Driving a Old Car as a daily driver!

So right now all I have is my 53 Ford Customline two door sedan to drive, Six volts, Inline six three on the tree with digger gears for the hills....

Three inch drop, with big/littles.

Ride's great if a little bumpy at times, sips the gas "IF" I keep my foot out of the throttle...

Finding 20w/50 can be a challenge some times as is the six volt bulbs. (got to keep the man off my but)

I drive for 45min to work every day for six days a week, funny being the only car on the road that is older than the 80's! And not to many of those on the road ither...

Once in a while I see a fellow H.A.M.B.er, you can tell one of them, some times I see a Goodguys car.......

15MPG and a quart of oil a week.

Rowing through the gears and hearing the growl of the motor...

Music to my ears......

Its not easy, I work on my car to keep it on the road......But I "can" work on it!

No computer, no special tools.......

Nice, and I can change my own Tire on the side of the road.....

Things like that are disappearing from daily life.

To all those that drive their Old cars and trucks on a daily basis.....

Keep it up, there are youngsters who look up to us and dream of the day they to can drive a Old car every day like us.....

............Roach.

 

Drove my 48 Plymouth Coupe and my 48 Plymouth Woodie Wagon daily when I had them. Bum came up to the window of the coupe one day and asked if I had any spare change. I asked him if he thought anyone driving a car like this would have any spare change. He looked around the interior, then outside, said, sorry and walked away.

 

Drove this for a a summer straight while doing a straight axle conversion on my D-max.

One of the most dependable cars I own.

 

The only trouble I have is wipers. Well that and that damn water that dripps out from who knows where and soaks my pantleg. Other than that man it's golden.

 

I Second the wiper thing, Vacuum, with a bad sense of humor. They start chugging right along at you pull into, the parking lot. (on the 56 Olds)

 

Rain-x is your friend, I drove my 64 el camino through a WA winter without wipers....

 

I've been daily driving my '31 for a couple few months now.....alot more maintenance needed but its still the best decision I've made this year.

 

I Built my 71 Camaro to be a daily driver (40 miles one way). Drove it for 3 months got 18mpg then hit a horse on the way home one night. Been driving newer model throw away cars sense.

 

My first car was a '53 Customline Tudor that my dad bought new. Drive it work on it (it won't need much).

 

64 elco curved glass. 50 Chev truck flat. Rain-x don't help much

 

I've used my 71 f-100 as a daily driver before. It's ok but buying gas for it is terrible. I daily drive my 02 z28 and its much more pleasant. There is no reason why an old car can't be used as a daily as long as you're willing to work on it

 

Thanks to a couple good friends who thrashed to get it on the road, this became my daily driver, weekend parts hauler, etc..

 

i drive a bone stock 30' coupe for a daily. Either that, my 41' Nash coupe, or hop on the harley. Its so much fun !

 

I drove my 38 Ford Club Coupe as a daily for about 8 years, I honestly don't understand why anyone thinks its it hard to do. IT JUST A FUCKING CAR!

Doc.

 

How fast were you driving when you hit that poor horse???

 

thats what he gets for "horsing around"

 

You got that right! It floors me when people are scared to drive their car because its "old" then I find out its only 7 years old!! On another forum a guy was asking if he dared drive a 1973 car!! I have been driving my 39 Ford every day for 17 years and driving a 31 Ford, a 57, a 59, a 60 and on rare occasions, my 66 but its too new to be exciting so I dont drive it much.
I dont have a car newer than the 66

 

I drove my '59 Edsel as a daily driver for two years. I parked to upgrade to front disk brakes but, when I got my package from MP some parts were damaged. During my pissed off tantrum because the damaged parts I ended up buying an '06 Dodge Ram Hemi.

Biggest mistake ever!...I don't know what I was thinking getting a gas guzzler and now having a monthly payment.

I miss that Edsel and I regret selling it every time I see a thread like this.

If you are driving your Old Car as a daily Lucky You!

 

I'm lower middle class so I'm taking a different approach. I'm driving a $300 1992 Toyota Corolla. The car payments I would have made is spent on my early-50's-style-front-engine-dragster-T-bucket-for-the-street-car (EFSFEDTBFTSC).

