cars from all periods of motorinhg history - there are also absolute munters too.

 

What we miss now in modern design are the weird and the wacky and the creative.

 

For me, some of the most jaw droppingly, achingly beautiful cars were made in the 50s and 60s!

 

I defy anyone to say the Lamborghini Muira and the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato are not some of the most beautiful vehicles ever made.

 

It is subjective though - I had an issue up till a few years ago with the cars I remember as simply 'cars' when I was young. Now they have all disappeared I appreciate them more - Volvo 340s, Cortina Mk4s,

 

I despair of the cars of the future though - all this technology is removing us from the basics of 'just driving'.

[alf892]

I think you are all a bunch of old farts over reacting........

[vulgalour]

I did say my system was flawed.  My 1976-1979 blind spot seems to be an area where nothing happened, during this time my brain tells me cars were either build before or after this date period.  Come to think of it, that period covers almost all of the production run of the Princess, I wonder if that's a coincidence?

[TRW]

I still class H (90/91) as new cars.

[quicksilver]

I can't help thinking of anything registered in the current system as a nearly new car so it shocks me to see so many of them in scrapyards and then I realise anything with a prefix must be at least 14 years old. I still consider my dad's early Zafira to be a modern car as it has all the modern luxuries such as air conditioning, power steering, electric windows etc.but it''s actually 16 years old and positively ancient by most people's standards! Seeing early nineties cars being accepted at classic shows is odd as seemingly not so long ago they were everyday transport.    

[Junkman]

I can cope with most things up until around 1985, that is my kind of comfort zone, although some things might still look a bit modern. It really does vary.

 

One still had the choice back then. Then they started to introduce septic marketing principles and the choice was reduced to MacDonalds or Burger King, Coke or Pepsi, etc.

They stopped making cars as good as they could and instead made them to fit a market segment, whatever that horseshit is supposed to mean.

Marketing is - like economics - at the best a pseudo-science, if one at all. Since shortly after I stopped watching telly, I actually call them scams.

As I predicted back then, it didn't work. Today, most of them are worse off than I am and had to be bailed out with my tax money on numerous occasions, them retarded morons.

The only ones doing reasonably well are the ones that still build stuff that at least resembles a car.

[messerschmitt owner]

marketing - the art of selling people things they don't need by people who should know better.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Anything made before my Dad was born (1945) is Old.

Anything made between then and my birth(1964) is Classic.

Anything from then till I could drive (1981) is Secondhand.

Anything 80' and 90's is Commonplace.

Anything with new style number plates (2001-) is New.

 

I'm sometimes shocked when a passenger points out something like a Sierra or Cavalier and says ' Look at that! Do you remember those? As if it's a Wyvern or Zephyr.

That's when I realise just what an old fart I am.

[Richard]

For me it's something like:-

 

Pre-60s- Old

 

60s- Classic/Retro

 

70s- Second Hand

 

80s- New

 

90s- Ultra-modern

 

21st Century- Witchcraft

 

I have a similar view to Junkman's 1986 rule except that the cut off date in my heart is around 1976 and in my head I know it's more like 1996.

[vulgalour]

NorfolkNWeigh brings up a good point, perhaps it's down to what you experienced.  If I follow the same rule my own system fits pretty closely.  Maybe that's how the perception works?

[D Spares & Tyres]

I thought cars started looking way less interesting around the early eighties when large plastic bumpers came into fashion, before then you could see the metalwork of the actual car rather than a large `mask` on the front if you know what I mean

[capsuleboy]

From personal experience current /front garden/garage:

 

53 reg Fiat multipla - scrap

02 reg Avantime - old car

10 reg Nissan Cube - secondhand car

07 reg Fiat Multipla - cheap secondhand car, will be looked down on by most motorists

1966 renault 4 - classic

1985 renault espace - retro

1972 Ciroen H van - when are you setting up the food business, loads of money in that.

 

Sum total = bewilderment in all but us lot.