So who is it that decides if a car receives classic status or not? I for one believe that the coupe should be classed as one and in my eye's it is.

- It is no longer made
- It was groundbreaking in it's time
- There are specialist garages and web sites dedicated to it
- You can insure it as a classic
- Most owners in this day and age are so because of the design and styling

Who the hell decides the status on these things?

Well mines on classic insurance!

Classic & Sportscar have it on their list of future classics.

This is what I'm saying - future classics? Is there some sort of time period that we must wait for?

The E Type is supposed to have been one of the quicker cars to become classic.
It was launched in 1961 and the last ones were in 1975.
They were classic by the late '80s I guess.
I guess classic status might have been the result of a price hike?

Believe it or not the E type Jag was a crap car when it was launched & didnt exactly lived up to the hype. Top speed was a lie, brakes were crap & they rusted like a bas@@@@@. At the end of the day it was a relatively fast sports car aimed at the masses.For the money nothing came close realy. Although the Coop in many eyes may seem a classic I honestly dont think it will be a cult classic simply because its based on a much simpler car in a fancy dress. I know some will not agree with me & although I love the Coop myself doesn't automatically make it a classic.So many Coupes out there now & the Fiat although a nice looking car doesn't have that huge a following like it or not.

People consider the old E93A Ford Popular, the perpendicular one, a classic.

If ever there was a crap car during its production life, that was it. A 1930s car built and sold during the 1950s.

Classic seems to equate to age these days rather than any true worth.

You can insure them as a classic, classic car shows exept them as a classic and they are starting to be advertised in classic car mags so too me that makes them a classic.

You can insure any car over 10 years old I think as a classic, but you are limited to 5000 mls or less, or there abouts. As said, really old cars if they are in pretty much good condition are sought after. Decades down the line I'm sure the Coop will attain some status, but they need to be in good condition. Personally I think the Coop is pretty much a classic, but many years from now will obviously be the test. I'm certainly not disputing what some think here & I'm a huge fan myself, or else I wouldn't be on here. Slightly off topic, but according to some sources, many a future classic went to the crusher, under the governments scrappage scheme.... Just to clarify, although I may think its a classic like others, my opinions may not be agreed by some...

i think the 16v n|a as a classic

but i dont know about all you forced induction boys

A sports car that has its underpinnings on a 'normal' car doesn't disqualify it from becoming a classic. See Triumph Spitfire as one of many examples.

Personally I think the Coupe may miss out on classic status which pains me. Cars like ours do the usual fall to banger status but I'm not sure they will do the upward rise again. The Alfa GTV is certainly on the way up already and these probably helped by the badge will be sure fire classics. I do wonder if the smart money will go into the GTV especially V6 instead of the Coupe, similar buyer really.

I really hope I'm wrong as the attrition rate on Coupes seems to be getting bigger all the time and snowballing because of low prices. Only the best turbos I'm sure will be left in a very short space of time, as an NA enthusiast myself it seems a shame.

Has any car manufacturer ever started remaking the exact same model after a number of years?

I would like to see Fiat remake the Coupe - not a replacement, but the same one that we all drive!

I'm not really bothered if it becomes a classic or not. I just don't want it to totally disappear off the roads.

Nissan did it with the 240Z, basically bought up a load of old ones and refurbed them.
They then sold them in the US through their main dealers.

Totally agree but not wanting to lose them off the roads but think it is going to happen.

The MGRV8 was pretty close to that.
The bodyshell was made by Heritage, and I suppose a lot of the parts on it were made from original equipment that had been salvaged to serve the restorers.

Funny that at the time the journos were saying "if you want a real sports car buy a TVR", but now the RV8 values are higher.

Any that survive the next 10+ years largely unmolested will be deemed classics.

Cars in general are disposable white goods now, have been since 2000 imo. Any interesting older stuff (such as the coupe) which survives (as well as the parts support survives too) will be sought after.

Just hope we're still allowed to drive evil petrol monsters in the future.

I suspect that petrol-engined cars will be a rare commodity in twenty years time...

I think classic status is gained by any second hand car when demand for them outstrips supply and the prices of even shoddy examples go up, be it for spares or repair.

As for the Coupe I suspect that this will take a few years yet.
Classic cars to me would need to be around the 20 - 25yr mark to be honest classics, I wonder how many 20vT's will see 25 years?

Lancia Delta's to me are already classics IMHO though...

With supply/demand in mind, I wonder if the Barchetta might get there first (i.e. increasing price).

It is rarer in the UK
It is a convertible
It is simpler and cheaper to insure
They kept the model line up simple

Maybe all it takes is for someone to pay a really high price for one and hey presto! Everyone wants to sell them at auctions....then suddenly everyone wants to get hold of one.....all the crappers are snapped up, done up and sold on, so on, so forth...

Maybe we should do as our government does and simply make up a fictitious story and inform the press

On the subject of the government - I saw a great bumper sticker yesterday

"DON'T STEAL - The government hates competition"

Good point.
Also a bit of provenance might help.

Paul McCartney's old car, or a few race victories.

"This car beat a Proton Wira away from the lights on the Newbury bypass June 2009

Thenceforth it amassed a string of victories against stiff competition including Daewoo Leganzas, Citroen Picassos etc..."

As soon as people stop feeling the need to sell them for pennys, the sooner the prices will increase. if every one on here did a price fix (much like them robbing electric company's!) and agreed no coupes sell for under 3k then very quickly you would see a hike in prices because other people would see if they can get away with there prices that high.
Of course, the sell rate would go right down, but at least if they did sell, they would end up in the hands of people that could afford to maintain them

They've still got a long way to go, and only the most pristine examples of the most desireable versions will ever make decent money. That's just my opinion, but cars don't make money through appreciation, they make money "on the turn" for traders.

I don't know about this, there are plenty of rag-bag Alfa GTV's knocking around for under £1k on eBay and AutoTrader, same with the Coupe. At the end of the day, both are fairly rare cars and in a few years will surely be classic status. Mind you the term classic is loosely banded around to pretty much anything over 20 years old, I mean the Morris Marina is now regarded by certain car mags as a classic, yet it contributed nothing to the world of cars except an awful design and dated running gear.

A firm called Middlebridge brought the right to the Reliant Scimitar GTE from Reliant and introduced the Middlebridge Scimitar GTE in the early 1990's using the same bits but fitted with the latest Ford 2.9 V6. They sold a few but followed Reliant's path by going bust not long after.

And if you were a fan of the Mk2 Astra or Mazda 121, you could say that the Daewoo Nexia & Kia Pride were inspired copies of two cars not worth copying.

Bet ya didn't know there was a very similar number of E-Types manufactured as there were Coupes!