Technical Large learning curve

One of the things taught in Drivers Ed when I took it in 1975, was to look and watch 3 or 4 cars down the road. All part of paying attention. Try doing that with a typical SUV with pimp tinted windows in front of you! -Dave.

 

I'd love to see today's type of drivers try to deal with a poor man posi...(the dreaded welded spider gear option) . Defiantly a different feel required for them. Oh yeah, I learned to drive in my Dad's '30 "A" roadster when I was about 10...great memories!

 

Growing up on a farm with old farm trucks and tractors teaches you not to be in a hurry with cold motors , and no power anything . you also learn to steer with your hands on the outside of the steering wheel so if you caught a rut or hole it wouldn't snap the wheel and break your wrist or thumbs ( never hang thumbs over crossbar of the wheel . also I learned to drive semis with no powersteering on bias and could steer them like they were powersteered , the secret is to keep the truck rolling a little while you turn the wheel , as when your sitting still your trying to turn it with several thousand pounds of weight bearing straight down into the treads locked on the pavement .and then its armstrong steering . my first 3 semis I owned in the late 1980's were manual steering and I liked it over powersteering at the time . as for braking a old chevy pick up pulling 3 hoppers of grain with no brakes teaches you about braking distance and drum brake fade .

 

So, this might just be Chip going off the reservation again, but how about some equal time for those of us that are forced to drive late model crap against their will? See, there is this creature that lives in my house, and has all these wonderful bumps and nooks and.... Well, she requires (in her mind) reasonable, late model transportation. No matter how many cool early sixties Falcon wagons and such I screw together to try to appease her and keep those bumps and nooks... Well, available to me.

See, in my mind, there is nothing quite as evil, hate full and just generally as miserable as her particular 2012 Honda Civic sedan. It doesn't turn - just under steers miserably. It doesn't stop as well as my drum braked 'bucket. It barely goes fast enough to get out of it's own way, and certainly not through it's own parking brake.... Which if you need to release it you can spend literally hours looking for the tiny, poorly marked handle to do so. It locks me in, and can't be seen out of, which is sort of ironic, as Judy doesn't stop in reverse 'till something goes crunch behind her. If I want to crack the drivers window in the rain, it goes all the way down, and before I can pick out which one of the approximately 200,000 hyrogliphiced buttons the size of a ball point pen clicker bring it up, I'm soaked. Worst of all, though, is that even with the seat pushed all the way to the very furthest rear seat, getting and out of this steaming pile dung require the very sacrifice on my knee caps.

Ever hop in a late model and forget to turn off the traction control, then HAVE to DRIVE the thing? Put a new Mustang rental in a ditch in Indy because of that little fiasco about ten years ago before I knew what "traction control" was.... You mean there is a computer that is actually going to second guess me as a driver, and shut stuff off that I need, just when I need it most? F**k that!

Anyway, I'm in rant mode today, so I'll shut up now. But I'd honestly say that the learning curve for someone who has never owned a car newer than '62 to jump into one of these little silly piles of trash is MUCH greater than going the other way. Nothing worse than something fighting you when you expect it to do some thing else entirely.

 

I always had a bag hanging from my parking brake release for just that reason, along with a can of red pepper for when my radiator would start to leak.

We used to practice our speed shifts by turning on the wipers on a nice clear day and see if we could get through all 4 gears without them moving on the glass. Circa 1964 / 65

 

First time I ever dove in a car with cross plies back in the UK I drove over a metal grated bridge. I can tell you I was WIDE awake by the time I got to the other side. I was essentially just along for the ride, little ability to actually determine which direction the car would go in.

 

I always watch the other drivers be it on coming or coming to an intersection. My T modifieds brakes arent the best so I always give a bit of room between me and other cars.

 

This thread is bringing back good memories. I remember cruising along in my old car with the vent windows pointed in my face in the summer...the only a/c I had.
My first car had a Y-block Ford engine in it. I remember the regular ritual of adjusting the mechanical valves when the ticking started. And replacing points... and oil changes every thousand miles. Sure seems like a lot of maintenance now.

 

Great thread Beaner! I grew up on the farm in the 60's and if it had a motor on it I drove it. If it didn't have a motor, I put one on it! If I wanted to go somewhere, I almost always had to fix it.

Remember 30 weight in the summer and 10 weight in the winter? Yep!

My first car was a '48 Jeep in 1970, my daily driver today is the '32 in the avatar and is my 12th car. Probably the last car I'll ever own!

I love hand chokes, mechanical door handles with key locks, and no automatic dome lights. I've never had an automatic transmission, computer controled EFI or cruise control. I'm just now getting to trust my electronic ignition!

I don't even like a radio 'cause I cant hear the lifters clacking or ignition ping. If something goes wrong, I already know what to do before it coasts to a stop. I learned to drive by the seat of my pants.

 

People no longer drive. They use too much technology instead of actually paying attention to driving. From my motorcycle days "every car is out to kill me all the time."

 

Most of 'em still seem to respect size... And around here at least, the degree of room they give seems to be proportional to the disreputableness of your vehicle. If it's a nicely turned out car, they put the onus on you to miss them. Drive something that looks like another ding won't matter and they'll steer clear... Nobody cuts me off in my beater rusty Ford pickup.

