Technical Whither a Classic Daily-Driver?

My daily driver is currently a 2006 Buick Rainier SUV, and while it gets me from point A to point B with a minimum of trouble, it does so with all the grace and soul of an appliance. Add to that the fact that while I continue to make monthly payments on the beast, it's value continues to sink like a stone...

Therefore, I'm seriously considering looking into a classic/vintage auto as my DD-- now I still need the utilitarianism of my SUV, so I'm considering an early-to-mid sixties Chev/Ford station wagon similar to one I found on craigslist this past weekend:



A one-owner, 1965 Chevelle Malibu. V-8 power, accommodations for five, and plenty of room to haul stuff. What's not to love? Done deal, right? WRONG. Now I need to convince the wife, who reacted like I'd just brought home a Yugo the first time I broached this subject with her last week.

So now I need some ammunition to feed to her so she'll okay this move. I've already checked with my insurance (Hagerty), and since I've already got two cars insured through them, the annual cost of insuring the wagon would be less than what I'm currently paying for my SUV... I barely get 15 MPG combined with my Vortec 5.3 litre-powered Buick, so a SBC shouldn't do any worse... I've already been preapproved for a loan, and while the interest rate is a smidge higher, I'd basically be paying the same amount as I am now, so it's a wash; but here's what's great about this particular Malibu-- according to NADA Guides, the current high-book value for a '65 Chevelle Malibu four-door wagon is $40k-- the high book on my SUV is $11k. Advantage, Malibu.

Now I'd like to hear from any of you that utilize a Classic as your daily driver, in particular Big Three station wagon owners; any horror stories? Pros, Cons? How is parts availability? Problem areas to look for? Any thoughts, advice, or gripes would be appreciated.

 

I've put more than 300,000 miles on my '56 Nomad in the 25 years I've owned it, my daily the first 11 years and driven regularly since. It has been fun to drive, reliable, and easy to find parts for when the (rare) need arises. I say go for it.
One thing, I'd be very wary of the NADA Guides value. The current Old Cars Report Price Guide value for a '65 Malibu 4 dr wagon in #1 condition is only $16k, a fraction of the $40k in the NADA guide.

 

Wow, I had no idea there would be THAT big of a discrepancy-- I figured that the $40k value was a little inflated-- why would this wagon be listed at $10k otherwise-- but I never imagined the difference would be that great. Still, this is a car that will appreciate at a much greater rate than my Buick SUV.

 

search for thread: Classics as Daily Drivers - better recheck with Hagerty about daily driver use

 

I use my '57 Station wagon as a fair weather daily driver (everything but snow and salt). I use Safeco insurance and they allow for daily use. One thing I do with my wagon is to keep a closer eye on maintenance then newer vehicles. The only thing I have had break that stopped me from being able to drive it for a while was some broken spider gears. I always have a backup vehicle though.

 

As you are in CA. You will not have to worry about winter weather doing the car in. Make sure you insurance co has a policy for daily use. The down side is lack of airbag and the other safety stuff. They are only important for a few seconds of your life, but still important. You will also have a few friends who do not understand and will constantly ask ...
1. if that is all you can afford..
2. why are you using that valuable old car to haul stuff? (as they load lumber into a $60k truck.)..
3. why are you driving that old car that pollutes so much (a car make more pollution to build then it emits in it's entire lifetime so recycled cars are better that new)

 

Cool wagon - but there are sooooo many things to consider for a daily driver:
- how much driving do you do each day? And is it back roads, freeways, city streets, etc?
- Is this truly a daily driver (as in, "I need this to get to work every day")?
- How reliable is it (since it is 50 years old)? How much time, $$$ will you need to spend fixing / maintaining it?
- and can you fix most of the stuff? Or will you need to find a mechanic familiar with older cars?
- Is it just for the wife and you? Or will you be hauling kids around a lot of the time?
- How safe is it? Your OT Buick probably has 4 wheel disc brakes, ABS, airbags, great integrated seatbelt restraints, headrests, etc., etc., etc. How does this wagon measure up?
I see you are in Fresno - does it have good working AC?

Not wanting to rain on your parade; I personally love seeing these classics out on the road being used, and I try to use my '63 Skylark convertible to get to work at least 1 day a week. But with the increased speed on the roadways, and the superior braking & handling features of modern cars, I feel most folks are buzzing around my ride like kamikaze pilots and I have to be extra careful .

Hope you can make it work; a wagon is my next project.

cheers, Ray

 

Valid points, all.
I should start off by saying, and this is in reference to Jalopy Joker's reply as well, that this will not be a true 5-day-a-week, 20-day-a-month Daily Driver; my wife and I used to car pool twice a week and I want to get back to that, so we're looking at three days a week, four max, and never five.

