Whew....I'm still vintage....but very close to being an antique!  LOL

I do however agree that the term is thrown around very loosely on auction sites, I don't really believe something that was made in the late '90's is vintage....but close...

My grand mother once told me you cannot call yourself old until you are 100.  I use that as a measure for a lot of things in life.  At 96 she still square danced at least once a week so she must have had something right. 

Cars in the USA have a clear distinction, but they had to find a standard for insurances..

Classic = 20 years

Vintage = is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930. 

Antique = 100 years

The UK sees things a little different

Veteran - Applies to cars constructed up to 31st December 1904. Only these cars may take part in the annual London to Brighton run. This celebrates the Emancipation Run which took place in 1896 upon the repeal of the so called Red Flag Act. This meant that cars could be driven freely without a man walking in front with a red flag!

Edwardian - Relates to cars built from 1905 until the end of the Great War in 1918, but not many were made after about 1915.

Vintage - Relates to cars made from the end of the Great War, effectively 1919, until the end of 1930 after which the VSCC considered cars declined in quality of construction.

Post Vintage Thoroughbred - PVT cars are those made from 1931 to the end of 1940 provided they continued to meet certain quality standards eg. Rolls Royce, Sunbeam, Lagonda, Alvis and Talbot.

 Classic - This name is usually applied to quality post 1945 cars.

Vintage can be any age, but tends to be more recent than "antique."  Typically, a vintage knife would be one that is no longer in production.

I did some research and the best I can find comes from a Martha Stewart article.  An antique is usually 100 or more years old.  Vintage can be anything short of that.