... and the other thing is that when you're in the big city driving an old car (as transportation), you're all alone. Hang in there...someone has to do it.
The winters here with salted roads take alot of the fun away to drive old cars as daily drivers. And a gasprice pending betwin 7-8 dollar per gallon isnt fun either.
The reality is, most of our old vehicles with inadequate safety features have no business on the Interstate where speeds are regularly 75mph+ and other drivers are rude, impatient and distracted. Even on the rural highways, the cars we love are increasingly challenged by the contemporary driving culture. The window is closing- at least in my area in the East- where classic hot rods and customs can be relied upon for daily, safe driving. Goodness knows I have tried. It just isn't worth the risk to life and limb anymore. So my HAMB-friendly trips are limited to the occasional blast to the store, Saturday morning breakfast with my buddies, and the car shows that happen close by. What a shame.
yep, difficult to balance the "now" world and the "then" of yesterday - many people drive a very old basically stock ride as a commuter on a daily basis - many have decided to move up to something with added creature comforts and safety - even though we have one foot in the past we can not deny the present by just the fact we rely on modern communication devices for much of our world - like having a site like this that relies on modern technology - ever complained how long something being heated up in a microwave takes?
I'm with the author of the blog piece, except the nearest urban center is Des Moines, Iowa, so old cars work just fine. My newest car is a 1967 Mustang convertible named "Daisy". Complete with exploding rear gas tank and a steering column which has been called "the spear". As far as "inadequate safety features" I think the real issue is how our culture fetishes "safety". I can't think of something more miserable than living a life where "safety" is the priority. Life isn't even remotely "safe". I like traditional-styled hot rods because they don't prioritize safety. Risk gives life a certain flavor that the risk averse will never know nor understand.
Yup, winters where I live takes up over half of the year severly stumping Hot Rod daily driving. Once the the snow is gone and the roads clear of the crap they've laid down.......I'm out there. My roadster for the sunny days and my 32 pickup for any day. Have to admit though a lot of drivers here have no tolerance for anyone or anything Hot Rod or not. I to live pretty much in the country but the other day in my roadster making my left onto my road the fellow (idiot) behind me stuck so close to my tail and then just about took my right rear wheel off as he blew by! I do understand road rage! Cause I wanted to chase him down and pulp him.
....reminds me of Pat Ganahl's old editorials in Street Rodder and Rod and Custom nearly begging us to go out and get 50's cars, build mild customs and drive them everyday. Sold me...been driving one ever since in one form or another....the Merc is parked out front at the moment.
I hate to say it but I have almost always driven old cars. We tried the late model thing, but used late model cars are usually a pain and I kept an old heap around so that we would have something that we could call reliable.
You hit the nail on the head...all the emotional attachment to these cars paints all of us - I am especially afflicted...(or possibly just "Special") - your article has me thinking about my "dream car" that I'm restoring right now and tryin like hell to get done by Sept ( my 50th)...'67 Biscayne w a nasty carbed LS3...after reading this I'm askin myself - is it still gonna be an old car? Yup...I think it is...just another set or two of hands on it that adds to the countless pairs of hands over the years... I drive old cars...just thinking about who has owned or worked on em long before me coming along is effing cool as hell. I wish sometimes I could find all those folks and kick the $@#t out of em for all the WTF work they did... I believe road safety is my responsibility - if I drive my 48 on I35...it better have distance between me and the next guy cuz my brakes are...well... 1953 drums - so I hafta drive like it's 1955 - not 2017...it's a personal choice. Pros outweigh the cons...damn near everytime!
I live in DFW, my nerves can't handle driving an old car daily around here. But I applaud those who do. The main reason is safety. I haul around 3 kids and the oldest is 6. Modern cars are boring, but safer.
I am lucky I live in the "BIG" city in Wyoming and there is only 60,000 people here. It is much easier to use an old car as a daily driver than in a lot of places. However we do have some nasty weather and during the winter it isn't always the best idea to drive something old. My Daily for years has been a '70 Chevy truck and unfortunately the rust is getting bad enough where I will have to start fixing it. During the summer I often drive my old cars around all day for errands and so on. I have always enjoyed my cars this way. I have never understood why some people only get their cars out for a show.
This is a prime example of why I'm building a mild custom. I love my Model A coupe, but maybe my bones are getting a bit old to call it a daily driver. A '53 Ford should ride pretty smooth. It can have all sorts of fancy options like heat and wiper blades too. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Since High School I've seldom been without an old Ford hot rod to drive, often my only transportation. For many years, I drove my fenderless '29 pu to work everyday through the L.A. traffic and it was the only thing that made the commute bearable. Something about the arm out the window, listening to the solid lifters tick and watching the temp gauge. During the same time I was alternating riding a rigid frame Pan Head to work. Over time, the streets decayed and the competency of the surrounding drivers dropped to a level that made both of them not as much fun. I sold the '29 and bought a '55 F100, (dropped axle, no A/C or overdrive A/T) it remains my primary daily driver to this day. I too live in the country now and it's a 20 mile drive to the stores. The roads are pretty poor but it's nice to see the reactions and recognition of everyone, a wave or thumbs up. I guess we are keeping the old car flame lit as best we can.
Yeah, try that in Houston. I had my Galaxie as a daily for seven years, it was great, I was a much younger man then and I confess to liking A/C now.
...you should've had the plywood delivered , even at a cost, and forget about the "reality" ...jus sayin...
