Antique cars are more fun to drive than modern cars

My parents had recently gotten me a 1977 Ford F-150 Ranger (automatic) with only 23k miles as a daily and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it. The beautiful dash, the noises, the old timey bright switch in the floor, the off-center horn button, and the list could go on. This is the first experience I’ve ever had driving anything before the year 2000 and it has been my favorite so far. Every time I’m not driving I constantly think about just hopping in and driving off with no real destination but when I drive our 2011 Kia Koup or 2003 Suburban it just doesn’t feel the same at all like, I don’t wanna take our Kia or Chevy to just drive around the block. I really just want to know if anyone else has felt similarly or differently when driving any antique cars that they might have because all I can think after going for a nice night time drive is my beautiful F-150. Seriously, I can’t get it out of my mind, I love it so much.

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There must be a lot less plastic in there than even the 90s trucks. plastic gets brittle with age no matter what it seems. Try to avoid exposing the fuel system to ethanol fuel for extended periods of time on something older than the 90s.

What’s the parts availablity like on that? If someone finds a vehicle from 1995 or 2005 that they like because it doesn’t have so many modern electronics I wonder if it would be possible to keep it going 45 years later like you can with your 1977.

I wonder if in the future that people who don’t like modern vehicles will be stuck having to drive restored classics from the 60s to 80s since the parts availability of things like fuel injectors, electronics and sensors, and various platic parts won’t be available for anything newer?

Just to note I’m not very knowledgeable about cars but after getting this I really want to get into it and learn more.

The parts availability has been really good for me at least. The only issue I had was with the carburetor that me and my dad replaced. The guy who owned it last beat the pump cover with a hammer like a dingbat and that pump cover was insanely hard to find because its such an obscure piece. The carburetor however was not hard to find in its entirety so we just got a whole new one.

Every other part we had to replace was insanely easy and involved me just going to the local auto parts store and telling them the make and model and BAM they instantly got the piece I needed.

I hope in the future people might go back to the old classic designs and easy to find and fix parts.

One more thing, how would I go about not exposing my fuel system to ethanol? I’m not very versed or smart when it comes to any automobiles and I’m willing to learn!

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Unless gas stations around you sell E0, or gas without ethanol, you will have to use E10. E10 is what is sold as regular, mid grade and premium fuel. Since tou replaced the carb, it likely has gaskets that can tolerate E10. Any other rubber fuel lines should be replaced with ethanol compatible hose. Easy to find these days and that old rubber should be replaced anyway. If the truck has a mechanical fuel pump you’ll need to replace that pretty soon as well because it had rubber parts. Same for the brake hoses… age kills rubber, not miles.

Older cars and trucks are just more engaging than new. You need to be more connected to the act of driving.

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Go on www.pure-gas.org and select your state, and hope you’re not in California. Hyvee has been good at providing 87 octane traditional gasoline in some places if you have that store in your area. For a non EFI engine you may actually save money using E0.

Ethanol probably destroyed the original carburetor. In a non sealed fuel system like that it will absorb water and cause corrosion in your fuel system. And the original seals will turn to goo.

Thank you for the website! There are a good handful of E0 gas stations right by my house! Thank you for this and I will definitely keep it in mind.

I will definitely look into changing all of the old rubber hoses and such out of my truck to keep it going longer! And I do agree that it’s way more engaging with the manual headlights and steering.

Old cars are definitely much more fun to drive than anything you can buy today. In fact, when people try to rationalize buying a new(er) car, they always frame the argument in terms of “safety features” or “reliability”. No one ever says they want a new(er) car because it will be more fun to drive.

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When I was a kid in the 50’s, my holy grail was a 1957 Chrysler 300 C with a 392 hemi and torque flight automatic. A couple years ago I came across a fully and properly restored example in Hemmings. The car was in Los Angeles, I was in New Jersey, so I bought a plane ticket and went to look at it. The car was in the same condition as it was on the showroom floor. I started it up and the owner and I went for a ride. It was brutal. The ride was harsh and noisy, and the car wasn’t as powerful as it looked. I came back to NJ that night.

