Can a vintage car still be driven as a daily driver?

GHT · Jun 26, 2018

tonyb said:
Most cars are consigned to the scrapyard long before they would have had their owners taken better care of them. The original owner typically maintains it well, but with each subsequent owner, who paid progressively less (safe to assume in the large majority of cases), the car becomes a little less precious and repairs and maintenance are too long deferred. So the car craps out at 150K instead of 250K, or more.

Whatever the car, but especially the truly old ones, drive it and care for it like you’re the one who will pay for whatever goes wrong with it. Come to kindly terms.

There's an elderly gent who uses his car, if not as a daily drive, then for most of his local journeys. You can often see him in the local supermarket, while his car sits in the car park being photographed. The car is a Morris, in it's day it might not have beaten Henry for price, but it came very close. The car originally belonged to the fellow's father so it's been in the family from new. (1936)
I got to know most of this when I came out of the store one day and found the old gent going misty eyed over my MG. He was impressed that I use the car rather than treat it as a museum piece. All he does is garage his car and maintains the easier tasks, leaving the rest to an expert. He had it resprayed a couple of years back. But other than that it's proof of what you say. Look after it and it will look after you.

scotrace said:
Now I have the garage space for an old car, but it's full of boxed up books, vintage clothes and coats with no closets in which to live, a cat pee destroyed mattress, and the crate from a 1920s Edison Diamond Disc no one wants and I can't bear to send to the landfill.
Having one to drive often is a lifelong dream.

I have, or had, just the model to suit you. (note the right hand drive.)

FountainPenGirl · Jun 27, 2018

This topic is one I can jump in on. My dad and I operate a garage business that he started 50 years ago. I literally grew up with cars. I've been in the business for the last 35 years and the last 25 has been just classic and collector restoration. I drive an original 1965 Chevrolet Pickup that I've had for over 30 years. I performs better in every way you can think of than a new one. It starts better and faster at 20 below zero than current computerized nightmares. It get better gas mileage than most new pickups and the 220 hp 283 v8 has more REAL power than similar size new ones. Also there are about 10 million less thing that could go wrong. Anything has does come up costs many time less to repair than new ones. The bottom line is it costs mega-thousands less to drive than new. The big thing is it is a serious commitment to keeping them clean in the winter. That's the biggest thing. It's not for everyone but if you want to put some effort in care they will virtually last forever unlike the disposable crap they sell now. I also drive a 1952 Pontiac as a daily car in the summer. That I don't want to take out in the slop. I could go on for hours about many cars. We've taken care of thousands of cars for hundreds of people over the last 50 years. People are now collecting what we lived with as everyday cars when I was a kid. Our slogan is " In business since old cars weren't old". My philosophy is old=good new=bad. It's also just a myth that new cars last longer. I first hand saw many cars of any era survive just as long. We had a customer with 475,000 miles on a Corvair. We knew a man with over a million miles on a 1967 Buick Electra 225. Remember the first car I ever heard of to get a million miles on it was a 1952 Cadillac. My dad got 260,000 on his first 1952 Pontiac. The road salt was the only thing that got it and that was in 1970. Well I'm rambled on enough. It's just I have a unique insight that not many people have.

59Lark · Jun 27, 2018

I have owned a 59 lark Studebaker for nearly 30 yrs and use it for a second car in the summer, I hardly drove the last couple of years. my now ex wife hated Gertrude, I took my first date in 30 yrs out in my car, and I had it checked over by my 75 yr old mechanic and I had a fella install satellite radio. I put it on the 50s channel and went to the park and we sat and talked for 3 hrs. I love bench seats, by the end of the evening we were necking. olds cars rock, cant do that in bucket seats easily, I agree about tail gaters and speed freaks but I do have a v 8 and a auto transmission but drum brakes and kins pins are taxing. I cant wait for a repeat date in my Studebaker. 59lark

MondoFW · Jun 27, 2018

59Lark said:
I have owned a 59 lark Studebaker for nearly 30 yrs and use it for a second car in the summer, I hardly drove the last couple of years. my now ex wife hated Gertrude, I took my first date in 30 yrs out in my car, and I had it checked over by my 75 yr old mechanic and I had a fella install satellite radio. I put it on the 50s channel and went to the park and we sat and talked for 3 hrs. I love bench seats, by the end of the evening we were necking. olds cars rock, cant do that in bucket seats easily, I agree about tail gaters and speed freaks but I do have a v 8 and a auto transmission but drum brakes and kins pins are taxing. I cant wait for a repeat date in my Studebaker. 59lark

Sounds like the dream, brother

MikeKardec · Jun 27, 2018

FountainPenGirl said:
It's also just a myth that new cars last longer.

