Art & Inspiration Old Car Commute = Low Stress Driving

Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post:

Old Car Commute = Low Stress Driving

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I have been almost exclusively daily driving and commuting with my '39 Tudor for over a year now. I can't say that it is entirely low-stress, but would agree that it beats a vanilla late-model. I start my 20 mile one-way commute early in the mornings when the interstate is mostly deserted...


...but by the time the whistle blows the freeways have clogged up. The "annoyance" of a '39 transmission and a high-strung flathead in stop n' go traffic encourages me onto the back roads.


Its the perfect way to unwind. Thirty miles an hour on a coastal or forest road in an Early Ford beats stop n' go in a Corolla or Accord.

 

Nice '39! Any more pics?

 

1969 Chevy Longhorn - 454/400 (yea almost OT) Bad mileage, it needs a new seat cover, the radio doesn't work and the heater doesn't get warm until just before I turn into work.
12 miles Freeway or 18 miles back roads,,,, 18 miles back roads yup
Except I have to make an adjustment as I have a Amazon Fulfillment Center down one street and what is next week, Black Friday and they are ramping up with workers and semi's.
Small price.

 

Spot-on Jive. Dont do it often since I've got no belts and I gotta drive my little one to school before work.

 

Don't wanna hijack this thread, but here's what I'm dealing with...






You can click on the link in my signature block for more...

 

Ha, haven't seen that great Goofy cartoon since traffic school went online.

 

My experiences differ- People drive just as crazy when I'm driving my old cars as late models. That makes my stress level go higher than if I'd left it in the garage. I have been cut off several times driving old drum brake hot rods, maybe Texas drivers just suck a little bit more.

 

No its not just Texas...Taking my dog to the park for his [our] woods walk and a school bus, one of those special needs home delivery van types pulls out of a driveway to cross infront of me to go in the opposite direction..Hoping he or she would stop hearing my horn I laid on it, and backed off the gas and when I knew there was no chance of it stopping I laid on the brakes hard...The van just kept going, like I wasn't even there..I stopped in time but never let up on the horn..As the van got along side of me it got my salute of praise....And all the while wondering what the guy behind me was gonna do...

 

For real !! I get much more worried about some clueless idiot hitting my Plymouth than my new car. In "Silicon Valley" apparently to most idiots now a red light means "floor it" so you don't have to wait for the cycle to complete to give you a green light. Also stopping for a yellow light is an invitation to get rear ended.

 

I don't know how you guys in the large cities deal with it. I live in a town of a 1,000 and commute 3 miles to work. The only traffic I've had to deal with is getting stuck behind a tractor!

 

Stressless......well not exactly.
Driving my 32 pickup yesterday as my OT mini van is on the fritz...........on my way home from town......got cut off by a young gal in a newer VW.
Finally caught up with her. She rolled her window down and apologized saying she wasn't use to driving in the city!
I simply said......You need to watch where you are going!

 

I drove my '50 Ford to the cabin a few wks ago. A bunch on I75 but also a bunch on backroads in northern Michigan. That's good times!!

 

Slightly OT 67 F-250 with a Cleveland, or the 61 Galaxie with a 223, Fordomatic.
28 mile commute and 10 mph under the speed limit. I usually try to get stuck behind a hay truck.
We dont really have grass here and I miss that smell.
All I get is thumbs up.

 

I usually drive my 1914 Olds ''beater'' jalopy, ....or my 1961' Willys cj5 jeep in bad weather.....double-clutch and all that fun stuff in both vehicles....but, it does irk me when someone pulls right behind me, not caring that I have to let the clutch out to actually move forward....past few years, people have run ''right up'' on my bumper ever chance they get....society may be forgetting what a clutch needs to actually move forward, namely a little 'roll' backwards ....I get it all the time!!!...I'm lucky if I get one foot of separation from cars behind me sometimes!

General society in my area isn't interested in my old cars in general....only jeering me that I tend to go slower, and that causes ugly behavior....I'm just not interested in racing to the next stoplight every time, or cruising 20 mph 'above' the speed limit on the Interstate or highways (I drive the truckers lane as much as possible to avoid the mass amount of fast moving momentum)....but I do run the prescribed speed limit as posted...so I don't get too overworked, unless it's modern day ''weekend warriors'' (whatever the heck that is!) honking...then ''my glare'' comes out, and I wave very slowly to calm them down. Patience is just not that popular these days.....but, I'm trying to keep the tradition alive......it's a bummer sometimes just the same.

 

I totally drive slower, leave more room behind the vehicle in front of me, and enjoy the drive alot more in one of my "old" cars. It doesn't stop people from pulling out in front of me, however....

What really amazes me, is the people that don't even notice that I am driving a 60 (or 87) year old car.

 

Do stupid people do stupid things around me when I'm driving my '39? Of course. The trick is to at least try to predict, drive defensively and assertively, not be in a hurry, and shrug it off when all else fails.

On the freeway I always stay right, and usually find a semi to tag along with.

For me it I really don't have an alternative. We have a late model hatchback that the wife carts the kids around in, and I have a 1980s OT car that I was daily'ing. But when that car's radiator blew a year and a half ago, I started driving the '39 as my only other option. I just ordered that replacement radiator last week. And that should say something...

 

Great topic! My daily is OT though fits the story line. Anyone from the area knows Highway 17 from Santa Cruz to San Jose. I have done it in just about every imaginable vehicle you can think of, Countless average new cars, new motorcycles, vintage motorcycles, 1934 ford sedan, 60 gmc pickup, 66 buick skylark, newer BMW M3, and to date the best way for me to travel mostly stress free is my 1970 BMW 2002, its hopped up, has beefier brakes, a 5 speed overdrive upgrade, the right suspension and when its hot the vent windows are my best friend. Truly "The Ultimate Driving Machine" It tames the road and reduces stress and is the only reason I can still live with this awful commute.

