What Is Age?

[Marxist]

You recreate (don't mind how or why, it's not important) a 1968 Mustang down to the correct serial numbers and exact formulation of the steel, paint, upholstery and engine; yet the car is brand spankin' new, it just rolled off your backyard assembly line. The only way one would know the difference between this car and any other produced that year would be the lack of a proper "build sheet" that showed it was manufactured in Detroit.

Question:

If the people at the DMV insisted that you register your car as a 2002-3, which cost hundreds more, are they justified?

How would you make your argument?

Would you make one?



I ask this because I'm writing a story involving age and wanted a few new perspectives...

 

[RastaPope]

I'd just call my lawyer do to it for me.

 

[erosman]

I'm not sure it refers to age, Rick...I mean Marxist

I have a modified/restored '59 Apache pick-up. I paid $10k for it, several years ago. It was worth $15k. Today, it is still worth $15k, or perhaps more. The original cost was probably $2k - $3k. The DMV actually gives me a break because it's a collector's vehicle. So, what the fuck does that have to do with your question? Hell, I don't know. My neighbor has a vehicle he paid $32k for. His has devalued $8k-$10k while mine has held its value.

Wouldn't the DMV tax off of cost - real expense? Replicas, which is what you are talking about I think, are in their own class. So, what if you hung yourself on a cross, today? Would that make you Jesus?

Maybe you're as old as you think you are.

 

[Marxist]

Re: I'm not sure it refers to age, Rick...I mean Marxist

I have a modified/restored '59 Apache pick-up. I paid $10k for it, several years ago. It was worth $15k. Today, it is still worth $15k, or perhaps more. The original cost was probably $2k - $3k. The DMV actually gives me a break because it's a collector's vehicle. So, what the fuck does that have to do with your question? Hell, I don't know. My neighbor has a vehicle he paid $32k for. His has devalued $8k-$10k while mine has held its value.

Wouldn't the DMV tax off of cost - real expense? Replicas, which is what you are talking about I think, are in their own class. So, what if you hung yourself on a cross, today? Would that make you Jesus?

Maybe you're as old as you think you are.

Would a car that is 100% identical to an original merely be a replica?

The car I'm describing couldn't exist in the real world, but the question is really one of age. Are you saying that my new mustang is brand new and should be regarded as such?

 

[erosman]

Re: Re: I'm not sure it refers to age, Rick...I mean Marxist

Are you saying that my new mustang is brand new and should be regarded as such?

Well, it has no history, no memories, no mileage. Yes, it is new. It is an old design, but that doesn't make it old. Sometimes in my work we 'rusticize' things...make them appear to be old...speed up the aging process, but they still are new. Your mustang may feel like it's a '68, but it doesn't have 34 years of experience, and it doesn't have the 'captured' moment of rolling off the assembly line. It's a reproduction.

 

[BustyTheClown]

Re: Re: Re: I'm not sure it refers to age, Rick...I mean Marxist

Well, it has no history, no memories, no mileage. Yes, it is new. It is an old design, but that doesn't make it old. Sometimes in my work we 'rusticize' things...make them appear to be old...speed up the aging process, but they still are new. Your mustang may feel like it's a '68, but it doesn't have 34 years of experience.

As frustrated as you might be, Marxist, I think erosman is right. Your car has charm, but no experience, and that's why the DMV is requiring you to register your car as a 2002-03. It's new.

 

[MissTaken]

This leads to the question of cloning?

If a 40 year old man is cloned, is his genetic clone 40 years old or an infant?

My vote goes to infant...as erosman indicated, without history, experience etc, it is a brand new car, a brand new human.

We are a culmination of our experiences, the end result of years of outside stimuli.


So, the car is brand new, but yes, a separate class.

editted for afterthought

Needs: The "new classic" car will have different needs than an 02 -03 model.

The needs of the 40 year old man would be much different than that of an infant. Food, sleep, sex, etc.

 

[bored1]

I believe its a reproduction. Carroll Shelby has 5 or 6 Cobra frames from the 60s, As I recall there numbered. If he were to construct a "NEW" mid 60s Cobra with sequential serial numbers would it be a real Cobra?