I feel the same way and even that way about my motorcycles. Biggest issue for me back in the day with old cars is that most of them have no A/C. Bikes have come and gone for me over the years with Triumphs, BMWs, an AJS, several Harley Sportsters, several Shovelheads, etc but 2 have stayed with me through it all. A 1950 Harley FL panhead and a 1944 Harley U model flathead; both of them in their 46th and 47th year of ownership with me.
The flathead (which my late wife said I love more than her and to which I agreed) is not fast but it will cruise all day long at 70 MPH with the engine at an idle and has enough torque to pull tree stumps. For sheer riding fun it is unmatched and it has turned a 20 second quarter mile. That is slow in comparison but for a 5.5 to 1 compression ratio bike with a foot clutch, hand shift, and non-synchronized transmission it ain’t that bad. And that’s most of the 1/4 mile with only one hand on the bars and an alleged 4500 RPM redline. I say alleged because at 3500 they sound like they’re about to scatter themselves to oblivion. And that did happen with a friend’s Indian Chief when the front rod broke and went through the engine cases and front jug…$$$$
On the flip side a friend of mine bought a stone original 1936 Ford pickup from the original owner near Dodge City, KS. He drove it home that weekend; a total of 175 miles one way. It took 7.5 hours in summer heat and likely getting cursed by everyone on the road who was trying to pass him on the rolling grasslands and hills…but it chugged its way home with zero issues.
Not that I would have done it as I’m a purist, but his first act was gutting the truck and installing a 401 Buick Nailhead with a Powerglide and 9" Ford 4:11 rear axle. I rode in that adrenaline booster and it was spine snapping and eyeball smearing fast.
I guess I forgot. I used to change off driving with another guy from work for our 50 mile commute. I had a fairly new olds. He showed up with his 54 ford pick up he used on the farm. Now he kept it in good condition, but a 50 mile drive or ride in that was an experience.
That was the 65 Chevelle Malibu I had. The original 2bbl 283 V8 with a powerglide transmission couldn’t get out from its own shadow and the manual steering made parking a workout in of itself and the manual 4 wheel drum brakes was a suggestion when you stepped on the brake pedal.
Someone had installed cherry bomb muffler on it so it at least sounded nice when I drove it.
First you’re right, it doesn’t have A/C but I definitely won’t be getting stuck in traffic anywhere near I live for an exhausting amount of time. Don’t know why you and everyone else gotta be passive aggressive asf and can’t just be like I disagree because of this. soyman.
I suppose it depends on how old. Any desire I had to have an old ford left me when a classmate showed me his video of his grandfathers car he restored. Don’t know what year but 20s probably. After explaining everything required to shift and drive it, not for me. Big hassle. Now a 1940 ford maybe.
You hope…
Unfortunately, nobody can predict traffic tie-ups resulting from accidents, construction, or police activity, nor can they predict the breakdown of an old vehicle.
I learned several decades ago that it wasn’t wise to state that “Idefinitelywon’t” in regard to… anything.
The folks who say “I’d never… (fill in the blank)” frequently wind-up regretting those words when they are proven wrong at a later point by circumstances that they hadn’t anticipated.
I drive an early 70’s Ford truck as my daily driver. Don’t really want to use it as my daily, but a state requirement , so I oblige. I wouldn’t say “fun to drive”, but definitely a more interesting drive than modern vehicles. Wing window rather than AC, door windows manual roll-up, no electric locks, no scan tool required, wiring schematic fits on 3 pages, fixing ignition system is just look-see at the points, what’s not to like? I also like the headlight bright/dim button on the floor . Seems a more civilized location than on a stick attached to the steering wheel.
Ummm… Perhaps the lack of A/C, the lack of power windows, and the absence of other modern creature comforts? Does it have power seats with lumbar support?
I agree with you on that one but the one thing I do after I learned the hard way was once a year to pull it out and clean it and the contacts as I don’t care how clean you try to keep things crud and corrosion will get in to it. Also like the wing windows.
Who needs A/C? Just roll the windows down, still not a bad idea to make sure the cooling system’s in good shape, Two teachers in high school had clasics, 1956 Chevy Bel-Air 4dr named the Black Mariah that he’d take the rolling back roads to let the Chevy stretch it’s legs a little. He still kept it around when he bought a new Miata to haul his Cello around.
