Art & Inspiration Odd reactions to your daily driver

If you are driving older cars almost every day, you can fill books with personal stories of folks coming up and start talking. The older the car, the more stories and precious and special.

But I wonder about your own odd somewhat recent stories or at least the ones you can't forget.....

I still remember one of my first reactions after just owning my rickety truck for less than a month in Austin TX rush hour traffic of 1995, when I just turned off a highway at a ramp and I saw a latest model luxury car driver in the rear view mirror waving me goodbye with his longest finger.

I had no idea about old cars at the time, other than naive passion, and didn't know a soul who could be bothered to fart anything but personal blurred memories in my direction about older trucks.
The internet was considered a stillborn at the time.

Fast forward about two years ago when I drove my 48 chevy coupe along the local highway to town when I spotted a sheriff car in the rear view mirrors approaching quickly.
I kept my allowed speed limit but was worried about my straight exhaust without mufflers and getting pulled over.
The guy kept my speed in the fast lane and eventually I looked over when he waved a pinky-thumb hand sign at me and smiled and just sped away in front of me.

I still have no idea what that means but I don't really care about either reactions of decades apart.
I just love this country and keep driving.

 

I always go to the same coffee shop everyday and they have a young girl working there....
I either drive my 46 ford pickup which is pretty much my daily or my 56victoria (still left hook) then on some occasions we take the wifes Hyundai.....after one such occasion in the wifes car,my next visit to the café,the owner came up to me laughing and told me that the young girl went running up to her and told her that she saw joe driving a modern car...she was quite stunned

 

I was at a restaurant the other day. A guy struck up a conversation about my car. He asked a few questions about it. Then he asked me if it was real. I responded, yes, of course it is, you can touch it if you don't believe me.
Conversation over...

 

Two of my coupes are gassers and sit up sort of high, lately a lot of people say things like "I like your truck"

 

you want strange reactions? Go on a 3500 mile trip in an Edsel!

 

I'm amazed how many people can't believe we can actually drive these old cars. When we were on vacation in CO, when the people saw the IL plates, probably about 1/2 of them wanted to know if we drove the car all the way there. My wife wouldn't let me tell them that I had to drive it there because it was too heavy to carry, so the standard answer was "yes, we sure did.."

There is 1 thing I simply can't understand is why people want to have their pictures taken with my car? Gene

 

you and me both

 

Especialy at gas stations thats were all the conversations and ect.. Goes on. Just a couple months ago i was at a red light and there was this guy that was next to me and said nice truck. And wile were at the light he bust out a camera and takes photos. And his light turned green and holden up traffic lol

 

99.9% of the reactions are positive, but some people have gotten pretty nasty. I've been cussed out a few times for driving and old car that is "Destroying Mother Earth" or is "Causing global warming". Fortunately, it has only happened a couple of times.

I do regularly hear about how 59 Chevys become airborne if driven over 100 MPH. By the way....No they don't.

 

I have a standard response to this its "f%ck you, ya homo."

 

I recently had someone comment that it must have been a lot of work to put the engine in the back of my Volkswagen...

 

Most unusual was a few years back.
I was followed around town for several miles, by a carload of teenagers in a late model jappa. Finally I pulled over and confronted them. It was then that they timidly commented how much they liked my car, and would I use it to take them all to the local school ball. (our equivalent of the high school prom).

 

Ha! Never had it happen, even here in the land of Birkenstocks and patchouli. Every new car has thousands of pounds of new metal that has to be made from ore and recycled iron, and hundreds of hundreds of pounds of plastic destined for a landfill, most people who slap a US flag sticker on their Honda don't even realize the millions of miles all the components have traveled all over the earth on fossil fuels to be manufactured then brought here. These weenies all buy a new car every few years, but most people have the self awareness of a garden snail, so I guess they wouldn't realize all of that. Also what do they think is burning at power plants to make the electricity for electric cars, fairy dust ???


Two years ago I pulled off the road into a cemetery to adjust my carb, then drove around the loop to get back on the road. A middle aged guy stopped me, looking freaked out. He was visiting his Dad, who had passed many years ago, apparently the dad ,for years when he was growing up, had the same car, same color as mine, same condition. He must have been in that emotional "zone", as I was driving slowly toward him he really thought it was his dad's ghost until he saw my face, then he calmed down.

 

I always received favorable comments when driving the Stewed, which appears in my avatar; though at one gas stop while returning from Bowling Green Goodguys a fellow commented on how much he liked my Edsel

 

I was 350 miles from home pulling an overloaded trailer with my 1960 F100 when a state cop stopped me and wanted to know if I had driven my truck way up there. No ticket, the cop was just amazed. Its a modern truck, 350 miles is nothing. Its not like the 39 Ford pickup that I have driven ever day for 17 years. I was 420 miles from home in the 39. and matching speed with some guy in a late model chevy truck, running about 70 for hours across Oklahoma and pulled in for gas. The guy in the chevy came in for gas too and wanted to know what engine I had. (350 sbc) I said, same as yours. He didnt say anything else.

 

Someone called my avatar a 'truck'!!

 

A woman asked if my avatar was a 'kit car'. I was stunned and couldnt think of a response.

