How old for your car to be in this sub-forum?
Discussion
Got a Maserati Spyder 2003. It’s quite rare as it’s got a manual gearbox rather than paddle shift (Cambiocorsa).
They only made 574 of them.
Wasn’t sure if it be old enough but got me thinking when all the youngsters criticise any car with outdated infotainment in the car and on that basis it definitely qualifies. lol

They only made 574 of them.
Wasn’t sure if it be old enough but got me thinking when all the youngsters criticise any car with outdated infotainment in the car and on that basis it definitely qualifies. lol
M138 said:
Just interested to know what constitutes a classic?
Is it 40 years?
Probably somewhere in the region of 20-25 years, I'd say. But it's not just about age.Is it 40 years?
I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.
brownspeed said:
Unlike the (not yet fully depreciated Taycan) it looks interesting and I bet it sounds good too. its also pretty rare and nice looking
My vote is
it is a classic. Please tell us more.
Thanks.My vote is

I treated myself with some pension pot money. By luck and I didn’t know at the time when I bought it the difference but it benefits from the earlier 2002 cars by having a slightly better rigidity, a glass rear screen on the top and no aerial. It’s been reasonably reliable in the 7 years I’ve owned it. Replaced the throttle potentiometer, oil pressure sensor and the clutch master cylinder. Bosch, VDO and Sachs, Maserati should’ve sourced the parts from Italy, lol. The potentiometer and oil pressure sensor I got from Eurospares about £100 each and fitted them myself, the master cylinder was the same as an Audi model, can’t remember what one now but I just had to fit my old pushrod to it, the master cylinder was £27 and I fitted it myself. Drives lovely. I don’t go mad in it and it gets an oil change every year even though I normally only do about 2000 miles a year.
InitialDave said:
Probably somewhere in the region of 20-25 years, I'd say. But it's not just about age.
I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.
One car. I regret buying was an Austin Maestro pick-up which had been made for the Forest Commission. I’ve never seen another one.I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.
InitialDave said:
Probably somewhere in the region of 20-25 years, I'd say. But it's not just about age.
I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.
OP - now you have a definition to work with I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.

reddiesel said:
Funny you mention Porsche because I was thinking of the GT4 . No longer made and certainly a future classic . Perhaps we want a Thread simply entitled Future Classics then we could all share our points of view .
Funny you mention that but my brother was a big Porsche fan, still is but hasn’t got one now. Whether it’s Porsche or the dealers but he would come back from Dick Lovett’s saying they’re making this rare limited edition Boxster Spyder around 2010 and he bought one, then they said making a Boxster Spyder with a 911 engine as a last hurrah of the six cylinder Boxsters and he bought one, a few years later they made another version of the Boxster Spyder, now it’s a RS Boxster Spyder. Porsche make so many of limited run cars it’s become a bit of a farce imho.InitialDave said:
M138 said:
Just interested to know what constitutes a classic?
Is it 40 years?
Probably somewhere in the region of 20-25 years, I'd say. But it's not just about age.Is it 40 years?
I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.
So M138s lovely Maserati deserves to appear here.
Good luck getting people to agree on this, most people on here can’t agree on what a hatchback, coupe or saloon is. Don’t get into the misty muddled waters of a ‘sleepers’, ‘modified’ or ‘rarities and supercars’. 
“Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi, best hot hatch of all time, light weight pocket rockets”
“No, Ferrari FF, is the ultimate hot hatch by anyone’s metric, super fast!”
You want to throw age, desirability or rarity into the equation, that’s a tall order.
If push came to shove, I would say 20 + years, desirability is of course very subjective, we all like different things.

“Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi, best hot hatch of all time, light weight pocket rockets”
“No, Ferrari FF, is the ultimate hot hatch by anyone’s metric, super fast!”
You want to throw age, desirability or rarity into the equation, that’s a tall order.
If push came to shove, I would say 20 + years, desirability is of course very subjective, we all like different things.
"What is a classic?"
Who else remembers Practical Classic magazine featuring 15yo cars in the 70's and 80's?
There is no defined limit, but if an insurer offers a 'classics' policy, that's good enough for me!
A further, perhaps more apt description for younger 'classics' may be 'hobby car'?
Either way, OP, please tell us more about your P&J, with images!

Who else remembers Practical Classic magazine featuring 15yo cars in the 70's and 80's?
There is no defined limit, but if an insurer offers a 'classics' policy, that's good enough for me!
A further, perhaps more apt description for younger 'classics' may be 'hobby car'?
Either way, OP, please tell us more about your P&J, with images!

M138 said:
Funny you mention that but my brother was a big Porsche fan, still is but hasn’t got one now. Whether it’s Porsche or the dealers but he would come back from Dick Lovett’s saying they’re making this rare limited edition Boxster Spyder around 2010 and he bought one, then they said making a Boxster Spyder with a 911 engine as a last hurrah of the six cylinder Boxsters and he bought one, a few years later they made another version of the Boxster Spyder, now it’s a RS Boxster Spyder. Porsche make so many of limited run cars it’s become a bit of a farce imho.
I completely agree with you especially with the GT versions of the 911 . Inevitably I find myself asking how much higher can Porsche go with that rear wing and what are those fake bonnet vents for ? Its a racket that amounts to little more than Insider Trading the way Porsche allocate these Models .GoodOlBoy said:
InitialDave said:
Probably somewhere in the region of 20-25 years, I'd say. But it's not just about age.
I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.
OP - now you have a definition to work with I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.

Mr Tidy said:
InitialDave said:
M138 said:
Just interested to know what constitutes a classic?
Is it 40 years?
Probably somewhere in the region of 20-25 years, I'd say. But it's not just about age.Is it 40 years?
I view it as a balance between age, rarity, how interesting it is and so on.
A big chunk of it is if the car draws my attention and makes me think "huh, not seen one of those in a while".
Doesn't even have to be a good car. In fact, I can probably add rarity/catches attention points if it's something truly awful like a Tata Safari, just for the fact it's even still around after a couple of decades.
So M138s lovely Maserati deserves to appear here.
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