Good, bad or ugly.....how many of you have a really traditional car? How many have really experienced a traditional car? I really hate to use the traditional term but I do not know how else to put it. As of late their has been some discussion of straight axles and all of the modifications that are done. It makes me wonder how many have actually experienced a old time car.....warts and all. This is what I mean..... A 1920s to mid 60s vehicle with a way too big period engine. My F1 falls into this category. It has a 1960s engine with some pepper, shoehorned into a stock early vehicle. In some ways it's as dangerous as a cocked cannon. The ride can be rough sometimes. The steering takes some effort at times. You have to hold second in a coast, you have to mind the brakes, you have to know how to shift, at highway speed you have to chase the hood a little, .........you have to actually drive the dang thing. I love it. I would not trade it for the world. There's just something about it.....the rawness of it.
This is something I struggled to explain to a buddy of mine who's got a newer mitsubishi evo, me and him were playing around and he didn't get why I got out of the car so beat up haha but I'd bet that I had more fun! Sent from my SM-G930T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Several of my cars have had vacuum wipers & 6 volt electrical systems. I've also hand-crank-started an older friend's stock '28 A pickup. Does that count?
The smell of an old car! Starting a carbureted car My 53 Chrysler with fluid drive trans 50 Chevy with no 1st synchro coloum shift trans My o/t 72 olds 455 with that SKINNY steering wheel and overly sensitive pwr steering was always fun to keep in a straight line under power! Everything about an old car makes it an experience New cars are an appliance, one finger steering , abs brakes,heated seats, your not driving your just along for the ride!
How 'bout used oil, primer spots over the Plastic Wood you used to nose it, split manifold with flex pipe leading somewhere toward the rear, & springs torched ... the radio has to pick up KOMA at 3:30 when school gets out, or the chicks will ride home with the kid in the Buick.
I like my old stuff. My neighbor freaked out when he realized my Mercury has drums all the way around. "Downright dangerous", he said. I believe most people nowadays, would rather drive a restomod, so they can look cool while enjoying all the late model comforts of today.
I cheated a little, 12V and alternator, and I ran out of room forcing me to use an electric fan. Other than that, it’s all old stuff because experiencing what it would’ve been like to drive a car built right after WWII was the focus of my build. This ‘30 roadster features a ‘28 chassis, ‘46 banjo rear and brakes, reversed eye A rear spring, torque tube, ‘39 top shift trans, ‘49 Merc flathead, dropped ‘36 axle, unsplit wishbone, ‘40 front brakes, ‘48 F1 steering, bias ply tires, and a patched up ‘32 V8 radiator and grille shell. It squeaks, rattles, wanders around the road a bit. It’s hot, you smell like exhaust, and it soaks up bumps like a shopping cart. But it’s still a lot of fun and it has to be pretty close to what a returning G.I. would’ve built in the late 40s. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Isn't it fun opening the cowl vent the first time after the end of winter. The rush of mother nature pouring out from under the dash! -Dave
mine is pure old time... I got another great compliment today after driving it all day as a daily, did so many errands and visits... the last stop was at the best known old time garage shop of a true oldschool rod and custom local guy.. he was not there, but his 50ish son and teen grandson were there... the son said he could tell my car was built back in the day... nope, I built it from junk over a long haul.. After swapping stories, as I left there, just for them, I did the best full burn straight through first gear, backpeddled to control the slight fishtailing, but I never lifted.. either a person gets it, or, simply does not, and likely never will.. some pics of today,,everywhere.. even in a field owned by UCONN university... .the pic at a pond, it was raining then.. ^^ I also stopped to see more of my countless friends; the staff and "clients" at the mentally disabled (jobs program) a flower nursery/greenhouse... that is Walter smiling at far left... he is hard to understand sometimes,,,but knows how to say OLD CAR???, OLD CAR???, each time I show up.. they were taking pics with the car for their families with their cameras..that woman is one of the staff .
Between my son and I, we have six. A 49 3100 AD. pickup, a 51 Styleline Deluxe, 55 Bel Air, 56 210 wagon, a 61 Biscayne and a 62 Bel Air. None of them have disc brakes, automatic transmissions, A/C or power steering. Two have 261's with T5's, three with 283 4 speeds and a 327 4 speed, and all have generators. I can't begin to guess how many miles are on them, but all of them have been on multi state road trips. People seem to forget that when these cars were new, the public bought them . They drove them to work, to church, on family vacations. They were safe and reliable then and driven millions of miles. There is no reason they can't be made safe and reliable now. But it is 2018 now and not 1955, and when we drive our pre 66 cars in 2018 we need to be conscious of modern cars with air bags, anti lock brakes and all the other improvement's. These changes have made modern cars safer, but in my opinion have dumbed down the average driver. So, give yourself some extra room, allow some extra time, and beware of the other drivers.
