Hot Rods How many cars are too many

It Depends On If You Want Them Inside...A Tape Measure Will Tell You...

 

2 toys, 2 dailies & a project on the back burner.
I would trade the 2 toys & the project for a 29-40 Ford coupe/roadster.
Admittedly, I'm not a great mechanic, so this will be enough for now.
My space is limited to.
I've got a couple of friends that have dozens of cars, I love visiting them, it's like going to a car show with beer.

 

I used to think there wasn't a limit. I was young then and found myself with 9 broke down cars and riding my bike to work. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize the more stuff you own, the more stuff owns you. All these cars take time and money. About 10 years ago I had 4 classics vehicles, 3 of which were HAMB friendly. All were running and driving, I could and did daily them all alternately. But they all needed something.

Now I'm down to 2. The 64 Camino I bought when I was in high school 30 years ago to be a driver, and my 51 Henry J to be a dedicated drag car. I'm satisfied with that.

Devin

 

Never could keep more than 2....so that be my number

 

Willis Johnson’s garage-he has others our back shop my buddy’s 442 collection-some of it

 

I lost count at 30....

 

At one time I had 3 dirt track cars, one drag car . 3 trailers , my daily pickup truck ,my motorcycle.
A new sedan for the family . Plus a motor home , and my high school kids cars.
One divorce later taught me what too much was.

 

Hello,

When I was a pre-teen, I dreamed of owning a truck, hot rod, a cool custom car and a boat. Well, we can all dream. The truck was a custom Ford pickup that a neighbor/friend built and we saw it every day growing up. But, for our own cars, I could see the amount of them start with my brother’s 1951 Olds sedan. Then it was adding a Model A coupe that was going to be built up for cruising and racing. Now my thoughts turned to owning one or the other, since the Model A was going to be a street legal coupe with racing on the weekends. So, for a pre-teen, pre-license kid, two was just fine, one for me and one for my brother.

I was happy with that thought for a couple of months until a black 1958 Impala showed up in the driveway and the two original cars did the disappearing act. (sold to my brother’s friends) So, now there was one and thoughts were booming as I was approaching legal driving age. When my brother decided to build another street legal hot rod, my mind jumped for joy. Again, one car for him and one for me, down the line. Things were looking up.

Then the accident happened to the Willys Coupe and now we were back to one car with three drivers. (I taught my mom to drive the stick shift Impala.) No one wanted my dad’s big Buick sedans, so that was never a problem. My mom did like being in the Impala, so that car was a keeper. The stick shift got converted to a C&O Stick Hydro and she was able to drive it anywhere. Still, it was three people and one Impala. Now, my brother had recovered enough to go back to his job and earn some money. He bought a nice old VW surf van.
Seal Beach pier parking lot

Then the Impala was mine!!! Yes!!! But I had to share it once or twice a week with my mom. Now, two cars for three people.

That episode of two cars for three people was fine until I needed the Impala and so did my mom on several occasions. Then that scenario grew a lot more, so I decided to rob my measly bank account and buy a 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery for my own surf adventures. My mom could not drive a floor shifting LaSalle three speed transmission, so it was all mine. Now, three cars for three people with two sitting outside in the back yard.
Flathead powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery

Jnaki

This 3 car/3 people was a perfect scenario, but a teenager in a sedan delivery rolling up to a girl’s house with the anxious dad peeking out of the window was not going to win points, so something needed to be done. Now, I had access to driving both the sedan delivery and the Impala for specific adventures. My mom just had to adjust which was fine. I usually drove the Impala at night, the sedan delivery during the day to school and surfing. We all got along well. I was now, an owner of two cars that got usage every day or week for sure. Nothing was being wasted or just sitting in the back yard.

But over time, I had wished we had enough money for owning more hot rods as a variety was the most fun from an 80 hp Flathead to a 300+ horsepower fast sedan was great. A roadster or coupe would have made it a perfect scene, but money being what it was for most teenagers, I settled for the sedan delivery for most of my adventures and the Impala for racing and cruising. Sometimes alternating, depending on where the cruising grounds were going to be.

The Impala was used locally and up into the mountains as the Flathead sedan delivery could not make it up that steep highway, fully loaded into the higher elevations. The sedan delivery went to all beach road trips as the Impala was usually set up for our neighborhood cruises and sometimes fast activities.

So, I finally settled on these two. But as the years went into the 20 something days, my wife and I have always wanted at least a 4 car garage and 4 different hot rods, cruisers and one fast sports car from the late 60s. That scene, obviously never saw the light of day. Ha! In this long run, we have always been a two car couple and family that had to fit into a small two car garage. None of our cars stayed outside of the garage. If we decided to get another car, it was a sell one, get one deal. Or it was a trade in if we did not want the hassle of selling a used car.

 

One.
One is too many. Because once you have one, you want them all.

 

I currently have a deuce roadster, deuce 3 window, deuce delivery, deuce pu all real henry tin plus a 40 Ford coupe and a late model Corvette. I find myself driving the Corvette and 40 coupe and letting the deuces sit. They have turned into a job maintaining them at age 75. I'm to dam tight to give them away so I suppose they'll come up on my estate auction?

