Late 50s or early 60s gm wagon .Also a Chevy Dodge or Ford window van from the mid to late 60s. If you were concerned about mileage swap in a late model motor with fuel injection for reliability for your family. I personally think a Dodge van with a late model injected hemi would be pretty cool and have plenty of room for a small family.
+1 for the fullsize vans. If you get a shorty van, it's not much harder to park than a Durango or Tahoe. I agree with some of the above that have women that don't like old cars. It IS about personal preference. But to dismiss an old car because of safety reasons alone is kind of naive (sp?). I know old cars lack airbags, crumple zones, real collapsable columns, etc., but if I were given the choice between crashing while driving a 5,000lb chunk of steel or a 3,000lb chunk of new car, I'm going to take the heavier car every time. Give me a loaded Plymouth Fury wagon with 383 power and a set of Astro Supremes and I'll be all set! Nick
Im going to say the important stuff 1st, then Ill babble on about newer cars. I think what Ryan, and Mark in Japan are saying is that you only live once (that we can be certain of) and YOU SHOULD ENJOY IT! You YOURSELF need to determine how you find that enjoyment. If you are looking at an older vehicle, perhaps youll be happy to look for one with a newer powerplant and overdrive, with Nice heat and A/C. Youll still have maintenance, but it should be pretty reliable, and youll have the comforts and mileage of a newer vehicle. (If I were you, I would stop reading here cause the rest is just my opnion only.) You decided to read on eh? Well too bad for you. For me, its a Typical SUV as a daily driver and a Hot Rod as a Fun toy to Enjoy. I have two, so I most always have one running. For most, probaly 99% of the population, its a newer vehicle , and a boat or motorcycle or something else. For some, its a older vehicle as a daily with no frills at all, a Hot Rod/Custom as a Daily Driver. For many, its fixing up a newer vehicle by adding bolt on crap. If your just looking for a newer Vehicle, you gotta pick the type that suits you. Im a SUV type of Person, (One of my Hot Rods is a 34 Ford Sedan, see the trend?). Most of my new Car experience is from Rental Cars, so my subject pool is limited. I personally have driven about 20 diferent rental cars for my job from various airports just in the last two years. I presonally like the Newer Chevy Trailblazer the best of all of them so far, with a Chevy HHR behind that, then the Ford Explorer. Ive driven a lot of different midsize 4 door sedans and havent really liked one, because they just are not me. But, I also havent really disliked any of the 4door cars either. For Minivans, I found the Chevy Ventrua to be the most to my liking. Although many people like the Chrysler Minivan, I just thought it was OK (the town and Country Sucked, and Pacifica was actually pretty good). Ford had the worst Minivan. The Honda, Nissan, and Haundi smaller SUVs were all pretty much the same, and I would choose them before the Chrysler stuff, but after the Chevy and Ford stuff. I have really disliked a few and here is my thoughts on them, so if your not looking at a newer vehicle, jsut quit reading as nothing else of this will be worthwhile: Jeep Liberty is the worst thing I have ever had to drive. Im 5'8" and was cramped as hell. The switches are put in as a afterthought, the sun visor hits you in the head, with the seat as low as it will go. It cannot pull itself out of a wet paper bag, the seats are not comfortable, the center arm rest is in the back seat and you have to lean way back to put your elbow on it. It doesnt even look cool on the outside. The PT Cruiser, although probably the coolest looking car out there today (looks like a 37 Ford Tudor Sedan) was really crappily designed. Once again, who puts switches in these things? The seats suck, I ended up sitting hunched over and leaning forward cause the seat sucked so bad. The 3 cylinder on the one I had for two weeks, I thought was going to give out just trying to make the car go. They should not have put such a cool looking body on a Neon!
An HHR seems to be a favorite with young and older women with and without kids. Relatively inexpensive, good comfort, fairly economical, and capable of hauling the kids and a friend or two with some stuff for the beach too.
"As far as old cars "not being safe for kids" (this was said by my Aunt who would not let me give her daughter a ride to the mall in my 72 F-100), look how many of us survived riding around in these "deathtraps"!!" Those who didn't survive aren't around to be seen. Makes it tough to keep them in mind. I'm one of the lucky ones, having stood on the driveshaft hump behind the front seat and hollering, "ARE WE THERE YET, DAD?" Not to mention bench seats, dating, and a lax attitude toward seat belts. Ignorance was bliss! When it comes to a daily driver for my wife she gets a safe modern vehicle with airbags, ABS, 4WD. We spend what it takes to have that.
