Features Frugally Living With Old Shit

I always wonder what guys actually do with their cars when they say they use as a "daily driver". For me a daily driver means I have to be able to do a 8 hr trip each way in -40 with 3 hrs between cities.

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Sell it and build 4 more. It's easy math...

I have been pondering this for a while. We have a few years until retirement, but the wife has said she will sell her 2017 Lincoln if I can find here a 59 Kingswood wagon.

 

I drove my old cars as primary transportation without too many problems over the years. Really never wanted to have payments and was not interested in newer rides.

Of course everything costs money to drive as well as repair, and some are more dependable than others. My ‘56 Pontiac Safari Jetaway trans was rebuilt three times. The ‘64 Comet wagon with a 289 was probably the most dependable. My flathead MoPars did very well, the ‘53 Dodge truck for ten years and ‘51 Plymouth for five. As far as overall cost, I still have the Comet and the MoPars, over the years they have been improved and are probably worth more than was spent so I think it was cost effective transportation.

 

Using a hotrod, classic or collector car for a daily driver really depends on where you live. I made a nice side income in my younger days bringing rust free cars to the rust belt for guys who wanted an old car for a daily driver . I got to watch way too many 'classics' turn to complete shit after one winter of daily driving. Cars that survived 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years in salt free areas barely made it through a winter before turning into rusty pieces of shit.

 

Ryan, You can. I am still driving the 1993 Ford Ranger (with A/C)
that I bought new for about $13K.
Wife drives a 2018 car.

 

Those 'golden moments' quickly fade when you're changing a fuel pump in your 60 Elcamino DD on the side of the road in Bumfuck, North Dakota in knee deep snow with a -60 below wind blowing up your ass.

In reading this thread so far it seems that the fun factor of driving an old car daily really depends on having a newer car you can depend on to get you where you need to go.

 

driving frugally is even cheaper with cheap 70's cars. put 80,000 miles on a $500.00 car starting in 1998. tires, clutch, battery probably in it for another $600.00. sold it for $1500.00 when I was done. put well over 100,000 on my next car which cost me $600.00 and I drove it for 12 years. put some fixing into that one, probably 3 grand total for 12 years... sold it to the junk yard for $400.00. save all kinds of money being a cheap bastard....not to mention cheap insurance and registration on these worthless old heaps.

 

Like a lot of you all. I guess I fall in the middle of the driving an old car as a daily. Location, and mileage really does dictate what you can do. We live in the country, with only a few small towns. So no city traffic at all. Also our longest average trip, isn't over 20 miles. I don't mind spending money for gas, if it's going in an old car. lol A daily driver old car for me is anytime the weather is good. We don't do the car payments either. We will look for a one owner 1oo,ooo mi. late model, and then pay cash for it. Will then drive it for another 100,000. and do it over again. I might say we don't put a lot of miles on a car. We have cheap liability insurance, and taxes too. The wife will drive it most of the time. I do have full coverage on our Hot Rods. I also have A/C in our 34 delivery. That way the wife will ride in it to church, shopping, etc. It's always more Fun to drive one of the Hot Rods. Than to drive the boring throw away late model. Having AAA and a cell phone now days does help too. Old cars have always been just a Hobby for me. I think that's what has kept it soo much Fun. O yeah, don't leave home without duct tape either! Ron..........

 

The only reason I don't drive an old heap is because my employer provides my ride. I drove $800 cars up to that point without a second thought. I spent a whole summer driving a 73 Impala that I gave $75 for, just to see if I could without spending another dime on it. That one was special, as the front was slightly wrecked, so the traffic just parted like the Red Sea as I approached... they assumed I was after them next.

Ryan's old Ford truck was my sweet spot style of driver, and exactly the kind of ride I would go back to if the company demanded my keys tomorrow.

