Mid 50's cars???

You guys ever see one of those cars that looks super nice, and the price seems fair, and then you can't seem to get it out of your head? I had that happen today.

My problem is that it is a 4 door sedan from the mid 1950's and I know nothing about them. The car in question is super nice, a stock looking car, with all the chrome, nice paint, and a nice interior. It is not a rat rod nor a street mod. Just a nice looking clean example of an old car. My questions are many, but I find myself wondering the following:

How do these things drive (especially how do they drive compared to a newer car)?
Can they cruise down the interstate?
Are they best just for going around town?
Anyone silly enough to drive one as a DD? How are those old 50's V8s on gas? I assume not good based on the low HP numbers and the sheer weight of those big cars. But my DD Jeep Wrangler gets 16 MPG so am I way off from that?

And then I find myself wondering how hard it might be to put a newer power plant in one of these. Would it make it better or worse? Faster but worse MPG?

I don't know I find myself lusting after the car, but I'm not really sure what I would use it for.

I bought this car for $2,000 in the early 80s, drove it for 12 or so years and sold it. Next owner rechromed and added new caps etc., but basically the same car.

ANYTHING I ever need was available at NAPA. It rode like a fat chick but was the place to be on drive-in movie night.

50's vacuum wipers sucked but that is easily upgraded.

I didn't daily drive it but would not be afraid to. Be aware you won't set the cruise control at 75 and blister along with the truckers, but that's not what it's about.

I can't speak for gas mileage because I just filled it when it was low. I wouldn't hesitate to daily push another one.

Dan

Depends on the make but like say a 51 Chevy vs say a 59 ford. its a totally different car. Still very slow but the early fifties stuff is vastly behind the times and in stock form very difficult to drive on modern road.

My 51 shoebox was a coffin on wheels compared to say a 59-61 Chevy/ford.

My friend's dad has a '57 T-Bird and is the original owner of a '65 Mustang. He has described the Mustang as "useable" but says that the T-Bird really feels like an old car.

Ive driven a bunch of the old iron daily. What exactly are you looking at? It really depends on what it is whether or not you can comfortably daily it.

They steer slowly, compared to a modern car the brakes are terrible. A six cylinder car will probably get in the high teens on the highway. A large luxury car may not break 10 in town. Maybue 14 or so on the highway.

But they are just fun to drive! They have a magic about them that will take you back in time. Take time to go to the Sat. night drive in get-to-gathers. It's an experience that everyone should have for a while during their lifetime.

Oh, yes, you can DD a good solid well maintained car. If it's show quality you'll soon loose a lot of $$ doing that though.

The turn off for me would be brakes. I can handle slow acceleration and poor handling, I DD'ed a first-gen 4Runner up until a couple years ago, but man, dealing with modern traffic with the brakes of any pre-1962-ish car would be stressful. I'm sure that (a) there are exceptions to this in the form of cars that had good brakes in the '50s; and (b) that someone can probably sell you a way to update brakes if you have the will and the cash.

My first car was a '53 Studebaker Starliner Coupe. I loved it for it's looks but then abused it. I removed a very healthy 289 Studebaker motor and installed a 283 Corvette motor and added 6/2bl carbs. The car never ran as well again! However I do agree with the brake issue on older cars. My '32 Model A pickup had the worst brakes I've ever tried to drive with. And my MG TD wasn't much better, but I survived.

Unless you're driving a XKE or something like that from the '60s and earlier, there is no way you can expect to have brakes as good as your basic mid 70's Corolla.

What do you do in an old car with poor brakes? You drive carefully, read the road further ahead, and stay aware of the limitations of what you are driving! That's not a bad thing. It's just a be aware thing.

It will depend on what make/model/year car you're talking about. There were a lot of advancements in that decade - a car from the early part of the decade probably had manual steering and brakes, suspension from the 1940s, probably a three speed column shift and maybe 150hp under the hood. By the end of the decade the majority had power steering and probably power brakes, much better suspension, most likely an automatic transmission and maybe 300hp. All of them had crap for tires, though.

However, if the brakes are in good condition and adjusted correctly, and you have a decent set of modern tires, I think a 1950s car will be able to stop pretty well. However, that's one stop...the old drum brakes will fade if you are repeatedly jumping on them, and if it's wet out they'll be even worse (don't drive through deep puddles and expect to be able to slow down for the next couple blocks.) The good thing is you can get disk brake kits for most of those old cars these days.

It is/was a 1956 Pontiac Chieftan with a Pontiac V8

Ooh, good choice. I'm a fan of old Pontiacs, I have a '61 Bonneville myself.

The 1956 Pontiac was the second year of their V8 engine, it was 317 cubic inches that year and was pretty powerful for the time. The 4 speed Hydramatic transmission was a good one, too.

I drove cars from the 50's all my life. Finally graduated to cars from the early 60's. They drive just fine for the most part, kind of smooshy ride (not a bad thing, really,) brakes work if you keep them adjusted up and in good order. Comfy as can be and keeps up with the legal limit on the highway no problem.