 

RainierHooker, your first post was brilliant. I got a little wound up reading Jives thread, as I'm bad when I encounter these fools, and your post with those great pics, totally calmed me down.

I got so sick of having to deal with "stupid", that I went and brought a four wheel drive Landrover over a year back, and while I still have to deal with stupid, it's a lot less now.
I've almost got my old Hudson back on the road, after a year off, and to be honest, I'm dreading it, and looking forward to it, at the same time.
I'm hate abusing stupid, but some days I can't help it. I'm just lucky that we don't carry weapons here, someone woulda shot me by now, cause I can't keep quite, when some fool has cut me off, pulled in front of me, or some other dumb shit.
I plan on driving my old Hudson all Summer, and will strive to enjoy it, stay calm, and not let stupid ruin my day, cause I'm driving an old car.

 

To be fair...you were on a extended all expensese paid trip for uncle Sam...hard to order radiators in the middle of the desert when you're getting shot at. Thanks for your service btw.

 

This is my daily. Been driving it over a year. Only car. By comparison, a 40 ford is a "late model"

 

I drive this one to work routinely, in part because I enjoy driving old cars, and in (larger) part to generate business. I'm an oddball: a lawyer who makes housecalls, because most of my clients are elderly and many can't come to my office. I spend lots of time in Denver retirement communities meeting with clients. I can't count how many times I get done with a meeting, and walk out to find a couple old men checking out my car and remembering when they were teenagers and drove one like it. Invariably, they ask why a young guy like me is hanging out in the retirement community. When I tell them, those old men, strangers ten minutes ago, regularly turn into new clients. Most older people already have a will, but their old wills need updating, and meeting a lawyer with a cool old car reminds them. This old Studebaker is good at generating business. If the old car lovers don't become my clients, at least they provide some good car talk in the middle of a workday.



On the downside of driving an old car to work, those old drum brakes DO require constant attention to my speed and the space in front of me in traffic.

 

Nice post.Brings back memories from when I was a projectionist that was back when the carbon arc lamps were still used.Showed that cartoon many times.
People around here are just as stupid as anywhere else if not more so.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

I use my '60 Edsel as a daily driver all summer (unless it's raining) and in the winter too when the roads are dry. I don't get any more stressed out than if I'm in my late model truck but the only difference is if I go to a store I use the back of the parking lot so other people don't bang their doors onto the side of it. The brakes work fine with the original small master cylinder so I don't see any reason to change it. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself by saying that....

 

I regularly drive my '34, '40 or '61 and it doesn't matter these days, many drivers are terribly rude and impatient, regardless of which model.

At 60 or 65mph the Interstates are just downright dangerous with other drivers going 75mph+. I-95 at any time of day is out of the question. It isn't worth the risk to me.

It used to be that the two-lane backroads were a safe haven, but not so much recently. A few Sundays ago I was returning from a 400 mile trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The best route home was a Virginia Byway. At 12 noon church let out, and although I was generally going 5 miles over the 55mph speed limit, the tailgaters anxious to get home piled up behind me. I pulled over three times in an hour to let them roar past me.

Not that long ago, many drivers would give a thumbs up or wave and smile. Coming back from a Friday local cruise-in earlier in the summer, a mini-van mom gave me the finger because I didn't go fast enough for her liking on the cloverleaf ramp. She was overweight, smoking, and had three kids in the vehicle. That was one pissed-off lady. I was driving the '34 pickup. Couldn't she tell it was something old? Didn't matter, her attitude was "get out of my way."

What's a man to do?

 

I drive 6 blocks to work before 6 am. No stress here but my 34 ford coupe isn't quite ready to drive yet. Looking forward to that day because I work with a crew of motor heads. They'll be blown away when I park it on the back row of the employee parking.
I use to drive 25 miles to work every day during rush hour in my trusty ol' 46 chevy pickup. I was able to keep up with traffic because it was built on a '77 C-10 4X4 chassis with a warmed over 350 and modern brakes and suspension. People were very surprised when I'd pass them on the interstate at 75 mph..

 

Hey Cowboy Ted (lawyer calling on retirement homes), you sound like Jimmy from Better Call Saul. He'd have done more business if he'd driven what you're driving!

 

Gotta love it when the rig that was on your bumper and blasted around at the first opportunity is the same one you pass a couple of miles down the road having a conversation with a state trooper.

 

I have a 20 mile commute to work every morning, been doing the same drive for 32 years now, and every since they turned the main highway into a four lane the drive may be faster but it seems the people have gotten ruder. (myself included) Morons that don't know what "passing lane" means and idiots in BMWs that don't know how to accelerate onto a freeway, in a BMW I say. huh Well there is still an alternate route that parallels the main road about two miles to the south and it's just a stretch of "two lane black top" perfect for an old car that doesn't have the reflexes of a modern electronic gadget overloaded capsule. It takes me a little longer to get to the shop but the view over the dash is much nicer, I arrive relaxed and the parking lot looks better for the rest of the day.

 

When I used to drive my old T Bucket to work, it was like a presidential motorcade. Sorry about you other guys, but in Houston, for the most part, the assholes behind the wheel have a little respect for old cars and hot rods. But I also made a serious effort to keep them in my rear view mirror. Just in case. "What's behind me...... is not important."