We live in SW Rural MN I have to drive 30 mins in any direction to get to a town that has more than 5,000 people in it. and those are 25k people. I drive our 55 Chevy 4 door as much as possible, but lately where for instance it snowed Monday and was 70 yesterday and is 60 and raining today its hard to do that. No wipers or Heat. So this is why we build most of our hot rods for customers with modern safety and comforts like Wipers, Seat Belts, A/C-Heat. But I still drive the old junk, I am working on putting seat belts in the back of the 55 so I can haul the kids. We really only get 6 months if we are lucky to drive these cars because most of the time its -30 degrees outside and under 3 feet of snow.
LOLI still don't care if I got A/C or not. But the wife loves it, she does not do heat real well. I still remember when she first moved back here from Oregon. We had a '93 T bird that was on its 7th recall but the AC worked, I drove an old beat up Dodge truck most of the time. I digress, we figured out that it took about 4 hours to drive the speed limit all the way around the I-435 loop. So when we worked the same shift or I was off for the evening I would load her up and we would cruise the loop. By the time we got home it was cool enough to sit in the house. The Galaxie that I drove when I first joined the HAMB had under dash A/C but the compressor was shot so I never made it work. It looked cool though. After 20 years she handles the summer heat here well enough, but she still likes that A/C.
I've had some good vintage cars but finally found my formula. Country living and city work life with a 30 mile traffic infested non-insured driving mess in-between can take its toll, physically. I built a stockish "A" truck about 5 years ago, when the late model beater pulls in from city, the truck takes over rain or shine at least 4 days a week. My how the miles and smiles pile up. Anything with kids and wife usually take the old wagon. No.. I'd rather drive vintage all the time, but kids safety and crazy cities made my choice.
Im building that mild custom action to do the mostly daily grind, it will have A/C but hey, its the factory system so thats ok right? its funky and actuates the fresh air/recirc function using oil pressure to power a monster solenoid instead of vacuum. The 57 DeSoto will do ok here. I am sneaking disc brakes and an OD auto in it to make it handle modern traffic better but those are my only concessions to the modern world. It will be running a carbed 392.
I would have driven down for 500, picked up your wood and had a chance to visit one of my favorite people. Call me next time.
Wow! Well written, those very thoughts run through my head always. Gotta '56 Bel Aire wagon and a'29 RPU and I drive 'em as much as possible. Can't wait for the day I can get out of Dirty Jersey, go where it's warm , drop the Colorado for an Elky as my beater and live the dream!!!
I have mixed emotions on it. Most my life I've driven old cars, maybe not always HAMB old. My old work truck, a 73 Ford duelly flatbed, still points and a carb. Drove it for damn near 30 years, hauled a trailer all over this country. Finally gave it up at 700K miles, bought a brand new diesel. I stress on road trips more in it then I ever did in the old Ford. Sure, the Ford would give trouble once in a while but 9 times out of 10 I could fix it, often right there on the side of the road. New truck last year had a computer glich, put itself in limp mode when I was in the middle of nowhere with a trailer and high dollar car. Now that was stress! $900 computer gizmo to fix, more stress! I will admit it's not as easy as it use to be having an old car as a daily. Our family car for the last several years was an OT 72 wagon. Thanks to the carburetor unfriendly quality of the gas around here it started having vapor lock issues in the summer I was having trouble curing. Wife drove it to work everyday, a couple times of vapor locking in 5 o'clock rush hour traffic was enough for her. Plus she really wanted something with A/C, geez. So she buys a new car, I start commuting with the wagon which lead to a new dilemma, an a-hole blew a light and totaled it. Luckily I wasn't injured but the pain of seeing my beloved wagon totaled really hurt bad. If I was in my truck, no big deal, just replace it, they are a dime a dozen.
It is said that "the years force a certain amount of wisdom on you whether you like it or not". At 71 years old I rarely use the Interstate anymore. When I was working and had limited vacation time it was a different story. But now everyday is a Saturday. I have several hot rods and usually I roll up 10-15 thousand miles a year in them mostly on blue lines. The best thing I can offer is read the book "Blue Highways" by William Least Heat Moon. It will change the way you travel. A couple of years back I did what "Safariknut" called 1 lap around America. 9600 miles, seven weeks, my wife and I in a '33 Ford coupe, Route 66 and a lot of "Blue Highways". Now I'm building a '29 Roadster to do it again topless. Just do it, you're dead a long time...
A younger co-worker and fellow car-freak and I have this debate often. It usually goes like this: Him: "Why do you want to pump a ton of money into an unreliable old jalopy? For that money you can buy a new Dodge Hellcat Challenger with 700hp, modern tech and a friggin' warranty." Me: "Yeah, but then I'd actually have to be seen in it." I'd rather drive something I made mine, something that nobody else has -- or even wants. That's worth more than anything that comfy modern tech and a warranty can offer me. I briefly owned and drove a '64 Cadillac, and for many more years a Lemans GTO clone. No regrets. Ten years ago while working on a hot rod TV show, we once filmed near the famed biker/car hangout The Rock Store in L.A. One guy pulled up in a Lamborghini, parked it, propped the hood open, pulled out a lawn chair and sat down ready to field questions. None came. He may as well have propped open a briefcase full of money. I already know what money looks like. I was not impressed. Never will be. As much as it makes me cringe when wealthy people commission the entire build of their custom hot rod, in the end I'm OK with it. At least it's custom and they had a say it what it became; theirs.
The Jalopy Journal
