What Car From 25 Years Ago Do You Want to Own as a Classic?

Photo: Erin Marquis

Do you have what it takes to be a Litwood hero? I had quite the elder millennial moment today. While looking at some early ‘90s cars, I thought “gee, these cars are 25 years old! That makes them classics.” Imagine my shock, my absolute horror, when I realized no, 25 years ago was actually 1998.

The term “classic” car is pretty subjective, but I always heard the cutoff was 25 years. That’s probably because a car needs to be at least 26 years old to qualify for a classic car license plate in Michigan. It may be different where you are, but since this is the place cars come from, I think Michigan gets to set a precedence on this one. I am, essentially, calling it.

That means turn of the century (oh god) cars are coming up on classic status and I was thinking, what car from that era would I want to drive as a classic? You know, the kind of car you show off around town. That you wipe down with a chamois every Saturday, even if it hasn’t left the garage in weeks. The kind you get a jokey “parking only” sign with your model of choice.

To be nice, I’ll say any car from 1995-2005. There’s got to be a car in there that sings to your soul. I really enjoyed the dreamy ride and simple comforts of the 2002 Mazda Millenia S I drove a few years ago. But a C4 Corvette just squeaks into this category as well. Heck, the Acura NSX is also one of those cars I had on my walls as well, but I always imagined I’d end up restoring something from a Big Three brand.

The age of Litwood is dawning. So what have you got? I’m certainly not looking for car shopping ideas, if that’s what you are thinking.