Anybody spot somebody with a classic and a LOT of dedication lately? This Monday, I was driving home in pouring rain on I-285 in rush hour, and there in the lane next to me was a nicely restored Sunbeam Tiger. The only concession I could see to practicality was he'd put some sort of hard top on it.
You guys happen to see any classic cars show up lately in a time and place you figure nobody would be driving such a thing?
A local school teacher has an immaculate Volvo p1800 that he drives regularly to work. I can see it in the school parking lot from my house.
When I was a kid my art teacher drove a '68 427 Vette every day all year around. My science teach in high school drove a Boss 351 Mustang and my shop teacher had a '66 Vette. One of my friend's Mom's drove a '69 Z28 and another had a Road Runner....Oh wait... Now that I think of it, they really weren't classics then.
I used to see a guy driving a '69 Chevelle every morning in all weather - rain, shine, snow... whatever... The car was far from perfect, however, and I haven't seen it in awhile. I have seen a similar age El Camino on the same roads at about the same time, so I'm guessing it's the same owner.
There's a guy near the office with a 69 (I think) 4dr Cutlass who also seems to use it as his every day car. He likes to park in the unused back of our lot and sit for a few hours - to get away from the wife, maybe? Who knows, but we notice him there from the 3rd floor window a few times a month.
I've seen a guy driving a MG in all weather - no hardtop, just the std top.
Earlier this week I saw a MGB GT driving down a back road - I've seen him a couple of times before.
Back in the early 90's, one of my mother's friends drove a '70 Challenger 318 a/t every day. She was constantly bugged by guys wanting to buy it.
Sometimes I joke that if something happens to my TDI, I'm going to buy my friends' driver-quality 1800ES and use it as a DD. Hell... the way the TDI has been annoying me lately, I may do that.
If it's not terribly rare or valuable, why not use a classic as a daily driver? That's what it was designed to be, eh?
VClassics wrote: If it's not terribly rare or valuable, why not use a classic as a daily driver? That's what it was designed to be, eh?
Totally agree. I drove a '72 Capri for years. can't wait to get it back on the road.
Lately I've had an unexpected fascination with the Capri for some reason. My mom drove one for a few years right before I was born, so I could have been a passenger at one point. Zygote hoonery!
That's a good a reason as any, right?
Does anyone remember how cars, the ones we now drool over such a those mentioned in this thread, behaved back in the day?
Use them as DD's for a few years, especially in the snow belt, and they began to turn to s**t. So why would things be different now? THAT's why you shouldn't use your precious classic as a DD.
On Capri's: Back in the day I had a '73 V6. A sweet ride, with just the right balance of power and handling. If I could find a good one now, I'd... (wife's elbow impacts my ribs, a hint that I have enough toys right now)
Stu
stu67tiger wrote: Use them as DD's for a few years, especially in the snow belt, and they began to turn to s**t. So why would things be different now? THAT's why you shouldn't use your precious classic as a DD.
I should have made an exception for places that use salt or other corrosive deicers on the road, of course. But in places or seasons where that's not the case, I say just drive the things. We've got ~500K miles on our Volvo 122S -- about 350K put on the car by me personally -- and I'm not about to quit now.
Even in the middle of our (admittedly very dry) winter I would occasionally see an older gentleman driving a mid-late 60s GTO when I would be on my way to work. Of course it might be a clone and all that, but it looked like a nicely restored and not overrestored car.
In reply to MadScientistMatt:
What color was it? The reason i ask is there are two in Dunwoody and one is in my neighborhood, a yellow one that gets a black hardtop when its cold or rainy.
As for me I have seen a nice Fiat Coupe, Metropolitan, and a Jensen Healey on my commutes to and from work, but the best is this older gentleman driving a studebaker avanti as his daily, its a very worn and tired car but he drives it everywhere.
It was British Racing Green with a black hardtop.
VClassics wrote: If it's not terribly rare or valuable, why not use a classic as a daily driver? That's what it was designed to be, eh?
Well... as you mentioned - I live in the salt belt. As soon as there's a slightest hint of snow, the roads around here turn white long before the first flake falls...
Additionally, I've become rather fond of modern things like power windows and remote power locks, an 8 speaker stereo, cruise control, air conditioning, etc...
Otherwise I definitely agree we don't drive our old cars enough... the nice ES is still down with a no-start problem and I finally ordered a new alternator for my GT6 today (and she blew up the Spitfire engine, so that'll be down for awhile). SWMBO is so paranoid about her cars getting wet that I've tried to make a point of not being so bad about my own cars.
MadScientistMatt wrote: It was British Racing Green with a black hardtop.
Nice, I have not seen that one yet, I'll keep my eyes peeled.
At a cyclocross race - cold wet, salt trucks were out.
Last season - snowing hard, but that's a citroen DS
And a classic in season - usually 3-4 I see weekly after May
VClassics wrote: If it's not terribly rare or valuable, why not use a classic as a daily driver? That's what it was designed to be, eh?
I drive mine every day. To work and home and all weekend.
BoxheadTim wrote: Even in the middle of our (admittedly very dry) winter I would occasionally see an older gentleman driving a mid-late 60s GTO when I would be on my way to work. Of course it might be a clone and all that, but it looked like a nicely restored and not overrestored car.
I occasionally see an older gentleman driving a '68 GTO here in Minneapolis on a year round basis. It's not the sort of thing you normally see here. The rear quarter panels are rusted out, but otherwise it's still respectable.
Just this morning I saw a guy on the road in a early 1970s (pre-big bumper) Ford Maverick. By no means an exotic, but I haven't seen one of them on the road around here in 20 or 30 years.
I was always impressed by the guy in Toronto I would see nearly every day, commuting in his Espada (this would be in the late '90s).
It takes guts to DD a V12 that needs rebuilding every 40K miles.
spnx wrote: I was always impressed by the guy in Toronto I would see nearly every day, commuting in his Espada (this would be in the late '90s). It takes guts to DD a V12 that needs rebuilding every 40K miles.
I have heard of those going 200k and never even having the heads off. But, I have also heard of people spending $300k to restore one that was a driver when they bought it though lol.
I put over 14,000 miles on my 280Z the first summer I had it restored. Drive it regularly in the winter, took it 13hrs straight thru too southern arizona this febuary. High compression, big cam, no idle air control, no AC or power anything, no cruize control, crappy heater (especially with the 160 thermostat) The truth is, it's a pleasure to drive almost anytime of the year, despite it's lack of creature comforts.
I don't know if this makes me hardcore but I often wonder what the luxury car drivers think of me when I pass them in a snow flurry followed by that overbearing straight six exhaust note 
There's one of those Chrysler / Maserati TC things I see in the supermarket parking lot regularly, rain or shine. Don't know if that exactly qualifies as a classic, but it is fairly rare.
I think the TC qualifies as rare for a reason, but it's still good to see that someone is using it.
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