My 57 was finished in 2009. I didn't want any comforts. Manual steering, 4 speed, etc. Wanted it to be something built around 1968. I did put discs on the front. The roadster is a purposely primitive build. I need a smilectomy Everytime I get behind the wheel Sent from my E6810 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I simply cannot stand driving a modern car... They suck balls as far as bending my old neck down enough to get in, then the front windshield posts, rears too, block my vision as they are more crash resistant.. I am a realist, I know if my 32 rolls over after being clipped by a FUCKING texter, or get a head on crash for SAME reason? it won't end well for me... But , I won't let "Them" win by me being afraid to drive the shit out of mine everyday! I simply cannot believe NTSA let cars have TV screens in the center of the dash..."da F is the matter with "people"??? ,
my old 26 T coupe was as close to a true period correct as I could get it. Driving it was an experience. Other than a cooling fan on the front of the radiator and a TH350 trans, it was what it appeared to be........ A traditional hot rod
My neighbor asked me a few days ago: "If you won Powerball, what car would you own'" I INSTANTLY said : "I already own them"! Oh, and when my 34 LaSalle convertible basket case project was sitting in the lot a day after it came here.. my girlfriends husband (lol) said: " Wow, if you fix that up and sell it, you could by a nice new car".. I was so pissed!! ...but he has since set me up on a nice date.. .
Last summer I drove my ‘54 Country Squire to the office one Friday. When I fired up the y block at the end of the day one of the old guys said he wished cars still smelled like that. High test through a 4bbl, and out duals without catalytic converters. He told me all about taking his drivers test in his dad’s new turquoise ‘57 Chevy Convertible. My wagon is 28 years older than I am. It’s the greatest car I have to drive. Cruising down the back roads Listening to the engine and the exhaust. Huge steering wheel, arm out the window, AM radio playing, LOVE IT! Cruise control on the highway with ac on and windows up in a modern suv, No THANKS Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is how my '59 Ford is, I went with front discs, the drum stuff missing. Got a heater and wipers, nothing else for comfort. Did go with radials, steering is manual. I wanted the old school look to it.
Hi Bob, I was out with my 32 all day...I ran into a 60 year old guy who just said hi, and then made a comment about 32 cabriolet, as he was going to his truck at a store... get this>> He still has his 32 Cabriolet with a 352 he got when he was 18, AND then says : "I still have a 58 Ford I had in the old days". I begged him to "get them running once again, out on the road...before you get too old". The recent Hamb Age Poll shows a lot of us are in the "Autumn of our lives", and some might think we are "clinging desperately to our past", but hell no, it was what we liked back then, so why give it all up and move to Florida or Arizona and wait to die!! Get out there and rip those tires!! (but you're such an ass!!, you done blowed-up your transmission but good, dude! acting like a 17 year old!) hamb should give awards for that shit .. .
We all love the old stuff, but sometimes we have to make concessions, healthwise, for the spouse, financial, or other reasons. My car still has the complete original design front end, but I changed to power steering due to my arthritic shoulder not liking the original manual, and the fact my wife likes to drive old stuff too but the manual was too much for her, too. I will also be adding AC, if you lived here in the high humidity South and were used to AC in everything else, home, car, job, you'd do that, too. These two things don't make my car any less old in my eyes, it still has it's creaks, groans, air and fume leaks that you don't get in today's vehicles. It also has something today's bellybuttons also lack, GREAT STYLING!!!! I guess what I'm saying is, don't knock those of us that aren't 100% original with the old school stuff, we sometimes have to make concessions due to things out of our control, but our hearts and heads are in the right places!
F&J, I understand your comments about new cars. I don't fit them either. Windshields laid back so far that your head is against the sun visor. Rocker boxes so tall you have to lift your feet above to get out and then pry yourself out. I simply am much more comfortable in an old car. When asked about my old cars, I tell people that these are the cars I grew up in, learned to drive in, and dated my wife in. Its a memory trip every time I get in. As for the Hamb dumb ass award, I may qualify. Several years ago, I left a local cruise night, There was a detour on the hiway forcing me to use the next exit off ramp and then get back via the on ramp. Late at night, no traffic and perfect Hot Rod weather, so naturally after getting on the on ramp, I had to run it through the gears. Top of second gear, a loud bang and then a giant miss in the engine. Nursed the car home and the next day diagnosed the problem. I had punched a pushrod through the rocker arm, I haven't done that since I was 17. It now proudly hangs on the wall of my garage.
I don't knock those concessions... Our summer temps are hotter here in CT then just a few decades ago...so I then dreaded the fact that guys out in Arizona climates that are trying to cruise around locally with a hotrod, but need to wait till midnight temps to enjoy the experiences...so yea, I hear the AC and whatever else a "tired old chassis'' that our young minds are now trapped in! Get out and rip it up but good! and....get your old buddies to finish that dream of theirs, too.. I haven't broke nuttin YET!! the 32 is just so light in the tail, skinny bias, bullet proof rear, trans, etc... I just stopped two days ago to get a local guy at his families boneyard to email a cell video he took of me going nuts back in Feb... He only looked in my car and said "Three speed? why not a four speed?" I said why? he says "so you can burn more rubber"..I said "OOOooohhh you shouldn't have said that"... I said "I will f;'n show you rubber!!" I get out on the normally busy Rt 32...line er up nice and straight, and let it rip.. weird thing happens... I hear a fairly noticeable BANG 1/3rd through the epic longgg burn, but F no!, I never ever will lift in a good burn, even if parts start coming up through the F;n floorboards!! I stayed with it...turned around at the liquor store, which IS run by an old school dragracer!..I then cruise by the yard , but they never thought I would rip em going the other way...man the tire smoke caused drivers to slow the f down! Dang, the emailed-video of that day never went through for some reason?, to be able show that video here! I will check into it someday.. .Going out soon with the car to run errands today!!.. lol.. it is addictive...cruising! . .
The Jalopy Journal