 

drove a fart canned civic (gas mileage) for 3 years or so when I had a 150 mile round trip commute (sold it)
other than that all my rides are old stuff.
I generally buy a wreck or drag an old beater out of the woods and fix it.
Why learn how to do all this repair work and not take advantage of it. All the current rides are either a rebuilt wreck or rebuilt old beater. Having frame equipment at home and at work + access to paint booths and late model scan equipment AC machines.....helps. The school system also makes sure I stay up on the latest.
My current daily is my 63 short bus, no heat/air, and manual wipers. And currently its my only personal ride as I am working our the details on my 67. Having a 40 mile round trip to work helps a lot, this is the closest I have ever worked to home. I use the bus for work, grocery, hardware, and parts runs. If a part pops up in the next state, jump in the bus and grab it.
I am currently building what will probably become my next daily, its my mid life crisis build. An OT body dropped mini. (sorry folks, I still like em)
Trying to build something I wish I could have built when much younger. It also started out as a wreck and is 25 years old.
If I ever finish up the 57 step van, it could be the next daily, who knows or steal the wife's 56 wagon from her

I need to focus on one at a time but my ADD wont let me.
I have never desired to own a new ride for myself, the thought just seem foreign, like dating your sister or something.

(Im glad people buy new, I made a lot of $ fixing new)

 

I posted this earlier:
"I've been fortunate, I've had a company supplied vehicle for about 30+ years. I've never bought a new car, but I've had one to drive every 4 years or so for the last 20 years. "

But eventually, and not all that far off, I will retire, and when I do, I may update the wife's car one last time, but I plan on sticking to my classics for myself, and I'm kind of looking forward to it. I'll be that old guy in the neighborhood with the old cars. I just need one to be reliable enough to get me & my gear to gigs, cause I plan on playing gigs for pocket money when the payhecks stop coming in the mail.

 

I have driven antique/hotrod ONLY for 52 years. No late model cars. 1931, my avatar, to the 1960 F100. I drive many ol cars so the list is long, mostly 1930s and 1950s. I feel like its cheating to drive cars from the 50s because those really are modern cars compared to cars from the flathead era. I never have bought a new car. Right there I have come out WAY ahead. The yearly operating cost of one of my cars is about equal to the monthly cost of paying for a modern car. Having many ol cars spreads the mileage around, so things wear out slowly. The photo was a 300 mile trip pulling doubles

 

I explained it to a student this way once.
You can go to a car lot, buy a ride and make payments plus upkeep and loose money due to depreciation.
Or save up some cash, buy a cheap beater, and make payments as you spend money and time on improvements. Its still kinda like payments, but now its at a break even of possible make money situation.
Instant gratification vs gratification of driving something you built.

 

1. Inline 6s are good for towing V8s home

2. Girls like old trucks, so I built a "late" model suburban for mine as a daily driver- she´s even got a heater in it AND her seat is completely adjustable, front to back and in height! How´s that for conveinience?
3. I fix it for her, that´s how she is saving money, hahahaha

 

I sold the newest car I've ever owned (96 Impala SS) in 2011 and bought my 54 Buick. Never looked back. Driven year round in all weather and I have put well over 100,000 miles on it, from Texas to Wisconsin. I got my Masters Degree, got married, brought home my daughter, and a lot of other things in it. These things were meant to be driven.

 

I've always bought the missus the newest, nicest low mileage [and 2 new ones] cars I could swing. I always drove old cars or winter beaters. I paid $1500 for this old 46 chevy pickup and it was my only transportation for a few years until until I was able to swing a deal on my HHR panel. At that time I was able to sell the 46 for over 3 times what I paid for it. It's so nice to have fuel injection [no more Q-jet on 30 degree mornings] A/C, XM tunes. The thought of depreciation never crossed my mind because I'm gonna drive that HHR 'till it falls down over it's stamped steel subframes. Already have over 100,000 miles on it.

 

I agree. We have a financed minivan for the wife and kids. I call it the "paper plate" car. We will drive it into the ground, throw it away and get another one. The wife likes the modern conveniences, power doors for the kids etc etc... I get it. It's a calculated loss.