 

I can´t tell you. At the moment I have 10 running and driving old cars and a project car I´m looking forward to build. At the same time I certainly do feel like I should sell a few cars , because 10 is just too many. In the meantime I just caught myself lookin for project truck... lookin for that truck I stumbled across a 57 Chevy 150 2dr sedan that luckily sold before I had a chance to check it out. So, to answer your initial question: I have no clue!

 

Depends on who you ask. The wife says I have to many now, and I say I never have enough

 

Might as well take that hit now. Why let the auctioneers take their percentage while they're giving them away...

 

If they are real nice I don’t want to drive them much, have one. If they are not too modern traffic friendly, as in brakes and handling, I don’t drive them much, have two of those. If they run and drive good, are nice enough to be seen in, but not too nice to drive to the store I drive them, have two.

The reality is though, they all need to get driven or they die. I don’t have room for projects and will only take one out of service for short periods so it won’t end up in pieces forever.

 

N+1...

 

One more than the wife says. Her number is zero so I'm 2 over the limit plus one I'm storing for a friend of my son until he gets his pole barn built. (Latest excuse.)

 

I've recently retired and have 2 x drivers, 35 Chevy and a 64 Ford with a work in progress 46 Olds. My OT DD is 23yrs old and on full registration while the 35 & 64 are both on club (Concessional) registration. When it's done that's it for me. Space is an issue as I had to build a 3-bay with hoist at my son's house to store my cars and tools as I'll be downsizing at some time in the near future. Too many other things to do before I get too old.
Friends my age are similar and own 2-3 old cars each as well as a later DD, you can only drive one car at any given time.

 

Different for everyone. If you ask me, the formula is a combination of TIME, MONEY, SPACE AND PURPOSE. A friend has 30 cars on two properties and that's his retirement. He lost money when he was young in the market and doesn't trust anything he doesn't understand or can touch. Another friend had two he was trying to finish while retired on a small pension. Sold one to finish the other but died at 73 before it was drivable, so two was too much. I have one, my 49 Ford kustom coupe that I'm trying to finish and I will likely have one more at some point. Space in Europe is limited, I have a young family and I enjoy driving them, not the joy of having a collection. Stop when they become a burden versus fun. These aren't paintings or coins, all cars need work to

drive, m​

aintain, insure, store, etc.

 

I used to keep a larger fleet for me, around 4 or 5 total, 1 or 2 on the road of those, rest projects. I downsized to 2 runners. I have a 2 car garage, It works out for my lifestyle, I have friends with property that I can hide 1 or 2 at for a while if I find the right car to build next. End of the day, I found that 2 or 3 hotrod's for MY life is about perfect, 2 runners and project work out well also. I feel like I neglect my main first built some days but she isn't jealous. I don't need 20 or 30. I have a few friends with those kind of collections, if I had the room to let them sit indoors and be safe Id be all over it. I have other priorities in life, once those are met, shop and land is next on the horizons and wife cant bitch then, and it should all be paid for in cash.

My best advice, find balance and don't hoard. Be realistic about your fleet.

 

I worked at a giant R&E engineering complex in Dearborn MI(pretty easy to use your imagination to figure which one). A co-worker had a collection of older cars (20+ yrs) and he used the many parking lots at various buildings to store them. Occasionally he would drive around and move them from lot to lot to avoid detection, which he did for a very long time before security finally caught on.
That guy had too many cars.

 

Hmmmmmmm, 2.5 old cars in a 2 car garage and a shed. The 57 Chevy and 29 Ford roadster are running, driving, and stopping.
The .5 is a 30-31 model A coupe project. The project is taking up alot of space. I have collected many, many parts for this and don't want to sell anything until I know I won't need it for the build. This is a problem because I have parts tucked into every crevice in the garage and shed, uggghh. Not enough space.

 

I have recently re-evaluated what I think is too many. I used to think over 10 was too many, but now that I have officially become one of the elderly generation, I think me having 6 old cars is too many. I only have 3 insured . I pay insurance on my 56 that never sees the road. I think I need to make a serious consideration about whittling it down to 2. Its just so hard to put a value on something you spent so much money and so many years putting together.

 

I’d say 2 but only have 1

 

It's not that hard. Buyers will solve that pesky value question for you...

 

I've been involved with several "collections", one was vast and valuble but horribly stored. What was inside was packed in like sardines and every nook and cranny was filled with mostly rare and valuble stuff. It made for one hell of an auction when the time came. Another is almost as vast but probably not as valuable, more inside than out, at least the good stuff. Another is much smaller a much more tidy. Maybe 6-8 or 9 cars all nice usually no more than one project. But he rarely drives more than one per summer. The others get moved around occasionally. Between the wife and I we have 3 dailies, her unmentionable offshore box on wheels, my newish "good" truck and my rusty but trusty steel mill truck. As far as toys I have my Dad's old 57 Vette that is rough around the edges but I wouldn't hessitate to drive it on a long trip. My 56 belair that is real close to being a nice finished car and my 48 Plymouth business coupe Hemi powered project car. That's enough for me.

 

Scotty - The 'Vette may be rough to you, but I'd call it the crown jewel of your fleet. A '57 that can be driven, perfect!

 

It really is hard to justify this stuff. I think my limit is 2 but somehow I have more than that and when I try to do the math, I think that one don't count; it is not a real car yet so my math skills are questionable.

 

Like any addict one is to many and ten thousand is not enough.

 

Between cars, bikes, and trailers; Let's just say the DMV likes me...