 

Hello,

We took many trips to the SF Bay Area for photo shoots and incorporated those into great vacation drives from 67 to 74. Everyone has heard the stories of the raucous attitude and notoriety of a certain group of motorcycle riders in the East Bay Area. As we were approaching the Bay Area, we encountered a group of motorcyclists moving quite fast on the freeway. Some had on colors, some did not, but the name on the back was very distinct and recognizable. But, they were nice and waved to us. It must have been the coolness of our 1965 and 72 El Caminos.
My wife was fast enough to take this photo upon approaching the bikers.

Jnaki

 

I got tired of people asking me if my Olds station wagon was for sale. So my friend bought a new car and I asked him for the little yellow card that said SOLD on it. I stuck it on the back window of the wagon. They still ask me.. LOL. Bruce.

 

I was followed in my A pickup once, he flagged me down and was a local Model A club member. "You drive it hard." "What do you mean?" "I had to go over 50 to catch you!" Stock Model A minus fenders, boards n hood, it really liked between 45 and 50 MPH for a cruising speed.

I test drive the big cars all the time,one of the most common questions as they look at any tire from 750-17 to 700-19, "Where the hell did you find tires for it?" "At the tire store, they still make em." "Well I've never seen those tires there." "I probably bought the last set."

I once had a lady actually cover the right side of her face once at a red light while I was out test running a Duesenberg Murphy Roadster. When I passed her (they'll do that ya know) she looked over briefly and looked away quickly. Weird...

Falcongeorge, I get the eco-terrorist reaction in Mrs. Highlanders daily, an O/T H3. Not nearly as often as when we 1st got it but I've been flipped off in it before for no reason other than being on the same road. I still get passed at no matter what speed I'm going due to the perception of it being slow. I can be going 77-8 MPH and folks pass me like I'm in a Model T. I'm waiting for one of em to get a ticket up ahead some day.

The worst thing about driving older cars is when folks run you off the road rubber necking to see it, or when passing they cut real close, which I think is a hater move anyway. Pretty soon I'll be spending the nice months in a 39 Std Sedan all the time. Should have some new stories by then.

 

This spring I took my T modified out for the first time of the season, so I'm putting fuel in it and the guy at the next pumps says so what do you call that Thing a RAT ROD. I said FUCK NO!!!!!!!! I then explained to him that rat rods are pieces of shit that have log chains, saw blades, and other stupid shit welded to them, this is a nostalgic hot rod that would have be built in the late 40s and early 50s. He didnt get it!

 

Yeah, I get that ratrod craptalk in my stock 57 chevy. Idiots

 

I was out with the '59 Ford a few weeks ago, stopped at a deli, came out and there was this guy standing by the car eating an ice cream cone and said nice '48. I said thanks buddy, you sure know your old Fords.

I was at a cruise night next to a guy who just bought a nice '64 T-Bird. His first time out with the car too. We're talking and he's looking at my car... and he was dumbfounded that I actually work on the car myself. It starts out with him asking where I take my car to have it fixed. I thought he was shitting me at first...

 

"Well, it comes out of the outlet in your wall." A greenie actually said this to me a few years back, when I asked where he planned to get all the electricity we would need if we all switched over to electric cars...

 

Maybe she thought you were Clark Gable and popped a nut, didn't want you to see her all flushed...

 

I was motoring along in my '49 Mercury in the town July 4th parade, crawling actually in neutral going downhill, when some odd spectator with a camera jumped out in front of me and excitedly inquired as to the species of my car. I managed a reply out the window, "Mercury" and I thought "you drunken fool...get outta the way...you're holding up the entire parade" but held back and didn't say anything more. We old car folks are ambassadors of a sort for the old car hobby and must be tolerant of those who are not familiar with our cars.

 

My experience, at least here in the land of Porsche and Audi, is everyone likes an old car until they're behind it. Doesn't matter if I'm doing the speed limit or better. Also, if they see me coming they'll pull out in front even though nobody's behind me. That's when the drum brakes get tested, fucken idjits.

 

Years ago my daily transportation was a 66 El Camino. IT was awesome...factory buckets and console, Knee knocker tach and a 4 speed behind the 327. I had been looking for some time and finally located a good model A tudor sedan to build. Deal was secured, bought the bare but complete 31 sedan body and put in in the back of the Elcamino to bring home....It's a truck right?!! That was a sight! Model A sedan body hanging out the back of an El Camino making the ass end squat! As im sitting at a stop light an older gentleman pull up next to me in his mid 90's Buick rolls the window down and has the biggest grin on his face. He proceeds to tell me that a Model A sedan was his first car in 1960 but he never got it running, and that his first new car was a 66 El Camino. He just laughed, the light turned green and off he drove. Pretty cool feeling. Still have the sedan but the Elco is long gone. I set the cap for all my old cars to not exceed 1964.

My 51 Chevy will be back on the rode in a week or so after swapping the motor. I love driving it in the rain and the snow. Peoples jaws drop when you drive old cars in the crappy weather. That's what they were made to do!

 

I was putting gas in my '49 Cad, and I heard a woman walking by ask her husband why I was putting gas in my taillight...he just said I dunno!

 

Here is my 51 daily last year on the way to TROG 2015