classic car?

[WmWatt]

I bought my Festiva just over 22 years ago. I've read that when a car gets to be 20 yrs old it's a classic. So I wonder, when I do repairs on my car now am I restoring a classic?

Here in Ontario when a car gets to be 30 yrs old the province considers it to be an antique. I can hardly wait.

[georgeb]

In MD they a 20 yr. old car is eligible for historic tags. No state insp, no emissions test, and half-price tags.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

In WA, you become exempt from smog inspections (the only inspection we have) at 25 years, but can still use your vehicle as your daily driver. If you go for the "classic" program, you can only drive it in/to/from parades and the like. I haven't seen too many parades with Festivas in them -- not yet.

I used to drive an airplane that (when I sold it 7 years ago) was 60 years old and had no Phillips screws or nylon stopnuts (everything was slotted screws with cotter-pinned castle nuts), reportedly because neither had yet been invented when it was built in 1944.

Next time you Eastcoasters fly on USAir or American, particularly in crappy weather, remember than many of their aircraft (old gas-hog DC9's) are nearly 50 years old and were supposed to have been melted down and reincarnated into paper clips 20 years ago.

[Bert]

I think the rules in Ontario are 25 years: classic and 30 years: antique. The unfortunate part of living in southern Ontario is that e-tests (this applies to any vehicle made after 1987) are slated to go on into perpetuity. Imagine not being able to sell your antique as anything but parts or a static display. Instead of rewarding folks for keeping a vehicle alive gov't uses it as a bi-annual source of income. My carburetted 86 Ford (there weren't very many of these amongst the way more common EFI models) couldn't pass e-tests no matter how hard I tried until I slapped a Cat on it, temporarily. It's exempt now and I thumb my nose everytime a license renewal arrives.
By the way AlaskaFestivaGuy; Peter L. Robertson (a Canadian!) invented the square recess screw and patented it way back in 1908. Henry Ford had dollar signs in his eyes when he saw the assembly line use for these revolutionary self-aligning and stay-on-the-screwdriver fasteners but Robertson would not relinquish the rights. Spiteful and vindictive Ford bought out Mr Phillips 1918 not-quite-as-good system instead. No doubt the Piper or Cessna you owned had no manufacturing affiliation with FoMoCo nor was it made in Canada. I noticed with great amazement, at Expo 86 in Vancouver, that the Soviets put all their spacecraft and high tech gear together with slot screws! No wonder they couldn't compete in the real world and saw their empire crumble.

[Bert]

WmWatt: I know you live just down the road from me but I've never come across you or your car despite passing through City View on a regular basis. The Aspire suspension swap is singularly the biggest improvement I have ever made to a Festiva. Not only does it look 'less housewifey' but it handles like a sports car, the brakes are superior and tires will never be an obstacle. Replacing front rotors is now also a breeze. If you're planning to keep the car I would strongly suggest keeping your eye out for a dead or dying Aspire to figure on bolting underneath as a winter project.

[Safety Guy]

Here is Ohio's BMV page on "historical" plates:

http://bmv.ohio.gov/sp_historical.stm

I had to type "historical" into their search slot to get this. I couldn't figure out how to get there any other way. The "special plates" category didn't include this one, and I did not see any reference to them on that site. Nothing that would make any sense, anyway.

Essentially, it's 25 years old for Ohio, and it costs a "one time fee" of ten dollars. (Other fees may apply, since I can't figure out Ohio's whole licensing system and it appears to be designed to confuse everyone who tries to figure it out.)

Ohio "historical" plated cars can only be "used for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, etc. They are NOT for general transportation."

I wonder about just driving them occasionally, to visit to show someone, or to get serviced, or keep them running properly, etc. No guidelines are given for "occasional" use, so it appears to be forbidden. In other words, why shouldn't someone be able to drive it once a month or so?

Just like lawmakers to have it this way.

On the other hand, most cops probably won't be that nosy or even interested unless you are flaunting it's use or do something stupid.

Plus, what your insurance company says is undoubtedly more important. If they can show you drive it "too much" and get in an accident, they won't be likely to pay up.

The biggest use for this type of plate that I see will be when our car year range begins (2013 for 1989s, up to 2018 for '93 Festivas), those of us who have more than three or four cars will be able to "historical plate" those you don't drive as much and save a lot of money on plates every year. Every little bit helps for us cheapskates!

Karl

[DriverOne]

*sigh* I drive a classic car... Time goes by too quickly... Looks like I'll have to buy a Fiat next to stay in the micro-car game.