Compliments.....what happens when you drive your car?

One of the fun one's I remember I was driving down the interstate at the speed limit in my '40 Ford Deluxe Coupe and a late model, gold and white Rolls Royce (!) passes me. It immediately slows down and when it is along side me again, the darked-out power window on the passenger side rolls down and an an old gal who looks like in her 60's with a BIG, blonde hair-do sticks both arms out the window and gives me a double thumbs-up and a HUGE smile!!!

 

My wife could care less about the car, or so I thought. When someone pulls up on her side and asks what is it, or what year is it, or what's under the hood...she's right there to tell them every detail. After 37 years she knows the details pretty well!
Glad she wasn't with me the day some guy in a Nissan pulled up honking his horn while his girlfriend flashed me and yelled, "I love your car!"

 

I've gotten a lot of thumbs ups from the bums and such, they also like to tell me they had one at one point in time. When my girl and I are out in it together we get, hey I like your costumes. One night I was out with my 61 Fairlane with my parents and girl I had a few people looking at it and I told them it was a hybrid, that got a lot of laughs.

 

Where I live, that's not a bad thing 'cause the "next lane" goes the other direction.

 

I get?.... cool! But is that Milton the monster driving behind the wheel?

 

A few years back I'm cruising in my T roadster thru a little piss ass town that's known for speed traps. I make the turn on the main street and look over and a guy is grinning ear to ear and gives me a big thumbs up. I do a double take and it's freaking Paul Newman! Considering I was in Louisiana passing through a town with a population of about 300 people it was pretty cool. Turned out he was there filming the movie Blaze. A friend of mine had 3 of his cars used in the movie. A 48 Ford vert, and '58 T Bird, and a '57 Caddy Limo.

Little kids, teen age girls, and women loved the T. Can't even count the number of times I had my pic taken running down the road at 70.

 

The most "thumb's up" I ever got was in my Stock 1994 Pink Sonoma


It was hauling the 354 hemi just pulled out from between the fenders of a '56 New Yorker at the time!

 

Lots of different reactions. I used to drive a '51 Buick Roadmaster 2-door hardtop. (Riviera) Lots of people just loved that car. But driving that old Buick provided a realization to me...some people just don't care. The people that did comment on it were usually quite enthusiastic and passionate about it, and at one point I remember thinking that I was gonna get comments at every stop-light. Not really true. More often than not, I'd be sitting at a stoplight, surrounded by other cars on a warm summer day, and everybody's got there car windows open. Nothin'. Not a honk, a wave, a smile, a thumbs-up...nothin'. Hahaha. Not everybody loves old cars. In fact, most DO NOT. It's not that they don't like them...it's just not their "thing". Kinda like me and golf...I couldn't care less.

Some of the reactions I did get were kinda unexpected, like the time I stopped for a red light in busy traffic, and two young teen boys standing at the side of the road started singing the Happy Days theme song at the top of their lungs. It was pretty hilarious, and somewhat embarassing even. "Sunday, Monday, Happy Days...Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days...!" Goofballs. Hahahahahaha!

Sometimes the reactions were very nice...very gratifying. I live in a northern suburb of Detroit. I used to visit my friend, Dave in that Buick, and he lives a little closer to the city. One summer day in the early '80s, he and I stopped at a drug-store in a strip-mall. I parked directly in front of the store while Dave went in, and I kinda hung around outside the car and had a smoke. Just happened that a group of about 6-8 black guys in their 30s/40s came walking along. You should've heard the "Oooohs" and "Aaaaahs". One guy was actually squatting down a few feet in front of the car, and looking at the Buick's grill exclaiming, "Awwwww maaaayaaaan!" LOL. Nice guys...enjoyed talking with them. There was a time, when a lot of African-Americans wouldn't drive anything but a Lincoln, Caddy, or Buick...so seeing this big old Buick had a special meaning for those fellas I imagine.

 

Well, with Lulubelle the truck, if I have less than three gallons in the tank, and am parked pointed even slightly downhill, I have a hell of a time getting started.

When guys over 25 hear her idle note (299 degrees, .670" lift... it's noticeable), they usually smile. I had a pretty good-looking woman tell me that Lulubelle's idle "sounds sexy".

Nellie the '53 Customline (all stock) is pretty popular with the female contingent.

Holy shit Merc, that's got to be the funniest fuckin' thing I've ever heard of. I've GOT to try that.

There's an Econoline (I think... hope it's not a Dodge I honestly haven't looked closely) a couple blocks from my house painted up like the Mystery Van.

Uh, you might want to put that in your sig line... classic!


-Bill

 

Sometimes it happens that someone yells at me tellin me where the hell i think im goin w/ that heap! Thats kinda annoying...
but the other day i was hittin switches cause of some jerk was driving a meter behind me (this usually makes them back up instantly) and some kids, prolly 15 to 16 yeras old, in a moped came next to me at the next stop light w/ their mouth wide open saying something on the lines of: that was sick man! did you just rised and dropped the car while driving????? of course i bounced the car a bit and that was it!
Anyway, they too told me i have to paint the thing!
Its pretty cool when someone likes your car, kids and men from 50 years up seem to be the best candidates to like'em.

 

Just got a girls number at a stop light tonight, cars not even done!

 

That's awesome.

