It was after WWII that car adverts looked to the future with illustrations that became more ridiculous and futuristic. Cars were still a luxury, but there was more competition, and car makers’ efforts in the war were used to promote new consumer offerings.

Car ads were getting bigger and more over the top through the ’50s — much like American cars of the time — but it was Volkswagen that changed all that with its iconic 1959 advert for the Beetle with the tagline “Think Small.” This is where the motoring world and the marketing that went along with it split.

American advertising had an ostentatious, rock-and-roll feel to it, while Europeans were taking a more compact route. America was all about the big V8 engines and imagery that included animal print and bikini-clad women. However, when the oil crisis hit in the seventies and Japan entered the market with efficient little automobiles, those rumbly V8s fell out of favor.

Legally, most states have time-based rules for the definition of “historic” or “classic” for purposes such as antique vehicle registration. For example, Maryland defines historic vehicles as 20 calendar years old or older and they “must not have been substantially altered, remodeled or remanufactured from the manufacturers original design” while West Virginia defines motor vehicles manufactured at least 25 years prior to the current year as eligible for “classic” car license plates.

Despite this, at many American classic car shows, automobiles typically range from the 1920s to the 1970s. Recently, many 1980s and even early 1990s cars are considered being “classic automobiles”. Examples of cars at such shows include the Chevrolet Bel-Air, Ford Model T, Dodge Charger, Ford Deuce Coupe, and 1949 Ford. Meanwhile, the Concours d’Elegance car shows feature prestigious automobiles such as the Cadillac V16 or pre-1940 Rolls-Royce models. There are also terms as “modern customs”, “exotics”, or “collectibles” that cover cars such as the AMC Javelin or Ford Pinto.

There are differences in the exact identification of a “classic car”. Division by separate eras include: horseless carriages (19th-century experimental automobiles such as the Daimler Motor Carriage), antique cars (brass era cars such as the Ford Model T), and classic cars (typically 1930s cars such as the Cord 812). Some also include muscle cars as well as luxury cars, with the 1974 model year as the cutoff.