How old does a car have to be before it becomes vintage? Does it have to drive the mean streets for 50 years? Perhaps that is too much. How about 20 years? Maybe a car can honestly be called vintage if it has lasted for 10 years of more. Any less that that seems far too new to really fall under a heading that by definition classes it as old.

Say we are being liberal, and any cars over the age of 10 years have the potential to be a vintage car. What it all really comes down to is style – an 11 year old Vauxhall Corsa would never be classed as vintage, but a 12 year old Nissan Figaro could very well be. Certain old Fords form the 80’s look like just that – old cars – yet other models are utterly undeniably vintage. It is an interesting area, and one important to the development of the classic car market. Those that turn vintage almost definitely turn classic.

Then we get to old Volvos. Old used Volvos. Which, incidentally, are some of my favourite cars. I never feel quite as brilliantly safe when I am in a car as I do when riding in my parents old Volvo, which clocks in at 15 – 20 years old. There is something about the solid construction, the big square shape and the distance from the world outside. The effect was probably made even better by the fact we were driving a beasty old estate!

See, these used Volvos seem to be holding onto life with a steely determination. Where other cars fall apart and rust, the Volvos seem, quite simply, to never die! I think, therefore, that they really do come under the label of “vintage”, and the clunky retro styling for which the Volvo brand range is known makes them effortlessly retro. Look at the old Volvo 740s – big square, and with lots of angular edges. An unexpected style icon, in my humble opinion, although not necessarily one that fits the modern curves and fluid lines of today’s favourite car shape! In my humble opinion the Volvo 440 from around 1995 looks pretty cool too, even at the same time as looking particularly retro and old fashioned!

Do you agree that old Volvos are becoming vintage? Perhaps you hate the way they look and would rather see them consigned to the horror of the scrap heap? Or maybe you feel the same as me, and have been quietly admiring the no nonsense looks of the Volvo range for a while, albeit trying to keep you feelings hidden for fear of being mocked! It may well be that you prefer the modern day Volvos – just as serious but now in a smoother, more conforming shape, without so many sharp corners?

Whatever you think, one thing will always be clear to me – those old used Volvos were the car in which I felt most safe and most happy as a child, and will always have a special place!