“back in the 1950s and before, many cars did not have an oil filter.”
Indeed. Some of them didn’t even have oil pumps and relied on splash lubrication with an oil slinger on the crankshaft, kind of like your lawnmower engine. Go way, way back to the turn of the century and some had an external oiling system with a tank you had to refill. These systems dumped oil all over kingdom come as you drove.
Oblivion–the Chevrolet “stove bolt” 6 was splash lubricated until the models equipped with PowerGlide were equipped with a pressure lubricated engine. The standard shift models in 1953 still had the splash lubrication system. In 1954, all the Chevrolet 6 engines had the full pressure lubrication. However, there was, I think, an oil pump to pump oil to the rocker arm shaft in the splash lubricated engines since the engines were overhead valve. All Hudson engines were splash lubricated until 1948, when a new Hudson 6 engine came out that did have full pressure lubrication. However, the Hudson 8 retained splash lubrication until it disappeared in 1952.
Where to start?
The Fiat 500 is going to do just fine.
My gf bought one, and I even drove it to work today.
Really a nice little car, and has quite a lot of torque for a car that advertises that there’s only 98 foot pounds of it roaming around loose. It does well here at 5000+ feet here in Denver, and is fun to drive in the snow, or sling around a racetrack.
Next up, there are fun alternatives to the Mazda Miata for a fun little small car to drive around in.
You could try an RX-8, if you can handle the really low gas mileage. I love mine.
Next year, you will have a Subaru BRZ and Toyota/Scion FRS twins hit the market to compete in that smaller RWD, fun cars segment. Both will have about 200 hp, and light weight (about 2700 lbs). Should fit all of us who can’t fit into Miata’s.
And if you don’t want a car with all the bells and whistles, don’t buy one.
There’s a car on the market to fit your needs, somewhere.
I’ll keep driving my cars, and leave you be with your motoring likes and dislikes now.
BC.
One of the best bare bones cars is still the Hyundai Accent. It’s well built, reliable, and the 2 door hatchback with stickshift and “power nothing” is about as basic as you can get.
I thought bare bones cars of the 1950s and early 1960s were great. These cars didn’t have a right hand sun visor–no problem–that is why the good lord gave us eye lids. No armrests on the doors–you shouldn’t be resting your arm but instead keeping your hands on the wheel. No cigarette lighter? Why are you smoking the first place.
Today, no bare bones car compares with the 1957-58 Studebaker Scotsman. These cars didn’t have a radio as an option and dealers were prohibited from installing the radio. One had to go to an aftermarket supplier. The hubcaps were painted. The heater was a box containing a small radiator and fan that hung down under the dashboard. It only recirculated the inside air. However, the car would get you reliably from Point A to Point B and the car was warmer in the winter than the VWs of the time period.
The “barest bone” car we had was a 1971 Mercury Comet 6, the Mercury version of the Ford Maverick. Ford deliberately made it basic to keep the cost down. It had no glove box, just a shelf. The rear windowns did not crank down, they just flipped open sideways a bit. It had a small 6, no power steering, no power brakes, no radio, no A/C, cheap vinyl upholstrery and not even a trunk mat.
The car was easy to work on since the only accessories driven were the alternator and the water pump.
If the quality had not been so sleazy, I would have enjoyed the car more.
My brother at that time bought a Gremlin, a chopped off AMC Hornet. This car was equally bare bones, but the interior was a bit more civilized. He kept the car for 10 years and had good service out of it. It was treacherous on ice, however.
I do agree that the Studebaker Scotsman was really barebones. I dated a librarian in those days and she was the proud owner of a black Scotsman. It was probably the unsexiest car I’ve ever ridden in.
I had a 1953 Chevrolet. I still have the owner’s manual in Mexico City. Yes, it used oil scoops for the rod bearings. We called it a Babbitt slinger. I went through my insane death wish years with that car. Then, I came back from Ft.Lewis and put in a rebuilt motor and transmission and drove it to Ft. Lewis, drove back to the Midwest when my service was done, and a year or so later gave it to my brother who drove it a while. That was 1967 when he finally gave up on it.
The Studebaker Scotsman was a really well-equipped car when compared with a King Midget. The King Midget gets the honors of the most stripped down car. Electric start was optional. A one cylinder Wisconsin air-cooled engine was standard.
I suspect that the people that buy these stripped down cars also have no condiments or spices at home, keep their homes at 60 degrees in the winter to save energy, watch a 13-inch TV, and use 40-watt bulbs (or 7-watt compact fluorescent) in their homes.
I just feel that life sucks enough without striving to be a masochist.
Oblivion; there is a measure of truth in that. There are also other forces at work. I know one family who have an expensive piano in their living room, are ardent outdoors types, but want to spend as little as possibe on transportation. As they buy everything new, they buy stripped cars. Which is not the most economical way to solve your transportation needs, as we all know.
Buying a 3-4 year old low mileage used car with some comfort options, nearly always comes out as less expensive per mile than buying a new stripper.
The masochist types see every “luxury” as indulgence! I was converted to Air Conditioning in the sixties when I drove 40,000 miles per year on the job in industrial sales. I convinced the company that arriving at a client’s office looking like a wilted chocolate bar was not going to enhance my sales prowess. Besides, driving on a hot day is very fatigueing. My boss at that time drove a Buick Wildcat with leather upholstery and no Air.
When the company saw the light, they specified A/C and automatic as standard equipment, with of course power steering and a basic radio. They also found that a mid level car with those options had much better resale value, and the cost of those options was recouped at trade in. Cheapskates with bare bones models have to wear them out since they command very little at trade in time.
