I don't quite understand. This is how I have it setup originally, and haven't changed it.
I created a field called car year and I added each year from 2020 down to 1942 as options for the car year field, I can technically add more years, but when I click the edit button they don't show if I click edit again to view the options (years), or view on the website in the drop down menu. I DID NOT use the year range and link to data entries as it appears you stated, unless because being tired I misunderstood your message.