The main reason I have two new cars is simple...I didn't have $20k CASH to buy something so zero percent financing was very helpful. Also, two small kids deserve a five star crash rating in my opinion. Most new cars are more reliable than even the best old car whether you want to believe it or not. We get a lot of snow and I don't want the old cars to rust during the winter. The new cars are front wheel drive, handle better, stop faster, have better defrost, air conditioning, more readily available parts usually, and come with a warranty. All of this is nice when I'm trusting my wife and kids to have reliable transportation and easily repairable cars when I'm on the road. Sure, there are some hot rods with monster brakes and are super reliable, etc..etc.. but for the most part, new cars win the daily battle. Plus, I don't give a shit when someone bangs a car door into my taurus at the grocery store. I don't care when it rusts, and I don't care if it gets stolen. On the other hand, I dig the shit out of hot rods and if I lived someplace warmer and didn't absolutely depend on my car starting each day to make my living, I'd probably still drive an old car. I drove my 1959 Ford truck every day for six years so I don't feel like I'm totally talking out of my ass here. It's way cooler but way less practical and reliable. Happy wife, happy life indeed.
I'm really not a fan of any of the "retro" offerings from Detroit. HHR, PT, etc. The only one that has been able to capture any passing interest is the new Challenger. If you want a hot rod, build a hot rod. If you want a family truckster, get an SUV or a MiniVan. As a side note... GM really pisses me off. They take car names that have a rich tradition like the Impala and turn it into some lifeless box. All of the capitol that General Motors has is tied up in these names. You think Impala and you see an image of a gorgeous '61 with a hot latina (optional) draped over the hood. The Malibu - Late '60s muscle car, right... No - 1 step away from a frickin ford Taurus. You would think that they would try to inspire images of former greatness in their new offerings. I heard recently that the new management over at Crystler was ending a few models because they were not popular - it's a start. Oh well, we will see how the new Camero does... sorry for the rant, I'm done. - Joe
This one was suppossed to be our family hauler, but once again temptation got the better of me. My wife really wasn't pissed at all. She really likes the Jeep better.
I have always had a hard-on for crown vic cop cars, but my dad has an lx crown victoria (which is essentially a cop car in civilian trim) for the past few years. It has 90,000 miles and is on it's second set of ball joints and tie rods.
Would I be less of a poser in a new american car? Every go out to start your car when it is -20 actual temperature? I have a few times last year...seriously.
60's styling. Big block. 20+mpg. Seats 6 adults comfortably with a metric ton of crap in the back. Tows a trailer. Rear seat folds down to carry 8' sections of plywood and lumber. Etc, etc, etc....
My wife and I both decided wagons would be good for us to haul our kids around. Guess whose wagon is whose? Mine has the 545-horse SBC and the 6-speed. It's a summertime-only thing. Hers has the 240-horse 5-valve V-6, 5-speed auto, AWD, and airbags everywhere. Heated seats etc. for the winter. It works for us! ~Scotch~
couple of things I haven't seen mentioned. 1. A/C is almost safety feature in Lufkin for a newborn. For sure your wife will be happier without two kids riding around in a 120+ degree vehicle. Old, or new, AC should be a requirement. 2. What are you going to do when the vehicle breaks down? Are your wife and kids stuck on the side of the road waiting for you or walking, or can they call ONSTAR? Are they stuck at home until you can fix it on the weekend, or is it at the shop and they're in a loaner? Much lower stress levels when things are looked for in advance. I'd say get a late model Silverado Crew Cab w/ and extended warranty. She's got plenty of room for the family and the safety and convenience of a newer vehicle, and you have a parts hauler/ tow vehicle when you need it. And you know how much it's going to cost you each month, without big budget suprises. Will you spend more, on average, with a newer vehicle? Probably. But how much is piece of mind worth? Of course, I'm biased like we all are. I used to work at a Chevy store. So take that into consideration with my answer.
A good choice, but IMO an off-rental '07 or '08 Merc Grand Marquis is the best deal in car-dom. Hertz, Avis and Budget maintain these cars beautifull, most have under 25K miles on them and they're a lot more plush than a P-71. The dealer than I drive for buys tons of these at the auctions. You could defintely get into an '07 or possibly an '08 for $18K or less, depending on your dickering skills. BTW, I've never bought a car with consideration for anybody other than myself.. Don't fit comfortably in the back seat....too bad! I remember when my daughter had to ride with her legs stretched across the back seat in my '72 Mustang coupe because she was too tall to sit upright in the '80s . She survived... Jan
get a 60,s or 70,s wagon at least itl be built using nice thick steel unlike this new shit all crumple this and airbag that fuck that shit dude let style still count for somthing.