Some of us prefer to be called pragmatists, oblivion. After many years repairing automobile problems I saw a documentary on westward migration in the U.S. There were several particularly difficult ascents and long dry crossings where the trail was littered with pianos, ornate beds, huge mirrors, chifferobes filled with nice clothes and occasionally an entire wagon was abandoned when one or more of the horses were lost. Some of us like to think that we should forego luxuries and opt for improved reliability and longevity.
Oblivion, there are an estimated 15.9 million college students in the U.S. Most of them live in dorm rooms, watch a small TV (or even watch TV on their computer), have few material goods of their own, are piling up tens of thousands of dollars in debt every year, and, when they graduate, would be thrilled to buy a stripped down basic means of transportation with decent reliability and low cost-of-ownership.
And then there are the urban dwellers. And divorced men…financially drained by the obsolete divorce laws.And commuteres, who can’t justify wearing out a fancy car every 5 years. And young GIs, risking their lives to serve our country for wages that son;t support fancy cars.
But hey, hold on, I myself fit some of these categories…and have fit most of them in the past! The world is full of truely good peoepl that fit your description perfectly!
“Buying a 3-4 year old low mileage used car with some comfort options, nearly always comes out as less expensive per mile than buying a new stripper”
Docnick–I’m not so sure about this. With a new car, even a stripper, you start out with new tires, new battery, etc. and a warranty thatg would be longer than that of a 3-4 year old car. Of course, if one becomes dissatisfied with the stripper and trades it in, then money is lost. I remember in the “Eisenhower” recession back in 1957-58, the DeSoto-Plymouth dealer in my town had taken in trade a stripped Chevrolet Biscayne and a stripped Rambler. Both cars had less than 5000 miles. The former owners of these cars had traded in big, expensive cars for these stripped cars, and found they didn’t like them. Both of these stripped cars were traded for new, top of the line DeSotos.
On the other hand, I bought a 1965 Rambler Classic 550 (the stripped model) in 1965 that had gone 7000 miles. I had the balance of the warranty. I drove that car for years and was perfectly satisfied. If the floor boards hadn’t rusted, I might still be driving it today.
Lucky for me that tastes vary and I can find what I prefer at a bargain. If everyone agreed with me there would be very few used cars to buy and the price to purchase them would be astronomical.
Triedaq, we are talking about longer term ownership than 3-4 years. I have only BOUGHT 2 new cars in my life. The best ownership is the well depreciated good car, which saves about $10,000 or more and also has cheaper insurance. That frees up about $12,000 or so for repairs and replacements that a used car can have more than a new car.
A new stripper will also have repairs and replacements after 4 years.
Having kept track of total ownership costs of new and used cars owned, I assure you that the used car was considerably less expensive per mile. But I avoid sliding roofs, high end performance engines and options, elaborate electronics, automatic A/C, power seats with memory, etc.
Consumer Reports will say that a new stripper cost less to own than a used luxo boat. But they have solid cost data that new cars cost more to own that used cars. I wholly agree, but we are talking here about the same vehicle, with or without options. Years ago Popular Mechanics bought a stripped 6 cylinder Dodge with standard shift and nothing else for $3700 or so. They also bought a Dodge Royal with a hemi V8, automatic, air, etc. It came to over $6000. They were the same color and looked very much alike.
A friend of mine in advertising bought a Mercury from the Ford corporate fleet of airport displays. It had every option in the book, and would have sold for $7500. The base price of that model at the time was around $3500! My friend of course paid only the Ford factory cost.
I agree that the best buy is a well depreciated but good used car. However, if a new stripped car and a three year old fully loaded car cost the same price, I’ll go with the new stripped car.
The military used to buy all stripped down versions, too. So much so that they’d even have the basic AM/FM radio removed. I never understood that, but hey, who am I, right? Just the guy spending hours behind the wheel of the most boring vehicle I could think of. I always hoped someone saw the light and got vehicles with at least a basic radio. I could live without A/C, but heat and something to help fend off boredom other than the road rolling by would be nice.
Not anymore, though. They just get the basic model now, but at least it has all the standard features. See? Even the Government can learn…although I must admit, it’s far more likely that the car manufacturer’s finally said they weren’t making any more special runs for the Gov’t.
I heard that the former director of the F.B.I., J. Edgar Hoover insisted on the stripped down model. The agents that were supposedly under cover didn’t like them because these cars could be spotted a mile away. The bottom line Chevrolet of 1953, for instance, did not have a chrome strip on the side and had a rubber, instead of chrome, stone shield.
The military orders stripped down models for the same reason we recomend them as usd cars; reliability with fewer things to go wrong. It’s also better public relations. Think of the govt. car with sun roof, leather appolstery with power seats even if that were a cheaper available model at the time. Because the driver is responsible for their drivability, even a broken power window can render a govt. car functionless at the worse possible time. The govt. motor pools want fix’n as simple as possible to get them back on the road as soon as possible.
And, you don’t want the attention of any 21 year old serviceman diverted by rap music in war zone…regardless of the sound tracks of war movies. Dump the commercial radio, except for local weather reports. It was against policy to even have on while on duty with the govt. vehicles we drove.
Dagosa–I attended a small private college as an undergraduate. In my senior year, the board of trustees decided that the college should buy a car for the president to use on college business. The president had been using his own car-a Chevrolet station wagon-and had commented that he needed to buy a second car because his wife didn’t have transportation when he was out of town. I didn’t know what had been purchased until I was walking into town and the president offered me a ride. He was driving a stripped down Chevrolet. It had a manual transmission, no sun visor on the right hand side and was a basic brown color. I made some sarcastic comment about the car and the president said, “I picked this car out”. He then said, “Remember, I have to raise funds for this intitution. I need to show that we are conserving money any way we can. How much would you give if I drove around in a Cadillac supplied by the college?”