I have to relate my version of this. Way back, in my college years, I was looking for a cheap reliable car to go to and fro. A sweet lady I knew from church offered to sell me her 1965 Rambler. She had been widowed for several years, and aside from church and groceries, never drove it. We settled on a very decent price, and when she was handing me the keys, she said “Honey, you’re going to love this car. I’ve never had to change the oil”! She was from the old school that thought you only change the oil when it gets a quart low.
That’s not “old school”!
That’s simply being ignorant, because oil changes were typically done every 1k-2k miles prior to the '60s–when she was presumably already an adult.
My father’s '63 Plymouth had a specified oil change interval of “every 3 months or 4,000 miles, whichever comes first”, and that was certainly a bit longer than in previous years.
I seriously doubt if she ever opened the Owner’s Manual for that car, or if she ever sought the advice of anyone regarding the maintenance of her car.
She may have been sweet, but she undoubtedly abused that engine through her ignorance.
I should have said she more than likely misunderstood what her husband may have believed - that you change your oil at xx miles, or just go ahead and do it if it’s near to that, and a quart low.
That was one sludged up engine, but it was my daily driver for 8 years.
That would be the little old lady from Pasadena, of course.
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