You need the best classic car insurance you can find...at a price you can afford. Who can look at a perfectly detailed '56 Chevy Bel Air without automatically hearing Little Richard belting out "Tutti Frutti" or swaying to the Platters' "Oh-oh-oh ye-es, I'm the Great Pretender...?" Or maybe you prefer tooling your 1960 El Camino down the road crooning "Only the Lonely."
Whatever your wheels, if you're in love with a classic car, you want to take good care of the old.

Antique and classic cars are those built at least 25-30 years ago. Hmmm... that's not really so old, is it? I was a little offended recently to see a '65 VW Beetle listed as an "antique" at a show. That's not an antique; that's the car I drove in college! I may be a classic but I ain't no antique!
But I am a bit pampered, just like your beloved classic wheels. So how can you best protect them with car insurance?

You might think you should just put your vintage wheels on your regular auto insurance policy. But you'd probably be wrong. Classic cars are different. You probably don't drive that beauty every day. Most likely, she just comes out to show her stuff at car shows and drive-in rallies, maybe the occasional Fun Run or Sunday afternoon drive. The rest of the time, she's in a securely locked garage.

And there's another difference between a classic and your regular daily drive. While your regular car is losing value every day through depreciation, your classic collectible car is probably gaining in value. This is an investment you should be protecting.

Most standard auto insurance companies don't know how to value a classic car and don't understand the differences. They will often charge higher premiums and have more restrictive policies than a company that specializes in insuring classic and vintage vehicles. Their claims adjuster won't understand why it's important to use original parts or have work done by a specialist in collector cars. By going with a specialty classic car insurer, you'll usually pay less for full coverage than a standard insurance company will charge for liability alone.

Some parts of your specialty classic car insurance will look familiar. You need basic liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage, collision and comprehensive insurance, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and personal injury protection.

Rates for specialized car insurance are surprisingly low, usually only a fraction of what you pay for regular auto insurance. The logic is that you won't be driving it much and you'll be very careful to take good care of it when you do. The chances of a claim are low and the premiums reflect that.

But before they give you those low rates, specialty insurance companies do have some conditions. First, they'll require proof that you have at least one "regular use" vehicle for every licensed driver in your household. If you don't, they'll assume that someone's going to use the classic as a regular car. And they'll insure it that way--and charge accordingly.

They will also put a limit on the number of miles you can drive each year. Some policies limit you to 1,000 miles, others to 2,500 or 5,000. The more miles, the more you'll pay. They will also require that the car is garaged when not in use in a secure closed, lockable storage facility. They may also have minimum age requirements for drivers of classic cars.
If you and your classic beauty meet those requirements, here are some features you should consider when you compare rates for classic car insurance.

• Agreed Value Coverage - If your vintage car is stolen or totaled, you want to get the full value of it from your insurer. With this feature, you and your insurance company agree in advance on the value of your car and that's what you'll receive. As the value of the car increases, either through upgrades or appreciation, you should increase the Agreed Value on your insurance policy.
• Full pleasure driving allowed - You bought it to drive it, right? Make sure your policy will cover the types of events and conditions for which you plan to drive the car.
• Mileage Limitation - Think about how many miles you will drive your antique car in a year. Don't pay for miles you don't need--but don't set mileage limitations so low they leave your baby stuck in the garage when you want to be cruisin' the road.
• Flat-rate Liability Coverage - Since you can only drive one car at a time, many specialized insurers will charge a single liability rate to cover a whole collection of classic cars.
• Spare Parts Coverage - Classic car parts almost always cost more than for a regular car, and you may have added specially upgraded parts, so this feature gives you extra coverage.
• Towing and Labor coverage - In case you break down on the road, you'll want to be covered for towing.
• Shipping Coverage - Sometimes you might ship your baby to out-of-state shows or overseas events. Decide if you'll need coverage while she's in transit.
• Inflation Guard - Some specialty classic car insurance companies will automatically increase the agreed value coverage on your classic car by a set percentage every quarter, to keep the appreciating value accurate.
• Car Club Discounts - If you belong to a classic car club, it might make your already low classic car insurance rates even lower.

Whether it's a muscle car or a street rod, a 'Vette, a Mustang or a Model-T, your antique or collector car deserves the right kind of classic car insurance. And it shouldn't cost you the earth. Armed with the right questions to ask, you'll be able to shop around, compare insurance quotes, and get the coverage you need with plenty of cash left over for that 727 Torqueflite 3 spd transmission, custom headers and powder coating, plus an extra pair of angora dice for when you want to get your kicks on Route 66.

So what are you waiting for? The road's waiting.