On the relativity of the classic car concept
01/23/2012
The picture, found on the cover of an ADAC Motorwelt magazine from 1958, makes you think about the relativity of the term "classic car".
The blonde lady in the brand-new and ultra-modern BMW 507 looks over at the crew of a car from the first period of automobile construction that is around 50 years older, truly a classic car.
A good 50 years later, the 507 has of course also matured into a noble classic car for us; we hardly ever see vehicles from before 1900 anymore, and when we do, it's on a demonstration drive at an event or in a museum.
We already grant classic car status to cars built in 1982, i.e. vehicles such as the early VW Golf or the Mercedes 190E, which have perhaps just disappeared from everyday traffic. And some may wonder whether a Tesla, a Fisker or a Dacia Logan will have matured into a classic car by the time the year 2042 rolls around.
It's hard to imagine from today's perspective, but it probably seemed just as unreal to our ancestors, if they thought about such questions at all. For the lady in the picture, at any rate, the potential future status of the BMW 507 as a classic car was probably the least of her problems ...
