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How do you define a classic car?

23 February, 2016

According to the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), or to us English speakers, the International Federation of Historic Vehicles, a ‘historic’ vehicle is not simply an ‘old’ vehicle. FIVA is lobbying European politicians for a clear definition of a ‘historic vehicle’ as it calls for consistent, Europe Union (EU)–wide exemptions from low-emission-zone restrictions.

Patrick Rollet, president of FIVA, explains: “By ‘historic vehicle’, we mean a mechanically propelled road vehicle at least 30 years old, preserved and maintained in a historically correct condition, and not used as a means of daily transport. These vehicles are part of our technical and cultural heritage and, in our opinion, should not be lumped together with old, badly maintained cars that are used as cheap, everyday transport, when considering the problem of urban air pollution.”

FIVA understands the need for low-emission zones (LEZs), as towns have to comply with targets set in EU air-quality directives, and they must comply with health concerns expressed by the World Health Organization. Clearly, as older vehicles tend to be more of a source of pollution when compared with newer vehicles, LEZ measures often target older vehicles — but FIVA argues that there are many good reasons as to why the contribution of historic vehicles to urban air pollution is negligible:

  1. Historic vehicles — whether cars, motorcycles, or utilitarian — make up an insignificantly small fraction of road vehicles, and an even smaller fraction of road traffic, hence their contribution to air pollution is proportionately tiny. Since they are generally used purely for pleasure, they are rarely used in urban areas at peak times — and for all these reasons, emissions from these culturally important vehicles are statistically irrelevant.
  2. Historic vehicles are well maintained, again, reducing their impact on the environment. Owners typically spend several thousand euros per year on restoration, purchase of parts and accessories, maintenance, and repairs. 
  3. Historic vehicles are driven carefully — as reflected in their very low insurance premiums.
  4. Very few historic vehicles have diesel engines, which is the primary target of many LEZs.

“Historic vehicle owners preserve motoring heritage and provide the public with a free museum of our motoring history and culture by using their vehicles on public roads,” adds Rollet. “It would be a great shame to see the disintegration of this important aspect of our cultural heritage.” 

Meanwhile, any bans or restrictions on the use of historic vehicles will not only be grossly unfair on owners, but will also impact the thousands of small businesses that depend on the historic vehicle movement. 

“Many countries across the EU have already positively decided that historic vehicles should be exempt from their low-emission-zone restrictions, including Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, and the UK. However, not only do the rules vary between one EU nation and another, but in some instances the rules can be different even when travelling from town to town within the same country. This is extremely confusing for historic vehicle owners.

“In summary, we are lobbying the EU politicians for three things. First, that there is a clear definition of ‘historic vehicles’ as opposed to simply ‘old’ vehicles. Secondly, that historic vehicles should be exempt from LEZ restrictions. And thirdly, that the exemption is applied consistently — not only within each country, but across the EU as a whole. We warmly encourage historic vehicle clubs and owners to likewise lobby their own national authorities where LEZs exist or are
proposed.”

About FIVA

FIVA was founded in 1966 in response to an idea formulated by a handful of organizations representing the interests of historic vehicle enthusiasts within a number of different countries. The founders felt that the time had come for an international body to promote and guide the interests of the historic vehicle movement throughout the world. At present FIVA can boast over 85 member organizations in more than 62 countries throughout the world, which in turn represent more than 1,500,000 historic vehicle enthusiasts.

Classics on the green

16 October, 2026

Many pretenders vie for the title, but the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance gets my vote as the biggest thing since sliced bread.
The 71st edition of the world’s pre-eminent and best-known concours event featured 28 classes, judged by a 180-strong jury, which also chose the recipients of 26 special awards.
The size of the event, the number of visitors, and, most mind-numbingly, the sheer number of amazing cars, is almost overwhelming. There are so many quality cars to gaze upon, and so many people gazing at those cars, that it is almost impossible to cover everything.
Notable among the many attractions were the centenary celebrations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an elegant Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, Hermann Graber’s Swiss-bodied cabriolets and coupés, the jewels of Otto Vu Italian V8s, early Alfa Romeos, Lincoln and its centenary, and cars with unorthodox propulsion systems.

Janspeed recreates the Jaguar sports car

29 September, 2026

Thankfully, a few of these cars made it to New Zealand, the odd one being imported from the UK over the years. However, the 1988 British Racing Green example owned by Bill Slater in Upper Hutt was originally sold as a standard car but converted using the full Janspeed kit by the first owner within a couple of years of buying it.
Bill has owned a few other Jaguars. In fact, after he sold his Jaguar XJ12 in 2018, he found himself pining for another and, when the XJ-S came up for sale, he could not resist it. Having just sold the V12, he was not expecting much from the six-cylinder car other than more reliability and it being cheaper to keep on the road. Naturally, he had heard of the influence Janspeed had on the marque, but it was not until he took the car for a test drive that he became aware of just how superior it was to the car he had just sold. The price of a second-hand Janspeed XJ-S and that of a standard 3.6 XJ-S is quite comparable, making the Janspeed version an incredible bargain, even more so in comparison with other performance classic cars — or even modern cars, for that matter — which cost far more bucks for the bang.