 

I've cruised this thread a few times and this photo always stops me...really reminds me of when I was a kid and regular everyday cars looked just like this....like I can smell the rain and know exactly what it would be like hopping into that old Ford...nice car.





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Nobody says shit to me. But when my wife is driving one everybody's commenting or asking about the car... Must be my deoderant.

 

I get that a lot as well, got it sunday when I went out for dinner. Dude wanted to trade me his Tahoe. No thanks...

 

I've gotten this where I work: Why are you driving an old car, you got a good job! Wtf? I was in Carlsbad, Ca parking in a lot next to a fairly new BMW. The people that owned it were just walking away. The guy came back and moved it to get away from me. Then there's the other side. A couple of times, sitting at a light or in a parking lot, I've actually had people tell me 'thank you for saving that old car and taking such good care of it'. This was in my '65 Vista Cruiser. Blew me away. Kids get a real charge out of my hiboy sedan because it reminds them of hotwheels or a cartoon car.

 

I get alot of "thumbs Up" from people while driving, but the people that are talking on cell phones get mad because normally I pull up next to them and stay there......lake open headers with small baffles tend to make conversations null....

Gator

 

When I drive the Morris I keep getting people wanting to buy it. The offers tend to be silly: as the car is small and cute and a bit rough around the edges people don't think it can be worth very much.

 

Usually it's thumbs up, shouts, waves, etc...

Last week I was tooling home from Back to the 50's in the '58 when a "DONK" pulled along side, the female passenger was hanging out the window taking pictures. I build cars for my enjoyment but it sure is nice when folks appreciate my efforts.

The most memorable was on the way home from a show at Treasure Island in my '69 GTX. I found myself alone at a light on a freshly paved, dead level section of Highway 61 so I dropped the shifter into low and hammered it when the light turned green. I flipped the shifter into "drive" at around 90mph and backed out of it. A second or two later I noticed movement in the side mirror and looked over just as a Minnesota State Trooper rolled up next to me. The Trooper grinned, gave me a big thumbs up and mouthed what appeared to be "fuckin' a!" before he eased in behind me and hit the 494 exit...

 

Drove my 68 Galaxie Convertible to work this morning, stopped for gas and ended up talking to 3 people about my car...was 1/2 hour late getting to work!

 

Usually I hear,
"Yo what's that running out underneath it" ?
Or "Your (whatever) fell off at the last light."

 

Here's a funny one! I was driving down the South Loop in Houston with my wife in the Track Car one beautiful Saturday afternoon in the fall. We gots lots of thumbs-up and waves from folks and then it happened. A BMW roadster starts edgin by in the next lane...the girl in the passenger seat is going crazy waving and smiling at us all the while telling her husband/boyfriend to check out that neat old car they were passing. He kept his head straight ahead, his hands locked on the wheel, even as she bounced up and down in the seat, laughing and waving and popping him on his shoulders and telling him to LOOK LOOK!!!
Methinks he was a short man syndrome sufferer.

 

So I'm not a grumpy guy when people want to talk about whatever old car you're driving. I enjoy it, even the conversations with the people that don't get it or are total bs'ers or just plain out of their mind.

But it's nice to have a break once in awhile. My buddy and I drove our cars to work, he's got a 31 A 4dr sedan. It's a rat rod, he knows it, not how I would build it, but it's safer than a lot of cars I see traveling down the road and he enjoys it. So if you want a break from all the chit chatters, travel with a rat rodder. Seriously he had a crowd of people from work out looking at his car, I had one guy that night talk to me about my car, just because he had a 54 sedan delivery at one time.

Other than that I get lots of waves, thumbs up, honks, no booby flashing, and the only women who seem to like my car is middle aged to old women, and I had one young girl scream out at a gas station, "I love your car.", I politely said "Thanks" and she proceeds to ask, "Can I have it.", I thought about replying, "See me when you turn 18."

 

You took the words right off of my keyboard

 

Our Good Ol Boys with The Texas Department of Public Safety don't have the same attitude. All Work and No Play makes Jack a DPS Officer.

 

when we went to pic up my body we got alot of thumbs up and ,y 12y/o couldnt believe how many people were doing it and at the fuel stop people came over to us and wanted to know about the car or if we would sell it.and 1 guy even said man thats a heavy chop but it sure is cool, I remeber when we were in high school and my friend had a 76 trans am 323`s 4 spd we built the motor lumpy cam etc a girl at stop light said you better get your car fixed so we went through the gears etc she came to us a week later and said boy that car sounds like a piece of junk but it is fast,and my dad said to stay away from you boys and never to drive with you lol

 

If we are in one of the A models, most people look at you like you are driving a space ship... Total shock.

The Impala is a totally different story. "Crowd Pleaser" Everybody likes that thing, regardless of their age. The gas stations are the best.... everybodys dad or uncle used to have one "Just like it".

 

Judging by the number of "we had one of those in my family growing up" comments I hear every time I stop for gas, I'd say I've talked to a family member of every '64 Lincoln ever sold. The funniest was a guy who said his dad drove one with a cocktail on the dash. "That car was so smooth, he never spilled a drop!." While I don't condone that sort of thing, I admit he's right about that.

 

My favorite has to be a chick that commented: "man, that looks like something that'll chase ya down and kill ya!

 

I stopped at the local Thursday night classic car deal here in town. I had an old timer talk about how much it was a shame they still didn't make Corvairs. Biggest mistake Chevy ever made was to quite making them....


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