Newer cars last longer ... until they don't. Generally, when an average post 1970s car starts it's downward spiral it's time to junk it. The complexity of the systems and the materials used is very hard to deal with at any cost that has a relationship to the value of the car or the trouble you'll have to go through.

I've daily driven plenty of 1960s Fords but eventually got to the point where I converted to disk brakes whenever I could. Drums, when in perfect nick and in good weather, are pretty good but they have to be looked after. The one big difference between older cars and newer ones is the electronic ignition/fuel injection situation. With carbs and plugs and condenser you will spend a good deal more time getting it to run perfectly even though these are robustly simple and elegant systems.

I drive a '73 Alfa GTV a great deal of the time (except when traffic makes things a clutch-fest) but it's not a good example; while designed in the early 1960s it has four wheel disks, limited slip, a five speed and fuel injection, so it was almost a modern car. Even it, a performance car of the era and one still used continually on racetracks, is pretty intimidating to run in fast moving traffic -- you're lower and slower than just about everything else on the road.

The worst thing to consider is the day when all these elderly mechanics finally retire. There's a gap in vintage car knowledge coming and it's not going to be pretty.

tonyb · Jun 27, 2018

I’ve driven several cars of relatively recent manufacture with several hundreds of thousands of miles on their odometers.

In general, the larger, more powerful vehicles tend to be longer lived. There’s a good reason Lincoln Town Cars (when they were still being manufactured) were the preferred vehicle of the commercial “black car” business. I’ve ridden in a few with half a million miles or more on ‘em, cars still running fine and in presentable condition.

59Lark · Jun 27, 2018

the biggest thing with a Studebaker is finding out same part things, the ignition is ac delco no problem and the master cylinder is the same that fits a uni combine, only problem is now there getting rare too. The dist is the same fits 55 chevy, common as dust. the fender relay is like ford 1960s and the place in greenfield ind. Studebaker int has almost everything else. its hard to park in small spots , so don't. it is hot except the nose drafts help a lot, but I still smell my dates perfume over the moth balls. definetly if you want to achieve time travel install a newer radio and have satellite radio installed it makes the mood magical. no I don't have time to change the toon with my arms wrapped around my date and my lips locked in place 59lark

tonyb · Jun 27, 2018

59Lark said:
the biggest thing with a Studebaker is finding out same part things, the ignition is ac delco no problem and the master cylinder is the same that fits a uni combine, only problem is now there getting rare too. The dist is the same fits 55 chevy, common as dust. the fender relay is like ford 1960s and the place in greenfield ind. Studebaker int has almost everything else. its hard to park in small spots , so don't. it is hot except the nose drafts help a lot, but I still smell my dates perfume over the moth balls. definetly if you want to achieve time travel install a newer radio and have satellite radio installed it makes the mood magical. no I don't have time to change the toon with my arms wrapped around my date and my lips locked in place 59lark

Love them bench seats, eh?

MondoFW · Jun 27, 2018

tonyb said:
Love them bench seats, eh?

Yeah, like we get it, you're a stud with a cool car. The topic at hand, please

tonyb · Jun 27, 2018

MondoFW said:
Yeah, like we get it, you're a stud with a cool car. The topic at hand, please

I know this is aimed at our friend 59Lark and not me, and I don’t disagree that sometimes people “share” more than everyone might wish to know. But also know that conversations here tend to meander. They almost always circle back to the original topic.

MondoFW · Jun 27, 2018

tonyb said:
I know this is aimed at our friend 59Lark and not me, and I don’t disagree that sometimes people “share” more than everyone might wish to know. But also know that conversations here tend to meander. They almost always circle back to the original topic.

I respect that, just didn't expect repeated use of such personal details, deviating from the thread topic.

