Yep. When my children were small we went thru a secession of mini vans, they were excellent vehicles for hauling the family around, far better than the old station wagon's my family had when I was a child.
I've had a company vehicle for a daily driver for >20 years. All maintenance, gas, tires, everything is supplied, all I do is drive it and claim the personal mileage as "income" to the IRS and pay my taxes on it. It's a pretty sweet deal. But eventually, somewhere between 5 - 10 years from now, I'm going to retire from this job and give up the company vehicle, and to be honest I'm sort of looking forward to it. Before getting a company vehicle my daily driver was an un-HAMB-friendly late 60's Chevelle SS396. I kept the wife in a newer, reliable vehicle (mostly mini-vans, then when the kids got older mini-SUV's), but for myself I drove the old car. It had a heater, but no A/C. Hell, I grew up with no A/C and spent half my adult life with no A/C. It's nice to have, but not a requirement. Before I retire, we'll probably upgrade the wife's vehicle one more time (probably convert one of the leased company cars to a purchase), and then plan on sticking with that for the duration while I just stick with my HAMB era cars.
My wife drove three different ones. Totaled the first one at speed making full contact with an 8 point buck, the second was t-boned, and the third is now a patcher van where I work. We paid cash for all three because they depreciate to almost nothing at 50,000 miles. Just an incredible transportation investment if you are moving children, gear, and a tightwad like me. I gave 2,700 bucks for the first one and it only had 32,000 miles on it, and was loaded up. It was watermelon green Minivans are the best bang for the buck all day long. You do have to be shameless to drive them, but we went well over a decade without a car payment doing the MV thing. Money in the bank.
Goodguys allows mid 70's cars now .... and they are cheap 77 Marquis wagon ... Long Roof ! a/c cruise power windows plenty of room for the kids ... Seat Belts ! just my 2 cents worth
If I fall into a few Gs in the next couple days... in the meantime I think the front bumper on your '64 is '80s Dodge D100
Been thinking about buying a new 2018 Ford 460 hp pony gt.... But at 50K a pop loaded, don't think I want to go there.... It's got to that point where they are untouchable......
I sold my '80 G-body Malibu wagon to put the $$ and time into my coupe but it had made a great daily driver...well, all except it had no A/C so Mrs Rocky wouldn't ride in it...her hair, you know. In '09 I bought one of those whippy little brand new 50 chevy panel. They called 'em an HHR. No side glass, lift-up tailgate and the back side doors are almost invisible. It's not gonna work as a kid hauler because there is only a pair of bucket seats in the front and the back is flat floor. It's my swap meet hauler, daily driver and work vehicle. Everybody thinks it's a custom PT Cruiser sedan delivery. Nobody's seen one before! I love it...A/C, power windows, XM radio with CD player, electric power steering, 5 speed manual trans...the works!
I daily drive a '95 Cherokee. I got it with 85K on it for $3500 a couple of years ago. My boys fit in it, it was cheap, parts are cheap, parts are everywhere. I don't have to worry about where I park it. It will drive over anything. The heat and AC are good. It will tow a small trailer. I'm not proud but if I do want to impress someone I can get out an old car. If I need to haul I can fire up the '68 F250. No loan and no depreciation; in fact the damn things look like they're actually starting to appreciate which is weird. I'm quite happy with a kinda old only sorta cool daily.
Hey R, When those little HHR cars came out, I was sure this would be a great platform for an SBC and the paraphernalia inside, powering that wagon/sedan delivery A/C and all. In various conversations, that idea was shunned and actually laughed at, saying it was a GM copycat, mods would be too much, too narrow, no one in their right mind…etc. But, the idea has always stayed with me. It looks like a smaller version GMC/Chevy Suburban from the early days, but in a modern package. It was so under powered, but still looking rather different and old. Your daily driver has its uses. Too bad there aren’t others that like that same model. Jnaki Yes, we know photos are not allowed…protocol and all. If they weren't so under powered, it could have been fun. Daily drivers are what it implies, reliability every single day...the weekends are for more fun. No, we don’t own one, not to my wife’s tastes. The PT cruiser also was not in the cards for a second vehicle, despite the A/C. Being young and relatively care free, that daily drive in our 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, 1 hour each way, was extremely fun. But, in the back of my mind, one did not know how much longer the car would continue to run well without being stranded on the side of the road. Even though our skills are as good as ones from Detroit, hot rod builds as daily drivers, became questionable. Being stranded a few times just puts a "capper" on things.