I drive a 2000 GMC Crew cab short bed Old body style. It has most of the modern conveniences, but these 88-98 Gm body styles are really going up in value. Looks like I'll be making money when I sell it, which is a nice surprise.

BUT, I'd love to build a 37-38 Chevy Sedan Delivery with windows in the delivery sides and put 2 rows of minivan seats in the back, and rear AC for the kids. That's a family hauler/Soccer Mom/daily driver I could get excited about.

 

I live in snow country so my daily driver is shared between the Dually in winter and the 49 most of the time when the ice is gone off our dirt roads here in Idaho. I’m still fighting a vapor lock issue that I think is coming from the 390 Holley. I think I’m going to try a pair of new 97’s on an Offenhauser.



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Very true that's not a fun experience, but I personally think it's still better being able to change out a 50 dollar fuel pump yourself than a 1000 dollar fuel pump and dropping a fuel tank to do it....stranded either way.

Best t-shirt I've ever seen said "if it's got tits or wheels, your gonna have problems"

 

^ this... over here Diesels are , or were, pretty popular, until.... you know. Injectors are 500.00 a piece, a Turbo up to 1800.00. All of them are having trouble with EGR , cokeing up, a 3 k invoice for general maintainance is not unheard of . That stuff is expensive.

 

I'm going to have to say that for a daily driver rig there may be that break over point where making payments on a basic box with wheels or basic small pickup to drive to work and run errands with may be more prudent than trying to keep one of those "cheap" cars on the road along with the time the cheap driver's repairs take you away from quality project building time.
About 15 years ago when gas was sky high in price I was driving my 71 GMC 3/4 ton to work every day and putting 50+ miles a day on it getting less than 10 miles a gallon and spending a bit over 100 a week for gas just to go to work and back. That 400 a month would have gone a long way on a payment, insurance and gas for a box with wheels that got 35 or so mpg and didn't need a hundred bucks a month spent on maintenance. At the same time my wife was putting 80 miles a day on a Cadillac Seville that got 17 on the road. Between us we were spending right at 800 a month just to drive to work and back. That didn't leave any money for the toys or building the 48.

Now that we are retired our newest daily driver is an 02 VW Passat that I picked up in an online auction because it had/has a transmission issue. Damn thing leaks transmission fluid but that 100 buck car (380 with all the fees) has gone over 15 k in the last year, took us to Victoria for Deuce days and on some other road trips. I've got to go out and change the front CV joints/axles right now but that little bugger doesn't ask for much and leaves more time and money for the fun projects.
I drove the 48 to work from the day I bought it in 1973 up though 2002 more often than not except when I had it torn down to redo it. Drive it 8 months of the year and change stuff for the next four and drive it for another year and change more stuff. Some times it was the only vehicle that we owned that ran no matter what time of the year it was and it got driven when it was 20 below just like it did when it was 105 in the summer. I wheeled in the yard after dark one night, jacked it up on blocks and covered it with tarps and stuck my 500 watt halogen under it, went in the house and put my old coveralls on and the outside cats and I changed the clutch so I could drive it to work the next morning all the while it was 15 degrees outside. Cats weren't too happy when I got done and put the light away.

Still there is a lot to be said for having a simple to work on good running older rig that you can drive anywhere at any time and enjoy it.

 

I bought my wife a 015 Impala, 14000 miles, a little over 3 yrs ago. I worked at a Ford dealership and got a good deal. I like to have her in something dependable. I have a early body style 4 dr chevy pick up. I ran onto a 97 chevy K1500 at a good price so right now I'm working on it, when it is done I will put both trucks up for sale and if the 97 sells first, I'll look for something else. If the 07 sells, I'll drive the 97. I'm tired of taxes every year and expensive full coverage insurance. I'm retired, semi I guess you would say, and my main goal is to get everything I can paid off. If you can find cheap cars, work cars, you'd better buy them. The last three I had when I was working I sold for a profit. As was said, the 88-98 trucks are going crazy on price right now. You can't drive a vintage car around here in the winter, a flake of snow falls and they are out putting calcium every where and it eats stuff up quick.