After spending a couple of weekends in the junk yards and about another $175, the car has been very reliable for the the last 4 months. (The junker before that lasted 4 years and was also quite reliable.) The trick is to find a cheap one with low (under 150,000) miles. If it has something wrong with it that you know how to fix, needs a paint job or has a bent fender, you can pick it up for peanuts.

It's great having a car payment every month to put towards the EFSFEDTBFTSC but I have to confess that sometimes I loose my focus and spend it on more important things. (Proverbs 24:27 Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.)

Once I finally get the EFSFEDTBFTSC built, the plan is to drive it every day and simply replace things as they wear out. Throw a rod? Burning oil? No problem. Any engine and transmission combo will fit it. Need a new seat? Time to hit the junk yards. Get in a fender-bender? It doesn't have fenders. Break a windshield? It's flat glass. Just go get the glass cutters to make another. Frame rust out? Weld up another.

I could be daily-driving this thing the rest of my life.

Once built, the monthly car payments will go towards my dream engine.

 

My newest one don't even have 30K on it yet and the slave cyl./throwout bearing is singing like a canary when I first fire it up in the morning...

 

Drive my Ranch Wagon daily, that is when I can keep a tranny in it. I had to make a decision that drag racing is out for the ol girl. Nothin like an old car to keep your spirits up with thumbs up and great compliments from folks. Drive em. ~sololobo~

 

Drove this for over a year as my daily....51 Nash Rambler full Kustom, 2 litre pinto and 5 speed stick shift...it was OK ish, but a combination of drum brakes, left hand drive (I live in thre UK!!) a 50 odd mile round trip to work (with stop start traffic for at least half of that), the fact it was really low, lack of secure parking at work and freezing my balls off in the winter meant I just couldn't face a second year (mainly the brakes and the cold to be honest) meant it had to go..

 

The Pharaoh! I seen that in Custom car when it was featured in '00 or '01, not sure.
Love it!
I can understand the cold issue, but why didnt you get the heater core from the pinto donor??
Anyways, i drive an old car daily too, and cant afford diffrently, a new car is too expensive for me, between cost of veichle, insurance and proprety tax...fuk'em!

 

When I seen it coming out of the ditch I slowed down and swerved. Was probably doing 55 or 60. I got on the median a bit and only hit it's head. It busted the windshield and bent the drivers side windshield post.

 

I love driving the old stuff as often as I can. My DD is my old Jag and occasionally the 32. Couple of thoughts...

I was looking at the owner's manual for my 66 Mustang the other day and was reminded at how short the maintenance intervals were in those days. Frequent oil changes, lubes, points, plugs, tire rotations....things we take for granted now. Modern lubes, electronic ignitions, and tires help, but if you're driving an original equipment old car, you might have to pay a lot more attention to those things than if you were commuting in the Camry.

The other thing that would worry me is safety. No matter what anyone says, braking performance on a 50's car with bias ply tires can't come close to a modern car. Wipers aren't as good, lights aren't as bright, steering response is not as sharp. Belts and three point harnesses need to be retrofitted.

And the last and most important thing is, you really have to adjust your driving style to compensate for all the texting-while-driving fools that surround you.

 

I have been driving my 62 chevy truck daily with out any problems. I just sold it and will be driving my 58 Edsel daily starting in the next week or two. I have a 190,000 mile Jeep Wrangler as my back. 1995 and still pretty basic.

 

Using a 70 Ranchero for a shop truck. No smog no shoulder belts. Half the time I don't even ware the seat belts. Cops can't tell!!! Best thing is I can actually work on it myself. I hate computers!!!!

 

Yeah I should say that I drive old cars and trucks for the last twenty years, just it is getting more rare to see on the road.

Drove my 51 shoebox coupe with a flathead six all over, most of my old trucks had sixes in them.

I love driving the old stuff compared to newer cars.

Now riding on old motorcycles is just as hard and the work on a weekly basis just to keep them running is rewording in itself, You Know what your vehicle is capable of and just how far you can push it on the modern road.

Radials not biased plys...

 

Anymore my daily 81 el camino is the oldest rig i see on my way to work, it wasnt that way 11 years ago when i started driving it

 

I drive this most days unless I have to haul big stuff .