The words "classic" and "historic" are usually used as synonyms to refer to cars of a certain age, it may seem that we are referring to the same thing, however, this is not the case for the competent administrations that regulate this type of vehicle: the DGT, the autonomous communities and the town councils.
Classic vehicles are vehicles that meet all or most of the requirements to become historic vehicles but have not gone through the process of conversion to this classification.
The term “classic” is the most popular internacionally term but in Spain there is only a special regime for historic vehicles. Hence, the registration granted to them always begins with the letter H.
There is no doubt that historic is the correct name for the State. This appears in Royal Decree 1247/1995 of 14 July. In which the Regulation on Historical Vehicles was approved, which was later modified by Royal Decree 920/2017.
For a car to be considered historic, it must meet the following conditions for the vehicle to be registered; it must have been manufactured or registered for the first time 30 years or more ago, no more units of that model must be manufactured and it must maintain its original state without changes in its technical characteristics.
Any vehicle that complies with any of these characteristics may be classified as a ‘historic vehicle’ for legal purposes, which the owner may request from the competent authorities.
All vehicles over 30 years of age can enjoy the benefit of the Road Tax, generally, most local councils practice it once that date has arrived, and in some cases, this type of vehicle can enjoy considerably cheaper insurance prices.
Collector’s vehicles: those which, because of their interest, relevance or because they are rare or peculiar, should be catalogued as historic vehicles, even if they are not more than 25 years old.
Collector’s vehicles are those that belong to the first decades of automotive history, usually those models that, due to their morphology, differ from current cars.
Having, wanting or preserving a classic does not make it a collection vehicle by default, it must have some characteristic that makes it remarkable and above all, desirable for collectors.