Okay okay stop me if you heard this story before..... Last year when I was in KC for a cruise with my coupe, I stayed over at my good college buddies house. I got there late after dark and parked the coupe in the driveway. My friend and I got up at the crack of dawn and left to go on the hotrod run. We also got back that nite after dark. So Sunday morning my friends wife gets up and goes out to get the morning paper and comes back inside the house and says "Oh my Gosh, if I had seen that car before you left I would NEVER have let my husband ride around in THAT!" Now, I would be the first to admit my coupe looks a bit rough, but I feel it is built well and safe. I asked her "what's wrong with it?" "It's entirely unsafe! Does it even have seatbelts?" "Yes, I put in seatbelts". "Does it have an airbag?" "AIRBAG?!!!" I said, " I rode around with your husband ALL DAY!!!" badum cha! thank you thank you I'll be here all week. don't forget to tip your waitress....
let me give a example look into my household: 1) My '60 Chevy Wagon. I've had it for a couple years, and it doesnt value. It's got a solid SBC w/ a 4 speed in it-- and the maintenance is pretty easy. It goes anywhere, and never lets us down. We've taken it on many family trips. I love it. 20mpg DOLLARS AND CENTS: It hasnt depreciated a dime. 2) My wife decided she needed a new car, so we got her a brand new 2005 Chrysler Pacifica.... loaded w/ everything. Came to about $35,000 bucks. Again, maintenance is easy. Has never let us down and goes anywhere. Theres no love for it and there's nothing unique about it. It's not fun... it's plain function. She's tired of it. DOLLARS AND CENTS: It's worth about $15-17k right now. Thus, over two years we've lost $20k in depreciation. The insurance cost more too. The gas mileage is fairly close. What did we get for the $20,000 loss in the Chysler that we didnt get in the wagon? They are both great family haulers, and my daughter has more fun w/ the wagon. -scott noteboom
This is going to be my daily driver as soon as I finish assembling it. It´s a 61 Bel Air I got for almost free. It´s got a 283 with a bit of cam and a 2bbl . I´ll see if I can run it on E85 with richer jets.
I don't think I'll ever own a new car, but if I had a fam to cart around, this would be it: 300 hp, all wheel drive and 25 mpg (of course, there are slower versions, but why not?) Subaru Impreza WRX 5-door Of course, I'm a little biased on Subarus dealing with Ohio winters!
OK, I would prefer a mid sixties 4 door sedan or wagon, or maybe even a 50's era wagon. That being said, I can haul just about anything with my 93 Suburban which I got a great deal on with only 32,000 miles. 2 wheel drive with a 6 inch drop, 3/4 ton, 8 lug wheels, 1 ton axle, huge brakes and a 454 big block. Seating for 7 and will easily pull whatever you want to pull behind it. Works great for hauling parts, hauling kids and even pulling my puny vintage Wooster Hellion speedboat.
They are killing us on car values on newer stuff. I had the same situataion as Scott. I bought a '04 Colorodo. Sticker was a little over $16k with my discount(GM employee) it was just over $14k and then tack on $1K of negative equity and all the fees and crap it was back up to just under $16k. Two years later and about $20k miles later I decide I need a bigger truck. I go to the dealership and the trade in value is slightly over $6k. Luckily I went to another dealership that had a '04 Chevy 1 ton that was still on their lot. I was able to get $9500 for it. A friend here in town is wanting to trade in a PT and they are only willing to give him 1/2 of what he owes on it. Moral of my story, If you are looking for something new do a lot of research to find want you really want and get something you will keep till it dies. If you can get an older car that you will enjoy and will get you money back out of if you decide to sell. I need to have a newer car around since my outlaws live in Buffalo and I think everyone knows what winters are like up there.
Just FWIW, an early Falcon with a three-speed will get 25 MPG without too much trouble. I don't know how well the other compacts do, but even my big '60 Pontiac got close to 20 on the highway with an automatic. It's just a matter of building the car to be efficient - manual steering, manual trans, if you can slip a T5 or overdrive of some sort in there so much the better. A new car loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot, you'd be foolish to buy brand new when you can buy one one or two years old for half the original price - so what if it has 10,000-20,000 miles on it? Best bet is to hit an auction, if you can swing the whole price up front you get the best deal. A Hyundai loses so much value when you leave the dealer's lot that you have to buy extra insurance so that if it gets totalled on the first drive home, they'll pay for a brand new replacement. A well built old car that's taken care of and maintained is always going to have about the same value, and station wagons tend to be fairly popular.
The Jalopy Journal