59Lark · Jun 28, 2018

Sorry to have taken this thread for a ride, but can you think there would the same magic in a ford focus, plastic dash and plastic seats , made in mexicaco . sitting in the lark with carol and listerning to the 50 s channel , I felt like I was 20 again, time travel achieved 59 Lark

59Lark · Jun 28, 2018

Loungers, want a old car, I recommend 60s to 70s, even 4 doors can still be picked up cheap from seniors , easy to repair and if you stick with north American manufactures relatively cheap to repair. I plate my as historic for $20.yrs and insure it for $100. annually , its value as a sedan is only $5700. it gives me a lot of fun 59lark

vitanola · Jun 28, 2018

59Lark said:
Loungers, want a old car, I recommend 60s to 70s, even 4 doors can still be picked up cheap from seniors , easy to repair and if you stick with north American manufactures relatively cheap to repair. I plate my as historic for $20.yrs and insure it for $100. annually , its value as a sedan is only $5700. it gives me a lot of fun 59lark

Yeah, but it is not really an old car if it has a self-starter.

MondoFW · Jun 28, 2018

What essential questions should I ask the dealer when purchasing the car? Obviously, he won't tell me everything unless I insist on finding the answers. There's a very reputable vintage car dealership in my neck of the woods that I would not mind buying from, when the time comes.

vitanola · Jun 28, 2018

MondoFW said:
What essential questions should I ask the dealer when purchasing the car? Obviously, he won't tell me everything unless I insist on finding the answers. There's a very reputable vintage car dealership in my neck of the woods that I would not mind buying from, when the time comes.

The best thing to do is to get involved with local antique car owners. Learn everything you can, and when you decide the marque and model which you prefer become an expert in that particular car. You will then be able to better evaluate the machine, and being familiar with the specific model you will be less likely to be dis-satisfied with it as you drive it in daily service.

Dealers serve a useful purpose in this hobby, but the best deals can often be had from private sellers- IF one is sufficiently familiar with the car to properly evaluate it. A youngster who has gone to the trouble to educate himself and who demonstrates a genuine passion for a particular kind of car has a better chance of being given a bargain on a cherished car than he does of being taken advantage of by a sharper.

GHT · Jun 28, 2018

59Lark said:
Sorry to have taken this thread for a ride, but can you think there would the same magic in a ford focus, plastic dash and plastic seats , made in mexicaco . sitting in the lark with carol and listerning to the 50 s channel , I felt like I was 20 again, time travel achieved 59 Lark

When I was eighteen the car that I wanted was one of those sports cars that you see spitfire pilots driving around in war movies. The MG TC. What I had was a car rarely seen, or even heard of, outside Western Europe. It was called a Hillman Husky. But it was a car, warm dry and great for doing what all teenagers think they invented. Here's those two cars. The fantasy and the reality.

scotrace · Jun 28, 2018

When I was trying to restore a '52 Olds 88, I learned just about everything a dealer and his staff from that year would know. I lost the car to lost storage, but I still have the service manual, the factory build manual, the body manual, all the dealer literature, upholstery samples, color chips, salesman's guides, etc. In the process, I partially rebuilt the Hydramatic, replaced the intake manifold and top end, lifters, the entire break and fuel systems were replaced and the tank refurbished, rebuilt the steering box, learned to tune the 4bbl Rochester, reupholstered the seats, on and on. It was in primer and ready to paint and reassemble when it went to someone else.
It was a magnificent education, but looking back, it was too much time away from my family, crawling around under something I'd spend too much on and get my heart broken over.
Buy some other guy's labor. I'd never tackle anything more than freshening a 40s-50s pickup truck now.

LizzieMaine · Jun 28, 2018

When you go see the car, take a pocket magnet with you and run it over and under the fenders and rocker panels. That'll tell you how much putty and filler there is on the body, which will tell you how much rust it's had in its lifetime, and how much care went into its restoration.

tonyb · Jun 28, 2018

I keep telling myself I have no room in my garage nor my budget for a “precious” car.

But we could use a second vehicle and the dewy-eyed bride has many fond memories of riding in her grandfather’s fourth generation (’61 to ’66) Ford F series pickup truck. Such a truck is modern enough for use as a “regular” vehicle in city and suburban traffic. With a V-8, and even with a big 6, it would keep up with freeway traffic.

A worthy example — decent runner, reasonably straight without too much rust, good glass, etc. — can be had for 4 to 5 grand. Spend less than that and spend a helluva lot more in the not-so-long run putting it into comparable condition. You could spend $25K or more for a car show ready example. We wish a vehicle we would actually use as a vehicle. Maybe even haul the occasional load of top soil.

Can a vintage car still be driven as a daily driver?

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