Thread: What is the difference between now and then

I was just thinking, if I had a '61 car in '81, it would be considered a classic, but I have a 91 in 2011 and it still holds it's own. What is the difference in 20 years then and 20 years now. That said, happy 20 B13.

I was thinking about that too...in 2014 I will call mine a classic but other people that I tell that too will be like...umm...NO!!

The difference must be your perception and possibly your age in relation to the age of the car. I was 24 when the B14 SE-R landed and the B13 slowly started being refered to as the "classic", so now at (gulp) 41 it's a little tough for me to grasp that the B13 is 20 years old. Partly because it reminds me of my age.

Of course the B13 was a clean design that still "works" some twenty years on. Like it or not, at 20 years old many states will recognize it as a "classic" or "historic" vehicle as far as registration is concerned.

I am 41 also and it is not the age. It is the technological advancement in the last 20 years compared to 1961-1981. Our cars are built much like what is still on the road today, more or less. Give or take 500lbs, 60 or so more airbags and ride height. What took place in the 90's that almost, for lack of a better word, became standard?

20 year is still 20 years.a classic to some isnt a classic at all....to some its still a sentra or an nx....

Take the MGB, chassis/body didn't change at all (save ride height), while the original was gleamingly glamorously gorgeous the latest was purely patheticly plastic. The car should have been put out of it's misery in 70 or so.
There has been a plateau in terms of technology, ergonomics and design. Comparing our 92 3er to a brand new Toyo Corrolla we were forced to rent this summer, we felt the bimmer to be perfectly modern and funtional ... er, once the cooling issue was resolved (totally preventable as everybody knows the M50 h20 pumps are only good for 75K max). Fashions are repeating now, in the 80s 'metalic' dash trimming was upscale, 90s it was black/minimal/zen (some wood in teh luxos) and in the 00s shiny was back.
The b13 was already a hair 'retro' for it's time in terms of exterior design. And yes, i can admit the NX is an acquired taste.
Although that's a little deceiving, for as much as the ABS sucked, it had it, airbags too. And the b14 could just as easlily be the previous gen to today.
The interior isn't old enough to be really retro like the square stuff from the 80s.

Also, we are talking Japanese cars here, which at best were having their 1st renaissance in the 80s. The Murricans and Euros ruled for half a century at this point. What is there from WAY back in terms of collectibles? Toyo 2000GT for sure and maybe Mazda Cosmo or Honda S800, but this wasn't until the MID 60s. For as much as we love the brand, Datsun didn't join the party until even a little later with the 240Z.
A Sentra is a Sentra, a cheap little car. Even making Car & Driver's 10best every ... single ... year it was produced (and the ga16 often doing very well in econo comparos) wasn't enough. It may never reach the 'classic' status of say a Toyo ae86 Corolla or it's 'big brothers': s13 & z32.
And maybe, just maybe that's a good thing. It can remain our little secret.
Have you seen e30 prices lately? A bucket of bolts with an ///M vin can sell for 5 figures.

Hang up & Drive!
94 BMW 530iT&A 'Helga' ( Shaky, shaky *cough* ) 161K
92 BMW 325i ‘Rolf’ ( Shooting for 200K *woot* ) 193K
85 Toyo MR2 ‘Jerry’ ( Getting warmer *grins* ) 140K

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
- Hunter S. Thompson[/i]