I'm not going to answer the question here, or even try to - just give a few of my opinions and experiences.
My mate's got an MGB. Who hasn't? There are more of the bloody things on the roads than there are Peugeot 309s. Is it a classic? I don't think so. But then, I admit that I'd probably like them a lot more if they'd stopped building them in the early ‘70s and started building a new car instead. I'd love an MGC which had been designed for the engine it had, rather than squeezing a big heavy engine into such a little car. What would an MGD have been like - wedge shaped? MGs were always supposed to be affordable, so perhaps it could have had a tuned Rover 2200TC engine rather than the overpriced, thirsty V8 in the horribly retro RV8.
I saw a Talbot Tagora the other day. Long time since I'd seen one. I went back for a second look.
One day, I really want to own a Mark I VW Passat. Does anyone else even know what they look like?
Citroën GSs are much rarer on English roads than Rover 2000s - and there's less than a decade between the launch dates of the two cars (and only four years between the build dates of my cars). However, I am told that my Rover is a classic, where my GS is just old. People used to come up and talk to me about the Rover - no-one has ever commented on the GS, despite its rareness. In many ways, the GS is a more interesting car - the design is much more daring, for sure. So why the lack of interest, or "classic appeal?"