 

Here in the Northeast we have to put our Hot Rods away for the winter...so we have OT daily drivers.

Never had a car payment...and never will. It goes against every fiber of my being to buy something that's guaranteed to lose me $10K, 15K, or 20K of my investment over time...AND have the privilege of paying loan interest on top of the loss

Most vehicles hit their low depreciation at 10 to 15 years old...and I'm always on the lookout for extremely low mileage vehicles in that age range. Just bought the wife an (OT) 09 Kia Sportage with 36,000 miles, and for the past 5 years, I've been driving an (OT) '02 Chevy Venture van (which is still hasn't hit 90.000 miles). Each of these vehicles were below $4500.

We certainly can afford new cars...but I just can't do it.

 

I've never had a car payment, but I don't drive a classic car either. My first car was on topic but really was a POS that over time cost me far more than it was worth to have it. So you should add one more condition, "The car must be a solid, reliable runner to begin with." My current car is over 20 years old, I've had it for more than 10 years, paid less than $5k for it and have put more than 100k miles on it. It's had repairs but just the usual you'd expect. I hope to get 100k more out of it. It's not a classic, and isn't worth nearly as much as that $5k I paid but I think I've made out pretty good.

 

My daily drivers are a 89 crown vic and 95 F150 that I use mostly junkyard parts to keep them going,both have rusty frames but do have a nice f250 frame to put under the 95 this spring. Been trying to find a decent mid 90s truck but nothing I can afford so I am going to build one since the 95 has a very nice cab and the a/c still works. The c/v will be a drivetrain donor in a couple years.

 

As we get older, the thoughts of changing out a fuel pump or clutch in 10 degree weather has less and less appeal. Because we drive old cars doesn't mean we have to leave our AAA card at home.
I'm not sure if half the posts here are about the love of old cars or about not being able or wanting to make payments on a newer one!
With that said, if I can be allowed to make an observation on Ryan's posts........it seems the decision for a daily driver is between a traditional old hot rod or a newer model car with all the creature comforts. What I am seeing as overlooked there is the reason soooooo many rodders are not traditional. I'm not a mechanic....couldn't tune a carburetor, set a distributor or timing. But, I built my car the traditional way, 100% myself from many donor cars with what I could afford in a one car garage with a dirt floor over a 10 year period. In that respect, it's as traditional as it gets. BUT, I wanted a comfortable, reliable, economical go anywhere cruiser that handled and road well. For me there was only one way to go and that was new school. Yeah, my car's got a computer, but it also has A/C, power rack and pinion, disc brakes with hydroboost, hd sway bars, trac-loc I've got highback seats that are comfy as hell on a long roadtrip.....I often sleep in the car. And I get close to 24 mpg. AND.......it's got lots and lots of cool.
Not pushing the new school over traditional, but when it's got to be a dd with minimum down time, there's some more figuring to do.....at least it beats the heck out of driving a Honda.
BTW, I've now put 34k miles on it in 4 years after getting back from the Starbird show this past weekend.

 

Yep....never bought a new car....maybe a year or two old and still have those two in the rotation....had my Stude truck and a Belvedere mor door at 18yrs and always had a pair or more to drive when the other needed work....and when all were broke down - I had an old motorcycle as a back up....my dad did buy a few new cars but he didn't keep them long maybe two years at the most - but we always had a nice second hand car or two or three in the drive way.......

 

63 f100. $1000 + 200 on brake rebuild.
3+ years hard daily drivin, parts chasin and track jumpin
Only maintenance was a tune up, carb build and oil changes. Tires were freebies.
45k miles. Sold the wore out truck for $850. Needed floors and all the cab mounts.
Kept the mint hubcaps and innie wheels.
I lost a few hundred bucks but not bad for that kinda miles in my opinion.