My commute is just about eight miles, 15-20 minutes; half of that is freeway. Reliability is definitely an issue, and why I'm looking at well-maintained, finished cars rather than projects. The Malibu I mentioned being the best possible scenario-- one owner, garage-kept, all stock. I'm not a great mechanic, but I can replace brakes, starters and alternators, and I now have a good mechanic in case of any serious problems... As far as safety goes, call me crazy, but I could care less about whether it has ABS or airbags-- I don't plan on driving 90 in the fast lane, it rarely rains here let alone snows, so it's just not something I concern myself with; I'll just hang out at 65 mph in the slow lane. Air conditioning? After moving from Portland in 2002, I spent my first five years in Fresno without it!

Oh, and I also have my OT '66 Skylark that's a strong runner as a back-up.

 

I'm all for it. Can you work on it yourself, even a restored car will still have a lot of old parts on it.
You need a/c if you want the wife on board with this, does the car have it, plan in your budget.
If you buy it get familiar with your Napa store or chosen parts place. See what they have in stock and what takes a couple days to get. Switches, wiper motor, blower motor, stuff like that may be worth having on the shelf.
Make sure all the electrical works before you buy or plan in your budget.

Oops, saw your post, if you've got a '66 you know what to expect.

 

Hagerty requires one "non-Hagerty" insured car per adult driver in the household, so just make sure those i's are dotted before you pull the trigger. Aside from that, no reason not to have a fleet.

 

REALLY. I must admit, I did not know that. My wife's car qualifies, but that would leave me with three that don't... guess I need to contact Liberty, our current DD insurance company. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

did you say something about taking out a loan to buy the old wagon? Something about that sounds not quite right, in my world....I buy junk and build them as I can afford. I know what I have, and I know I can fix it.

But yeah, it would be neat to get rid of the late model and just drive the old ones. As long as you have backup, you should be ok.

One thing about insurance, and the loan thing...we use our old cars like normal cars, and insure them like normal (older) cars, liability only. But if you can't afford to lose one, then you might not be able to play the game this way.

 

Wish

I wish I could afford to pay cash, but don't have those kind of reserves, hence the loan. Because I figured, if I'm going to have a car payment anyway, why not pay for something I like?

I've got full coverage through Hagerty on both my '41 and '66, and would on any wagon I purchase as well.

 

I have been driving this 55 Chevy , 235 / 3 sp OD daily for almost one year now as my only daily vehicle... I changed the Bias plys for new radial M+S tires, they are just safer on wet and sometimes snowy roads.
I loved every single one of the about 10 or 11k miles I put on it in 11 months.
Just do it and maintain it. .... and have fun 365 days a year,

 

When people see the big block motor in my Olds station wagon at the car shows or when some one wants to see whats under the hood. They say how do you afford the gas in that thing? I say right back how you afford your monthly payments on your new s.u.v.? LOL. Bruce.

 

If definitely make sure that your covered with the antique insurance for that kind of usage. My personal experience has been that antique car insurance is for recreational use. That's why your required to have other vehicles registered and insured conventionally so they know the antique won't be your primary transportation.

It's all fun and games till something happens and they don't want to pay your claim. Not trying to discourage you I think its not a bad idea if it works for your lifestyle but you just wanna make sure your ass is covered. Good luck

 

What is the worst that can happen? you don't like it or it gets to be too much and you sell it. No big loss, but a big gain if you can pull it off.

I have a '55 olds as my daily, not a 4 or 5 day a week car, it's my only car except for the roadster, and has been for about 7-8 years.

I do have a laugh when I see people on here say about parts availability locally. what about us OS people with non local cars. I can't even buy a thermostat housing gasket for the motor in the olds at the local parts store.

If you're looking at a daily you can do it, you just need to plan if major work needs to be done. And it will, as its an older car and regardless of how well it's kept if you use it, it will wear out. so you just plan it.

see my two links to what I have had to do. not chest beating but more showing you that if you plan and set time aside, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Plus the commute home is so much better in an old car if that is your passion, by the time I get home of a night I've all but forgotten what happened during the day that was shitty. a Cool car to cruise home in and some tunes how can that be a bad thing!


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...-brake-and-booster-swap.991789/#post-11491982


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1955-oldsmobile-rust-repair.1001883/


I would say go for it, you will look back at this time as a good one. I don't know I could swap back to a modern car for daily transport now, even minus AC and PS I'm happy as a pig in a puddle.

 

Great stuff Flatoz, cheers.

I'm definitely not worried about repairs-- last summer my SUV died, and it took my old mechanic almost a MONTH to trace the problem to the fuse panel. $1,300 later...

 

Shit. That wagon is a late model by my standards. I've been mostly daily driving 60's and 70's rigs since I got my license 16 years ago. Most of them real pieces of shit too. I wouldn't even think twice about parts availability or reliability a 60's chevy.

I say do it and don't look back. Then again I drive this every day...

Sent from my SM-G900T using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

You're a braver man than I am, sir, especially living in Seattle! Great place, FWIW, miss visiting that city.

 

Sounds like you've done your homework and considered the possibilities - go for it, and good luck!

cheers, Ray

 

This will be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think you can afford it. Taking a loan for an old car is never a great idea in my opinion, and depending on one as daily transportation is going to mean a lot of last-minute maintenance that can be pricey if you don't have some money in the bank to draw off of.

