Folks Of Interest Smell of old cars

Old car smell is the only thing that I haven't been able to track down so far for my 46 Olds. I've new OEM trim and woodgraining plus NOS parts etc however I've been unable so far to locate a can of that stuff anywhere! I can still smell the car when I brought it home many moons ago before it was stripped down for a refurbish. That's the only thing you can't buy for love or money but I'd love to replicate that magic aroma again

 

My garage smells like unrealized dreams and disappointment.

 

At 5 yrs old I decided to Run away from home. 1958.
Was only a whole block away that evening.
There it was, an old 40 ford setting behind an old 1940's car garage with heaps setting all over.
I jumped into the seat of that car and the smell of old moldy mohair overtook me.
My imagination allowed me to drive all the way to California and back.
From then on I always equate old times, old cars and freedom to the smell . I can never get enough of it.
Even after redoing the interior on my 37. I can still at times smell that crusty old stuff. Good memories.


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I definitely am a fan of the old car smell. But, the smell of race fuel/alcohol exhaust of a race engine is like waking up to a hot cup of coffee smell in the morning.

 

Smelly car... oh, smelly car...



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I Recall Going To A Olde Wrecking Yard In My Youth Called "Black Bear Auto Repair" Which Sat On A Side Hill In The Elements...When I Would Open The Doors On These Sun Baked Olde Fords The Aroma Of Mohair And Grease Would Give Me A Experience That Would Last For Another 60 Years...

 

Now that you've changed to the posting's title to "Smell" from "Smeel", all of our references to "Smeel" will seem illogical. I liked it the way it was... Something like, "What eez thot smeel?" as said by Sheef Eenspector Clouseau.

I was thinking more Russian, but French makes sense. Also, and most importantly, having taken three years of high school French 55 years ago, you do much better in English than I do in French, N'est Cafe?

Also, because my 30 AV8 is for sale, it smells nice. Now, our Jaguar though, always smells like yesterday's dinner farts.

 

It's hard to forget the first time you breathed nitro fumes. For me it was in the middle 70's at the 1/8th mile on the far west side of Lawrence Ks.
-Dave

 

Fremont California, 1962 with my older brother who took me to the drags (may he rest in peace): Nitro. Such a high when I smell it today.

 

Friend of mine used to have a 1938 Buick Roadmaster. Might've been a barn find, as it was complete but worn. He had it parked in HIS barn for a good number of years! Besides the style and petina, what I loved most about that car was the scent of old mohair and leather. What a great car!

 

that burned oil smell, some people will remember the parafin based oil that clogged up more than a few old engines. leaded fuel has a smell to it when it evaporated. I took apart one old hemi and everything was covered in a fluffy parafin goo, I also got a good chemical burn on my hands.

 

"THMARK...THMARK!

 

Apparently we share the same garage space.

 

My car smells like climate changing, incompletely burnt hydrocarbons. No radio , so it sounds like exhaust note. I do like old car smell , though; new car smell , not so much.

 

The smells of a old car, especially if they have the mohair interior during the summer mixed with the gas & leaking oil is a scent I remember from my childhood.

Also as a kid wearing short pants and the old worn mohair was scratchy. HRP

 

JesusI'mgonnastartcryingprettydamnedquickhere.

 

My garage is small, my washer and dryer are in there, as are a bunch of stuff I've collected over the years.....No distinct smell, but a mixture of everything.....
My 64 Camino I bought when I was 16 is still in there, sitting in the interior, it still has that smell, that old car smell, still a little bit of cigarette smell from when I was young and dumb, used to smoke, old oil, grease, gas, old carpet and foam in the seats...each car has it's own and I know this one...

Devin

 

My Deuce smells a bit like Sex and Candy to me. Not like the original movie car. It's more of a mold and shame vibe.

All jokes aside....

Apparently the original Graffiti coupe smells so bad that it is unforgettable. Too many years sitting unloved.

Nick

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Although it may be a trick of time, I believe today's new cars don't have the same smell that the new cars my dad brought home had.
-Dave

 

Years ago I remember someone packaging up a bunch of plastic upholstery scraps, you would open the bag and place it under the front seat for that new car smell.

 

My wife loves the old car smell on me. Says it reminds her of when we were first dating.

My teenage daughter keeps asking me when i'm going to fix the stinky exhaust smell.

Personally some of the smells I like and some I could live without. My '40 Ford has a really cool interior smell. But the old flathead has more stinky blow-by leaking into the cab than I would like. My F100 with the tank behind the seat kinda reminds me of the smell of driving an old tractor.

 

Nothing smells like the interior of a '60's Chevy. I loved the smell of my '67 Malibu.........the only car I've ever regretted selling.

