As an Old Timer I remember seeing model T Fords in regular use when I was very young. A nearby community Shiner, Texas, the home of Shiner Beer, was the home for many farm folks of Germanic heritage who kept quite a few of these old cars on the road in like new or better condition!
Over the years lots of car manufacturers went out of business (Nash and Studebaker come to mind and I know there are more) I owned a Jeep pickup truck back in the seventies made by American Moters. Driving a couple of miles from home one morning I saw a patrol car on the side of the road, and just in case I checked for my wallet only to find I had left it at home. I swung over and slowly turned around and headed home. I had travelled maybe fifty yards when I had the patrol car pulling me over!! After the officer, a young fellow I just happened to know, called in the stop and ran the plate number, walked up to my door and saw who I was. He asked me why I was using plates on my Jeep that belonged on an American Motors car. After assuring him the Jeep was an American Motors car, and that they built lots of them over the years, he sent me on my way, not once asking for my license.
He and I both had a learning experience that day!
CJ