History

The Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) was founded in 1952 to celebrate the grand automobiles of the prewar period. At the time, the vehicles covered by the club were considered to be too modern to be of any interest by such organizations as the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) and despite their extravagant cost when new, were considered at the time practically worthless. Because of this, the new club was formed and today the CCCA cars, known as Full Classics® are among the most valuable cars on the market. By recognizing the distinctive cars from 1915 – 1948, many marques and models have found their way on the list of approved Full Classics®. The founding members of the CCCA were from the New York Metropolitan area and the club had its headquarters in Madison, New Jersey. Since then, with the club having grown in size, and members world-wide, the main office moved to the center of the country near Chicago, Illinois. Today, there are 28 regions throughout the United States with the Metro Region being one.

When the CCCA was formed, it claimed the 60-mile radius of the New York City area as the operating area of the National Administration.
In effect, this precluded the formation of a region within the metropolitan area. The first ten presidents resided in the metropolitan area during their incumbencies and it was not until 1976 that a president was elected from outside this area in Baltimore, Maryland. Finally, in 1978 the CCCA Board of Directors withdrew its proscription and gave permission for the formation of a region in the headquarters area. In March of 1979, the provisional Metro Region held its first general membership meeting. During its first year, 120 of the approximately 450 members living in the area joined the Metro Region. Today, with publications, exposure to social media and exciting events, the hope is to keep the passion for these grand vehicles alive and attract younger members to continue the traditions that the Charter members envisioned back in 1952.