In the United States, an antique car is generally defined as a car

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 over 45 years of age, this being the definition used by the Antique Automobile Club of America. However, the legal definition for the purpose of antique vehicle registration

Antique vehicle registration

Antique vehicle registration is a special form of motor vehicle registration for vehicles that are considered antique, classic, vintage, or historic...

 varies widely. The antique car era includes the veteran car era and the brass car

Brass Era car

The automotive Brass Era is the first period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It extends from the first commercial automobiles marketed in the 1890s until about World War I...

 era which is from the beginning of the automobile up to the 1930s. In original or originally restored condition antiques are very valuable and are usually either protected and stored or exhibited in car shows but are very rarely driven.
The Veteran car era, Brass car era, and the Vintage car era, are part of the Antique car classification as all automobiles produced prior to World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 are considered as antiques.
On Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 Eve in 1801, Richard Trevithick

Richard Trevithick

Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...

 of England built and ran a steam-powered carriage, called the Puffing Devil, that is considered the first horseless carriage but Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot was a French inventor. He is believed to have built the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle...

 has the claim of the first steam powered vehicle with the fardier à vapeur in 1770.