- published: 28 Feb 2015
- views: 34072
In the United States, an antique car is generally defined as a car over 45 years of age, this being the definition used by the Antique Automobile Club of America. However, the legal definition for the purpose of antique vehicle registration varies widely. The antique car era includes the veteran car era and the brass car era which is from the beginning of the automobile up to the 1930s. In original or originally restored condition antiques are very valuable and are usually either protected and stored or exhibited in car shows but are very rarely driven.
The Veteran car era, Brass car era, and the Vintage car era, are part of the Antique car classification as all automobiles produced prior to World War I are considered as antiques.
On Christmas Eve in 1801, Richard Trevithick of England built and ran a steam-powered carriage, called the Puffing Devil, that is considered the first horseless carriage but Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot has the claim of the first steam powered vehicle with the fardier à vapeur in 1770. The first production of automobiles was by Karl Benz in 1888 in Germany and, under licence from Benz, in France by Emile Roger.