Well it's now clear to me that the term "classic" means different things to different people. Even this wikipedia says so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_car

But I still think cars like the Porsche 356 and Jaguar E-Type are more special (hence they are more valuable) than the more everyday cars of their era. And there are some cars from the 80s, 90s and today that I will never consider as real classics (like the ones I mentioned in my previous posts).

In Germany you can get a "historic" number for cars, when they are older than 30 years and in quite original condition. The yearly tax is lower, the insurance, too.

Yes, especially for me as an license-plate-fan, it caused also the problem, that you must have a special, modern plate.
It's very sad, that for this regulation, the absolute most of old, original license-plate -especially from towns or counties, which don't have own plates since decades any more, are gone irretrievably

Where I lived in the past and now, I had (until a changed law last year), the theoretical possibility to buy a car with such ancient plates and registrate it on my name, just to keep the plate, but I was never lucky. Nowc it's too late.

Perhaps I should have bought the car in 1992 with such a plate, offerend by friend of mine. But I had no money - and was coward, because I was afraid of the reliability of the car. It was a Simca 1100.

The following year I tried to catch an Audi 60 with old plates - it was sold one day, before I had called the seller.

The old registration of a K 70 was expired, because the former owner didn't take enough care. I really would have bought the (quite rotten) car and would have -surely illegally- cut out the FIN-number and put it into annother, better K 70, just to save the license-plate.

In the 90ies, when I lived in Dortmund, I had the (real fictious) chance again, but I could get one of the last 3 (three!) cars at that part of the town, which still had plates from the time, before the village belonged to the town of Dortmund.

So me as an old-plate-lover had tried several times to get a vehicle with an ancient plate, while otherwise some idiots are giving up them just for saving tax. :mad:

In North Carolina, when a vehicle reaches 35 years of age, a special Classic Vehicle Tag can be purchase for the vehicle.

Look Ingo, this is how "historical plates" look like in Spain (but remember that these are the ones you get if you declare your car as historic, not the one the car got when it was bought years ago)

Ah, so Spain is the second European country after Germany with this system of special historic plates. It sounds similar like over here.
If you make a special registration as historical car, you get a new license-plate.

This is not neccessary. So in Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands and other EU-countries, you just get -in NL automatically, when the car is over 25 years old- a lower tax or no tax at all. But you can keep the old plate.

In the Netherlands and Luxemburg you even can get for cars (older than 1975 or 1977, I just don't know), even when they were brought into the country later, a plate in the old style, when you want it. O.k., the combination is new, but the optical impression as an 60ies or early 70ies-plate.

So many things ar possible - but not in my country.

In Sweden when a car gets 30 years old, you don't have to pay tax for it any more (only 4 Euros per year to get the taxsticker) also you only have to take the car to the vehicleinspection every two year instead of once a year.

If the car is from 1950 or older you don't have to go to the vehicleinspection at all.

You can also get a very cheap insurance from carclubs for your old car but then it have to be in perfect condition and you can't use it as dailydriver.

In Belgium for cars that are more than 25 years old it is similar to Spain & Germany: you can get a special plate (starting by O, like "old-timer", followed by 2 other letters then 3 numbers)
Then you pay nearly nothing as taxes and the technical check ("contrôle technique") is much easier to pass (you only have to prove that the car is able to stop by itself with any braking system and few easy things like that), but you can only drive by day (not night), not more than 25km away from home except if you go to a special meeting of cars, and you cannot use it as daily-driver.
Other solution is to keep a normal registration but having a reduced insurance if it is not your main car or if you do not drive it a lot. But then you still pay maximal taxes.
If you wish an old-style plate it is possible: for a little more than 800 € you can get a 5-digit plate, like what cars had between 1951 and 1973 (older plates do not exist anymore). But the plate is not exactly the same as the old one: it is produced like the current 6-digit plates (size, font, color, etc.), but this is not very noticeable.

By the state of Pensylvania's legal definition, my Grand Marquis is a "classsic"
"A motor vehicle, but not a reproduction thereof, manufactured at least 15 years prior to the current year which has been maintained in or restored to a condition which is substantially in conformity with manufacturer specifications and appearance."

North Carolina tag colors from 1913-1975
I just found this site (really interesting)

http://local.aaca.org/bntc/nclaw/ncplates.htm


Sharing the road in North Carolina in 1909
http://local.aaca.org/bntc/nclaw/09road.htm