 

A couple nights ago the wife was picking my laundry off the floor and commented how a sweatshirt smelled like an old car...i call that “proper training”


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Hello,

When I bought my first real car, it was a fast, powerful hot rod converted to a mild Flathead powered Ford Sedan Delivery. At the time, no one thought of any smell or odor emanating from the car. It was just a classic hot rod/beach cruiser that everyone(except parents) liked in our teenage times. There was something to be said about a sedan delivery in the driveway when meeting the parents for the first date.

The 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery had a Flathead motor, did not leak oil, did not have any white/black smoke coming out of the exhaust, it just started every time and was a total reliable teenage hot rod. The interior was a couple of black bucket seats and the back chamber was totally empty, except for an air mattress, towels and extra t shirts. There was never enough money to do some custom touches to the inside, that money was spent on the supplies and gas that we needed for our long coastal surf trips.

The only complaint was that one time, while going to a surf movie, my date mentioned a smell inside of the sedan delivery. It was totally clean, detailed, shiny wax, vacuumed out every inch and the stuff in the back was neatly folded and clean. But, the topic was still a smell inside of the sedan delivery. The notoriety of the sedan delivery at a surf movie, the entrance walk from the red Ford Sedan Delivery and getting inside of the auditorium was enough to put off any doubts about the “smell” from my Ford.

Jnaki

Jump up into our 20 something years for our 2nd 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery. My wife and I purchased this sedan delivery for our daily driver, but it needed a lot of work to get it road worthy. It had a 327, auto, A/C, full upholstery inside the whole cab and sound chamber in back. Nice carpeting and any power to get where we wanted to go. But, it was not handling well, stopping well and had a slight drifting problem, while going down the road. My friend with an alignment shop took it and did his miracle work to make it run, drive/handle like a new car off of the showroom floor. Now, I had to battle with my wife to take the sedan delivery on daily runs anywhere.

For some reason, after the handling/braking issues were solved, I noticed something was different. My old sedan delivery had an old car smell, while this upgraded hot rod had no smell at all. I had plugged all of the minor holes around the firewall and it was sealed quite well. The upholstery kept it warm inside and maybe it helped cover a 1940 year car/truck smell that this sedan delivery once had. The upholstery was not leather and did not have that classic leather smell, but it was just a “clean” smell every time we drove it on our road trips.

Pretty soon, it took on its own characteristics when either of us drove, handling the 4 spoke Moon Steering Wheel and other accessories inside of the seating area. The sedan delivery, being fully upholstered everywhere, helped in the sound deadening and kept any smell of old cars outside. We lived in a house with a car port, so the everyday walk by the sedan delivery always had a hot rod smell from something…perhaps, motor, suspension, friction of metal over the years, etc…

Either the under powered high school 40 sedan delivery or the powerful 327 powered sedan delivery was one fun hot rod to drive anywhere, anytime...

 

Even with my newer Mopar .It still has that old car smell when you get in it not bad just you know its an older car.Bruce.

 

I remember sitting in old European junkyard cars as a kid and they had a very distinct smell that I haven't found since but I'm sure that if I ever find another one of those, the memories will be back in an instance.

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went to the local station for some fuel last week .had a guy came up admiring the 38.not too many of these around here he said.no I said .only one I know of .he stuck his head in the open passenger window and said I love the smell of old car .cant beat it I said. that old car smell is long gone.lots of things overhauled he was smelling the power steering fluid from fat mans defective steering rack a small coolant leak and the smell of hydrocarbons and maybe rubber mats and the tarry smell from new sound insulation . he left a happy man.

 

I remember riding around with my dad 50 years ago, in his old pickups, with the smell of exhaust, gas, and old upholstery. Those were the good ol days .

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The only "old car" smells I remember was left overs from the mouse condos, with a hint of the old decaying Mohair interior, the smell of the gas venting, and the motor oil, trans, and rear end leaks.

More modern cars you get to smell the plastic deteriorating, and the mouse condo smells.

My garage has been my welding shop for the last 18 years, in it I can small the carbon fumes from the cut steel from the plasma cutter, the mixed gasses from welding and burning paint, and the smell of grinder wheel dust.

In my coupe I can small the new paint off gassing and the new carpet off gassing.

You can blindfold me and put me in any of those things and I can probably identify what each one is/was. Each will trigger a memory, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not, but often slightly different each time.

The smells I really like are the fresh spring time air (here where I live) after a spring rain, or the smells of the fall, until everyone wants to burn their leaves. I don't even mind the smell of that 1st snow fall in the winter, until I have to go out and shovel it. Gene

 

As a very young kid in the early 1960's, I would play in both cars as they sat in our driveway, and yes, they did have a special, unique smell that was really overpowering. Probably mold. How would I know, I was 5-years old. I liked it so much!!! Those wonderful days. If I could go back in time, let me sit in that 1949 Chevy.