WRONG! I have a pair of late-model Caprices. Cool looking, RWD, V8, room for the wholw fam-damily. I refuse to have payments anymore.
Let me throw something out there.... 88-98 GM pickup, and up to 2001 crew cabs, Tahoes and Suburbans. I think these are the next truck to jump in value like the square bodies. I had a 92 pickup stolen in 2015, and I paid 3500 for it in 2010. The insurance gave me $6k for it. My point? They're new enough that they have creature comforts, drive good, easy to fix, but they are coming up in value. You could drive one for a few years and not lose anything, and right now buy a really nice one way under $10k. My current is a 2000 GMC Crew cab short bed (kinda rare) 3/4 ton. Tons of room for my 3 kids and all their crappola, and I bought it outright for $5k. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get that back out of it if not more. Sales pitch over.
My daily driver used to be this now it’s an O/T Japanese car. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Hey Jnaki.....When the wheezy 150 HP Ecotech cammer blows up [and it's already making clanky noises] I thought an LS with 5 speed would be in order...car already has clutch pedals out.
Likewise save for mine being a sedan. I traded my wagon for my Desoto three years ago, one of the most dependable vehicles I've ever owned. There's definately a reason they were used for law enforcement duty and immediately followed by taxi duty. After GM discontinued the Caprice in '96 there was a whole cottage industry that cropped up refurbishing them for continued police service they were so popular. I agree although I would add that the 82-96(best to avoid the 80 and 81) Fords are an equally good option for much the same reasons. I've owned a number of them and they're a good, solid, reliable truck.
Ryan, if you get this far, here's my 2 cents. Go buy whatever late model you want. Just don't sell that '64 F100. Guarantee you'll regret it. I still think about my '60 F100 that I sold in 1982
Hello, Having driven a SBC in a 40 Ford Sedan Delivery for a couple of years in daily excursions, one looks back at the pleasure it gave each day. The looks, the sounds, knowing it was different that 90% of the cars on the road all made it worthwhile. The hour long drive every day inside of the sedan delivery was fun at the time. But, as most young people overlook the aspect of getting stuck by the side of the road, these old hot rods played an important part of reliability in daily driving. Music, comfortable seats, an odd smell here and there, some unusual noises amplified by the sedan delivery's rear empty compartment, limited vision, etc. were all part of driving a hot rod. In an earlier time, there were no car pools or deliveries to the neighborhood soccer fields, just a two seat cruising hot rod with its maladies and pleasure for the two, carefree twenty somethings, all rolled into one. We had several vehicles for back up, so the difficulties of getting stuck on the road, for me, was not a problem. My wife, on the other hand, hated being stranded in her daily drive. One day, she was stuck on Coast Highway during a very windy day. Her car, a Corvair, just died and would not start. The winds kept her inside the car, just contemplating what to do next. (no cell phones back then and miles away from a phone booth) I had been visiting friends in Huntington Beach on that windy day. Of course, I happen to be driving down the Coast Highway on the way back to our apartment. Luckily, I saw the Corvair and the girl trapped inside by the swirling winds and sand on the dirt shoulder. Trying to start the car and failing, we knew it was going to be a tow job to the local mechanic’s place. But, it was the look on her face that told me this Corvair had seen its last days, despite the economy, gas mileage, and history of being her first car and such. It was not a reliable daily driver. Since this was the second stoppage, the first being stuck on the middle divider of the I-10 in East Los Angeles, she was seeing the future. A daily driver that starts instantly, runs like a champ, covered under warranty, and had the all-important A/C. Jnaki Yes, that idea with conditions, resulted in buying a brand new blue, Chevy El Camino, which SHE picked out at the dealer. Reliable daily driving, not being stranded at all hours, and no panic situations for emergencies…a result of good old American iron. The Corvair was sold to an older relative for $150 to be paid back, whenever…which turned out to be never. Not a big loss then and now. The new car blanked out any old situations and difficulties with a big “reliable” smile. Of course, it could not be left stock. First, bigger Corvette rims and tires were added. Then, a few months later, 5 American 5 Spoke Mags replaced the Corvette rims. This was a daily driver for us. It also took us all over the West Coast for vacations and photo shoots. Despite the very poor gas mileage, it was as reliable as any car can be. No problems until 1976. For a growing family, it was not going to work for us. A daily driver station wagon was our next purchase.
The Jalopy Journal
