Is it a Classic, or Just Old?
July 28th, 2009
There has always been a tendency for people to get a little bit excited about something relatively run of the mill, just because it was built, conceptualized, written, sung or filmed a long time ago. The word “classic” is, in some circles, frighteningly over-used. A CD album released three or four years ago which has a few good songs on it will be enough to qualify for the tag, in some people’s minds. This does a tremendous disservice to the things that really are classic. Whether it is a car, a record, a film or a book, merely having been around for long enough does not qualify as classic. If a car built 20 years ago is still running, then that is impressive. It does not make it a classic, though.
Longevity can be part of a classic, it is true. Some of the most durable vehicles are so durable due to the master craftsmanship that went into creating them – honing the parts, sourcing the right engineers, using the right techniques to make a good car into a great car. Some cars have just hung around, are on their ninth life (in cat terms) and have no justifiable claim to being works of classic art. To overuse the word like many people do is to do a disservice to the real classics. One should always think carefully before calling something a classic. Sometimes these things simply happen to just be old. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course…
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