Selling your current SUV and buying a beater minivan for $2K while you save up cash for your oldie wagon would be the financially responsible move. Or selling something else to buy the wagon outright and selling the SUV to pay off it's current balance, that'd be an option.

Lets say you take the loan, drive the wagon for 6 months, and that Powerglide blows up. Now you're looking at a 700r4 overdrive to replace it for nicer highway manners (not a bad way to go on a daily driver) but doesn't sound like that's a project you could do yourself in your driveway (I know I couldn't) and you're needing 3K to get it back on the road. Then what?

Yes you can make an old car your daily. But pay cash and keep some money in the bank for emergency repairs. Until you've got that, reconsider your plan.

 

The Biggest job is convincing the wife, especially if most of your cars are Hot Rods. What everyone else has already said. Plus it is always more Fun to drive an old car. Just tell your wife that Ron said that It is a good idea!

 

Ron, I just tell my wife it keeps me out of the titties bars{working on old cars} and she REAL happy with that.lol.Bruce.

 

Just for those that have never seen this video.

 

drdave here on the HAMB has two daily drivers, his '51 Merc custom and his '50 Chevy Grapevine tribute car. He really does drive them to work and wherever he needs to go.

 

I do it, and love it. Just buy the best car that you can. Find one that already has an overdrive, that already has the front end rebuilt, already has all new brakes and hydraulics. You will be money ahead if you do that. Even if it costs more at the initial purchase. And don't let anyone tell you that "oh it's a real low mileage original, its like a 5 year old car really". Yes there are cars like that out there, but as soon as they start being used for daily transportation, then all the bushings go out in them, springs wear out or break, wheel cylinders and axle seals leak wheel bearing go bad. Regardless of how nice and original a car is all those parts have been doing there job since the day they were new. start using them all day everyday and time catches up to them real quick. There are tons of cars that have had all the suspension, brakes, trans, and engine addressed and taken care of, that really just need a decent paint job and an interior and your set. That is really the way to go. Yeah they are not as comfortable as a new Buick, and some even when the suspension is perfect still drive like a beached whale, but it kicks ass every day to leave work in a cool old car. I drive my 51 Chevy 2 door every day (well not in the last week since I threw a rod in it, new motor goes in this week end) and my 2 boys love it. lots of room and truthfully this car will out last any other "new" car I could buy for daily transportation, and if I go to sell it, it will still be worth more than any used Honda or crap box commuter car.

 

Thanks for the advice Squablow, but I'm wondering how this would be different than my current situation-- a late-model SUV with 96k miles, a monthly payment and no warranty-- if I'm going to be dealing with a monthly payment, surely a car that I enjoy and can actually work on myself would be a better option? As I noted in an earlier post, I laid out $1,300 last summer in repairs on the Buick; I've GOT money for repairs, and I have enough equity in the Rainier that after I sold it I'd have additional funds to set aside for the proverbial rainy day... I'm curious, why wouldn't I just swap in a new Powerglide if the existing tranny went out? I can get a completely rebuilt PG with a two-year warranty from a shop in LA for $399.00-- certainly a helluva lot cheaper than replacing the slushbox in the Rainier. That's another advantage to the old Chevy, parts are SO much cheaper! As an example, a new water pump for the Rainier costs about $90.00; for a 327 SBC, $49.00. And I could replace the pump on the SBC myself; on the Rainier? Fuggidaboutit.

 

Always amazes me how we seem to forget these old cars used to be daily drivers. I'm not that old and most of my daily vehicles over the last 30 years of driving (well, that makes me feel old...) were from the 60's (late models). The only reason for not driving old cars daily right now for me is length of commute (about 100 mi per day) which makes me consider mileage. I know I can make an old car get good mileage, but I choose to drive a cheap 10 year old daily that gets 30 mpg or so. To make an old car do the same, I would have quite a bit more in it than the cheap late model. Other than my commute to work and back, I pretty much drive my 58 Chevy pu for everything else now (except when I need to take the whole family somewhere which is 6 of us total). I was considering this same thing the other day and it makes perfect sense to me. My only hesitation to only having an old suburban or wagon as a daily is finding one I could either afford already built (which I have never had much luck trying to buy a car that someone else built the way I would at a price I can afford), or otherwise finding time to build one considering 4 kids and all that goes along with that including building two old car daily drivers for them (a 59 Biscayne and a 52 Chevy pu). I am currently considering a 59 Brookwood that I could turn into a daily to replace our 12 year old Yukon though. But, it is a big project too...

All this rambling also takes into consideration location of Oklahoma where weather isn't too bad and traffic isn't either.

 

Since middle 2014 Ive driven a 1964 Chevy c10 daily. I got rid of my new Silverado, and only drive the c10. It goes 70mph just fine, easy to work on, and now I have a nice stereo in it. Every time I hop in it, stress melts away. Its perfect. Probably adds 10 years to my life.