Certainly not the same as a late model car or even a 70's import, but you'll never be in a bad mood behind the steering wheel again.

Buy it, try it, sell it for a profit when you're done with it.

As a sports car fanatic, none of the 1950s American cars are even remotely attractive to me to drive, as opposed to just admiring from afar. They are ill handling ill braking barges, some of which look rather interesting but none of which offer any sort of rewarding driving experience.

It wasn't until the 1970s that they started to become a bit less ungainly (1960s for the equivalent British and European cars)

My parents DD'd a 1956 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 through the 80's. I was a kid at the time, and didn't get to drive it, but it didn't get special treatment against the other cars. There were road trips, grocery trips, and runs back and forth to school. A rusty fuel tank during a time when there were bigger problems to worry about took it out of service. It was sold on in 1995 to a restorer after sitting for five years made it clear we weren't going to get to it.

I remember wipers, defrosters and the generator being weak.

Never had a problem with GM heaters or wipers, 'though the Ford wipers were always a problem being vacuum operated. I agree with the generators being weak, but a yearly check of the generator brushes and points inside the voltage regulator usually kept you on top of things.

As for a rewarding driving experience, with an in-town speed limit of 30 mph and an expressway limit of 60 mph, spirited driving usually gives way to just cruising to the post office or a highway jaunt to the mall. It's all about just motoring about and enjoying the view of the road down the hood from inside a time capsule, you know?

octavious wrote: It is/was a 1956 Pontiac Chieftan with a Pontiac V8

Neat Ride! When I was in high school a buddy had a 56 Star Chief convertible. For high school double dates to the drive-in a wide body is important!

914Driver wrote: I bought this car for $2,000 in the early 80s, drove it for 12 or so years and sold it. Next owner rechromed and added new caps etc., but basically the same car. ANYTHING I ever need was available at NAPA. It rode like a fat chick but was the place to be on drive-in movie night. 50's vacuum wipers sucked but that is easily upgraded. I didn't daily drive it but would not be afraid to. Be aware you won't set the cruise control at 75 and blister along with the truckers, but that's not what it's about. I can't speak for gas mileage because I just filled it when it was low. I wouldn't hesitate to daily push another one. Dan

I saw a car that looked exactly like that (same color and fender skirts) last Friday while eating at a Bojangles in Ft Mill, SC. The owner said it was a 54 with 4,800 miles on it. It had been a demonstrator at a local dealer and his mother had bought it.

I learned to drive in an early 50s Plymouth with three on the tree. A great old car and one I would love to have today.

When I was a kid my dad had a beat up old 50 chevy project car that I drove around the neighborhood and local dirt roads before I had a license. One of the first "real" jobs I had was as a newspaper delivery driver. The first time driving a diesel box truck brought on a nostalgic moment for the old chev. It was the last time I ever wanted to drive anything from that era without getting paid for it.

If you want to see a big American 50's sedan stop and turn well, check out the Carrera Panamaricana cars. Even the historic ones that use the original powertrain are allowed to upgrade the chassis.

I know a couple of guys who built a Ford for the Carrera- it turned out really good, and drove really well from what they tell me. Needed some sorting, but once that was done, it stopped and turned really well. No reason that kind of work can't be done on a street car.

Rupert wrote: My first car was a '53 Studebaker Starliner Coupe. I loved it for it's looks but then abused it. I removed a very healthy 289 Studebaker motor and installed a 283 Corvette motor and added 6/2bl carbs. The car never ran as well again! However I do agree with the brake issue on older cars. My '32 Model A pickup had the worst brakes I've ever tried to drive with. And my MG TD wasn't much better, but I survived. Unless you're driving a XKE or something like that from the '60s and earlier, there is no way you can expect to have brakes as good as your basic mid 70's Corolla. What do you do in an old car with poor brakes? You drive carefully, read the road further ahead, and stay aware of the limitations of what you are driving! That's not a bad thing. It's just a be aware thing.

I think we need to hear more from this guy! Youve had some cool cars

a properly done resto=mod is light years better to drive than any 50s cars.

thats why they came about!

plance1 wrote:

I think we need to hear more from this guy! Youve had some cool cars

Yes,

I suppose I have. I sold several "keepers" for a lot less than I could get for them today. But then again I was young, single, & had lots of money to blow from tax free flight pay, combat pay, etc. I also liked to flip used cars & motorcycles for pen money. I'd buy one that was pretty solid but had some cosmetic issues, or perhaps just a bad set of points or a tank full of old gas. Then I'd give it a tune up, touch up, (I had a friend who was a great touch-up painter) then turn around and sell it.

The bad part about that is I got so I wasn't satisfied with a new car either. I lost a ton of money on depreciation when I flipped new cars I was bored with!

I live in a patio home now & one of my three current cars has to sit outside. They won't allow me to build an add-on garage here. And my wife swears that's a great thing!