On the other hand, about 3 years ago I bought a 1962 Cadillac Sedan deVille, a well maintained,unrestored original. That car was my daily driver until last year when I quit driving, and I enjoyed every minute of it. If they made a car I would like today, and if I could still drive, I’d buy it, but no one makes a car with a wheelbase at least 126", smooth,quiet ride, rear wheel drive, and a big block V8.

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LIkely other parts sources but there a company called LMC Truck that offers all sorts of parts for classic trucks like this, If you can’t find what you need from the local parts store.
Parts for Ford Trucks & Broncos 1973-1979 (lmctruck.com)

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I dunno, I guess the first and oldest car I kinda drove was the 58 Chevy wagon. I didn’t think it was a great car to drive. My mom called it a lumber wagon which it probably was. Now my 60 Morris and 59 VW where not exactly sporty but reasonably interesting to drive. So I think it just depends on the kind of car and not the age. I saw nothing special in like a 50 Plymouth or Ford. Don’t think it is just age.

Now my Pontiac is more interesting to drive than my Acura. The Acura is a nice stable car but not very interesting. I think now driving a 50’s era car would just be nostalgic but not necessarily interesting or even fun to drive outside of the experience.

I couldn’t disagree more. I have a sedan that does 0 to 60 in about 5.5 seconds and corners very nicely (with a nice assortment of luxury features thrown in), so I very much enjoy driving it on back roads. The cars I grew up driving were slower and cornered horribly with zero road feel, not to mention that they were much less safe, so there’s no way I’d want to go back to one of those.

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Yep, I would not want to go back to my 66 Mustang, manual steering, manual drum brakes, I loved that car but newer cars are much more fun to drive.

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As they say on that site ALWAYS call the station to verify availability. Every station that was listed within 50 miles of me no longer sold ethanol free fuel. Just a word of caution.

Not quite true. My 2013 3.5 V-6 Camry is just slight slower in the 1/4 mile and 0-60 than the 455 cu.in. 1969 Cutlass I had, and handles much, much, better, is more comfortable, and 3x as efficient. But it doesn’t have the “cool” factor that the ‘69 Cutlass had. And my 2008 BMW 650i convertible, well that’s a whole other story and way, way more fun the the ‘69 Olds.

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Fun is subjective.

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+1
Additionally, there is the fatigue factor.
Back in the late '50s, Popular Mechanics staged a long-distance summer road trip of about one week, utilizing a 1928 DeSoto and a 1958 Desoto. I’m pretty sure that Chrysler provided the cars for this event.

Anyway, they used two drivers who would alternate between the two cars from one day to the next, and they had a nurse and an M.D. who would examine both drivers before and after each day’s drive, and would also put both men through some mental tests and physical tests at the end of the day. The medical opinion was that, after a day driving an air-conditioned car with power steering, power brakes, automatic transmission, and much better handling and better ride quality, the drivers were much less fatigued at the end of a long driving day than when they had to drive the older car. Interviews with the drivers confirmed the medical opinion.

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I think this person is more influenced by the fact they have their own vehicle that just does not look like everything else they see. Our 2010 Volvo V70 Rspec is a dual purpose vehicle - fun to drive and a very good long distance machine .

I wonder how they will feel when stuck in traffic on a 90 degree day because I doubt it has AC .
Or if they are in a snow area and this pickup becomes a scary drive because of rear wheel drive like most old pickups.

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Owning a 1952 MG for 30+ years now I completely understand the OP.

In comparison to a modern car, in practically every respect it’s a complete piece of garbage but being mechanical, it demands and rewards a level of engagement that’s not necessary in today’s much better and safer vehicles.
And the frosting on the cake is design by “Stylists”, before mileage requirements resulted in practically every car looking like an industingishable worn bar of soap.

Totally irrational, probably a little crazy but come back from every drive with a smile.

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Well, I’ll agree that ‘certain’ antique cars are more fun than ‘certain’ modern cars, but that’s far from true generally. Most old cars were just grocery getters, commuters, that kind of thing. A '68 Chevy with a 250 would never fit my description of ‘fun to drive’.

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