American Classic Cars
According to the Classic Car Club of America there are strict guidelines to what is a classic car. They say it must be between 20 and 45 years old and typically a classic car was built in limited numbers and pretty expensive when it was new. There are a few other determining factors when it comes to the American classic car. For instance, whether it has power brakes, power clutch, custom coachwork and whether or not it has any luxury accessories. It also includes the engine displacement and if it has a "one-shot" or automatic lubrication system or not.
The estimated amount of American built classic cars that is accepted as a classic car by the Classic Car Club of America is around 1,366,843. Over half of these are Cadillac and Packard. The remainder of these vehicles are made up of 37 other American classic car manufacturers.
1967 Mustang Classic Car
One of the biggest issues with the classic car is the lack of safety features they posses on todays roadways. Due to the lack of seat belts and other current safety features such as , crumple zones and rollover protection, it is encouraged by U.S. to not drive these vehicles on public roads at all. Besides the lack of restraints it is known that these classic cars have very simple steering and suspension when compared to todays vehicle. Brakes are another issue when dealing with safety on the road in a classic car.
The classic car safety standards are poorer than todays safety standards and the handling of the vehicle is much different than todays vehicles. Many classic car collectors refuse to retrofit their classic car with these safety features, such as seat belts, because such additions have been known to loose points at car shows and change the originality of the vehicle. Even though there are some that still drive their classic car on the roads, there are actually very few accidents where a classic car was involved.
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