Auto shop teacher had a 72 Chevy K20 nicknamed the Rhino, stock looking but with every part underneath upgraded for the several hundred mile round trips to go hunting, Got him everywhere he needed to go. Don’t ask about the gas mileage though.
Relative had a '59 Edsel for driving around town, would pick the kids up from school to get ice cream with huge smiles on their faces. I believe they sold it to another Edsel fan when they moved to a new town.
We’re going down memory lane. My 6th grade teacher just out of college bought a new 56 (naw must have been used). Chevy, red and tan. He was really proud it, then got hit by a cement truck and buckled the right rear quarter panel. What remember when he got it back was the newly painted red was a shade off. I thought what a lousy paint job, even at that young age.
The only thing I have to ever worry about slowing traffic for me is the single intersection where I live. The police force is small so cops doing any checkpoint is once in a blue moon. They commonly just sit on the side of the road and that’s that. Every recent construction event in the past 5 years near where I am has lasted at most a week and the only way traffic was held up was because of the construction worker with the slow/stop lollipop sign. Accidents are the only real exception but they happen so rarely around where I am that it doesn’t even matter for stopping up traffic, and when it does the police have a way to get people past the accident, slowly but surely.
Don’t waste your time with them. They tried to bait me in to saying things to get myself banned when I first joined. They eneded up getting more of their own posts deleted since they don’t actually own the discussion forum. They act this way because how their treat other users is not as obvious this way. If they just came straight out and disagreed and used insults they would look stupid probably be banned.
Does your truck have the triangle windows in front of the regular windows that were used before air conditioning?
You would have been better off with a 57 New Yorker. Better ride. The 56s had chair high seats and more top speed because of better aerodynamics. The 57s front roof overhang and dished headlight buckets trapped a lot of air.
Old cars don’t bother me although in my later years I kind of like A/C. A 110 degree Okie day with no A/C and vinyl seats leads to horrifying sounds when being peeled loose.
My 68 Roadrunner was on the road all the time, both local and out of state road trips, and it wasn’t bad at all with the car in motion.
I wouldn’t necessarily say an old car means fatigue. I bought a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker in CA for 10 dollars with a clean title and current tag. I then drove it 1500 miles straight through to northern OK in 28 hours. Not bad considering one flat tire and the SOP of getting railroaded by the policia in Albuquerque. Again. Apparently being under the speed limit and hitting an off ramp to get gas is a mortal sin.
A bit tired of course but mostly due to lack of sleep. And as for the obvious “what kind of drugs were you using” thoughts the answer is none. In spite of my scruffy long haired appearance I have never, ever used illicit drugs. and I’ve never even smoked cigarettes. I did suck down a lot of soda and coffee for the sugar and caffeine.
That car had acres of room and a plush bench seat so it was like driving a sofa.
Same here in Florida as Oklahoma… 95 degrees and 85% humidity can be brutal while sitting in traffic.
It is rare to see a classic 50s or 60s car or truck without Vintage Air AC under the dash. It fits the era, though, as similar systems were common back then.
The discussion takes me back… unlock the door with a key, slide under the wheel, pull the choke, 2 pumps on the accelerator, press the clutch, crank crank, crank, fires up. Light blip the throttle a couple of time to clear it, shift into 1st and drive. A few more steps than a modern car.
Yeah, totally understand. If I lived in an area w/ hot & humid summer climate I expect I’d want A/C in my car. Must be possible to do w/out, b/c people somehow survived ok before A/C living in those climates. 'Spent some time in Bangkok, hot & humid. Some folks there said they didn’t like A/C b/c if they got used to having it, then one day for some reason like power out, no A/C, very uncomfortable. But if they didn’t have A/C at all, they got used to hot/humid, didn’t feel uncomfortable. I’ve never owned a car w/A/C. Rarely anywhere near that hot/humid here in San Jose. 100-plus pretty common when I lived in Colorado summers, but not very humid, so rolling down windows worked pretty good as long as moving. Only wing-window on truck, but Corolla has excellent fan-power fresh air ventilation system.
Vice grip garage is putting a newish hemi in a 68 chev pickup. He said there may be aftermarket ac unit behind dash and it might be removed. Now that’s crazy talk. Remove aftermarket ac? No no no
