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MG MGA - MGA near Champaign, IL

Found this in the local paper...I have no vested interest..thought one of you may be looking.

http://www.news-gazette.com/classified/2011-01-04/antique-1960-mga
Rick Ingram

Antique 1960 MGA?
"Classic" 1960 MGA sounds waaaay better....:)

GTF
G T Foster

Seemed a strange usage to me, so I checked Wikipedia and liked the way the definition started out:

An antique (Latin: antiquus; old) is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society.

It then went on to say:

It is common practise to define "antique", as applying to objects at least 100 years old.

So, may be we still have a few years to go.

Steve
Steve Gyles

The above referenced definition may be the generally accepted use of the general term "antique". However, as far as automobiles go, there is no one right answer. In Illinois, a car only has to be 25 years old qualify as an "Antique" (a legal term in this state). That qualifies the MGA to an annual registration cost (with some driving limitations) of around 6 USD. vs 99 USD for that of a regular daily driver. Insurance rates for cars registered as antiques are also appropriately reduced.

The American Automobile Club of America defines Antique cars are at least 45 years.

In both of these cases, the MGA can rightfully be called an "Antique car".

Certainly there are other states or clubs that may put different ages of vehicles to qualify as "Antique Autos". The age requirements vary with the organizations. I'm just trying to point out that the seller's use of the term is not out of line, at least here in Illinois where the seller is and the USA in general.

I have no issues with using other terms such as "classic"; or "vintage"; or "historic"; or the use of no adjective at all when it comes to the MGA.

Chuck Schaefer

Most interesting.

We have a few categories over here. Not sure if I have them all correct.

Veteran - pre December 1904
Edwardian - January 1905 to December 1918
Vintage - January 1919 to December 1930
Classic - No definitive date but assumed to be from January 1931.
Historic - Cars registered before 1 January 1973 are taxed (free) as historic cars.

Seems it all got a bit vague from the the 1930s onwards.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve, Am I correct thinking these are all centralized UK government defined categories? Are all cars registered at the national government level and not the local county? In the USA, each individual state has the responsibility for licensing vehicles. There is no centralized entity, i.e the US Government that issues vehicle registration. Heck, from what I hear, some Native Indian tribes have their own vehicle registration here too, although I may be a bit foggy on that one. The US government sets the requirements for new car safety and emission equipment etc. But the states set the various catagories and fees for registering the cars. This may be why there is so much confusion over here.
Chuck Schaefer

Chuck

Our car registration and taxation is centralised. It is run from Government offices in Swansea, Wales. Details of car insurance (compulsory), vehicle testing (MOT - annual requirement for cars over 3 years old), and driver licensing are also all held on the centralised computing system. Police cars have number plate recognition systems fitted which automatically check all details in a flash - flagging up 'illegals' to the officer as he drives around. No hiding place over here now.

Each area of the UK has its own identification letters, so when a car is new it is issued with a registration plate unique to that part of the UK. For instance, Scottish cars have registrations beginning with 'S' (SA60 ABC); Yorkshire 'Y' (YA60 ABC); London 'L','R' or 'G' (LA60 ABC); etc. The 2 numbers reflect a specific 6 month period. For instance 02 was March to August 2002 and 52 was September 2002 to February 2003. The final 3 letters are random.

Normally, a car retains its registration throughout its life, regardless of selling, buying and location. However, individuals can purchase unique registration plates, provided the plate's numbers and letters follow one of the conventional systems of bygone years. The licensing authority controls what registration numbers and letters may be used and charges a good premium. Some early plates (A 25, for example) can fetch several hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Chuck

I got carried away and realised that I did not answer your question directly. In short, I do not know. I believe the Veteran and Edwardian periods were defined by the relevant 'private' motoring organisations and have become accepted nationally.

The 'Historic' tag belongs to the Margaret Thatcher Government of 1979 to 1997. Presumably many of her politicians were classic car owners and they passed legislation that any car over 25 years old would not be charged the annual road tax (about £100 or $150 in those days). This was scrapped when Tony Blair took charge in 1997. However, all cars registered before January 1972 are still exempt the annual charge that is now rated on emissions and can be as high as £250 ($375) ish.

Therefore, there is no specific Historic period as it covers all cars from veteran to the end of 1972.

Steve
Steve Gyles

The categories were defined years ago by relevant clubs and have become generally accepted but have no legal status. If someone chooses to describe or advertise say a 1985 car as Vintage then, as far as I am aware, they can and nothing can or will be done about it apart from a measure of ridicule.

The Veteran Car Club (VCC) set the Veteran and Edwardian dates and the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) the Vintage category. The VSCC also has something called Post Vintage Thoroughbred which is a list of cars made up to 1939 that they consider fit their membership criteria but this is not widely used outside the club.

There is no national club for Classic or Historic cars hence the lack of definition.

Another category informally used is "Brighton car" meaning one built in 1904 or earlier and eligible for the annual London to Brighton run. This has a very significant effect on value.

Malcolm
Malcolm Asquith

This thread was discussed between 04/01/2011 and 05/01/2011

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