As to the safety thing, if your kids are old enough to drive (and you judge them responsible to do so), then they can decide the safety aspect. You do need to impress on them the limitations involved and for sure some sort of safety restraints need to be installed (and I think disc brakes and radial tires would be an excellent idea), but most '50s/60s cars aren't tin cans either...

And as has been pointed out, if you want to experience being 'not seen', ride a motorcycle. Nothing short of a flashing light and siren will even come close to guaranteeing being seen on one of those. And 'loud pipes save lives' is complete BS; the only people aware of those are behind you....

 

Try them bridges on a motor cycle

 

Miss Judy, my girl, is an adorable, completely unintelligible little Asian gal in her mid forties. As a result, she drives EXACTLY like an adorable Asian gal in her mid forties.

The few times in our ten year relation ship that I have trusted her with my life by letting her drive, we have played a game that I call, "what are you seeing now", as she drives. Ten years ago when our relationship was new, her answers were things like "brack car right ahead" and "Mercurly Mountainreer", or shouting out the personalized license plate on the car directly ahead. Scary at best!

These days, I have gotten her into the habit of looking out a few block ahead and actually watching for impending trouble coming at her. Now a days it's answers like "right about to turn lellow at 16th street", or "red car didn't turn reft well at next street".... She's getting better!

 

Cracking a vent widow to keep the windshield from fogging up, stepping on the headlight dimmer....

 

Man, most drivers on the road 30 years ago were still all old school background driving state of the art cars. Most drivers on the road today don't know any different.

Drivers Ed is a flaming joke.
Young girl I know passed drivers Ed with flying colors, took the test and aced it. In ten months she's hit a house, a parked car, curbed a tire, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Caused one accident.

Had my nephew run me to the store once. I asked him where he learned what I perceived as bad habits. He said drivers Ed, well of course the teacher was 30 years old and perpetuated the demise he learned.

 

For me, the biggest difference between new cars and what I like to drive is which wheels are connected to the transmission. RWD vs FWD is a big change.

 

FWD sucks

 

My first car was a '73 Buick LeSabre. With the salt use here in northern Illinois, and my general lack of cash, it had plenty of rust holes, no exhaust system, and every other car on the road gave it a wide berth. With the chronically misadjusted carburetor, it required a special touch on the gas pedal until it warmed up.

I still kinda miss that car. Lotta good memories from those days.

 

Agreed. I hate driving FWD, especially in bad weather, but somebody used to modern cars is going to have some adjusting to do when first driving a RWD car.

 

Louvers, congratulations on all your hard work!. -LOL! Dave.

 

when was the last time you used a key to unlock your daily driver? I herd of a person that was locked of their car, called AAA. when the guy got there he asked for the key unlocked the door.

 

David Snow, editor of the old Iron Horse magazine(RIP),
wrote a piece about riding to survive.

He advocated "controlled aggression".
To paraphrase: "Act like everyone on the road, is trying to kill you."

 

Not around here they don't.
Lamborghini used to make a HUGE 4x4 thing,
for rich Arabs, bigger than a Humvee. Very expensive.

Friend of mine was testing driving one, almost got t-boned at a light.

 

I still use a key on my late model barge.
Why ?
Not smart enough to use a remote.
Too many buttons.

 

I remember when an exhaust system only lasted a year, or...you could tell if the carb was adjusted by the color of the tailpipe, Trouble with people now is cars are so good that you don't really have to drive them. I remember when the ton was goddamned fast, scary fast, now on the freeway folks do the ton without even giving it a second thought. It don't feel fast anymore, and for you young folk, the ton is 100 miles per hour, 80 was scary in my youth, the cars back then would grab you hard by the butt and tell you, you were moving a little fast. New stuff hangs on till it can't anymore, lets go without giving you some warning, that's why wrecks these days are so catastrophic.

 

Great thread.

I have a stigma, if that's the right word, about people who get to drive new cars that haul ass and are dead nuts reliable, all with the piece of mind of safety restraints, crumple zones and air bags, while simultaneously not having a clue what makes them tick. It's an old guy thing I know...

Sounds like my wife. She backed into the house, backed into a couple of cars at the mall. Fortunately all of her escapades have been in reverse. She no longer drives.

 

Ok, two stories. My daily used to be a worn out '68 GMC truck. Had a 327, straight pipes, and had been (poorly) converted from columnshift automatic to floor shift 4 speed. Had one of those 9,000 lb clutches (the kind that you use BOTH feet on, and then jump up and down a little bit), and the steering was a little "vague". You didn't really steer it, just sort of aimed it. Constant ballet of steer and countersteer. I could drive it without a second thought. Used to let all of my friends try to drive it. Hilarity ensued. They were all over the road, whipping that bus sized steering wheel every which way, trying to shift it without grinding every tooth off of the gears, and trying to hear themselves think over the pipes.

Back when I was at the police academy, we had a well used fleet of Crown Vics. One in particular was my favorite. The ABS brake system had long since expired, the power steering was way too heavy, and the exhaust was so torn up, it sounded like a stock car. Most of the other recruits were about half my age, and NONE of them could get that car around the driving course. Me and the driving instructor were the only ones who actually liked that car. Did I mention that this was in Wisconsin, and his last name was Kulwicki...yes, THAT Kulwicki family.

 

Spring and Fall tune ups.Plugs,points,condensor,belt check,adjust carb with vacuum gauge.Set the automatic choke differently for winter and summer.Grease every zerk you could find.Change the air filter.
Square bias ply tires in winter for at least a quarter mile.
Manual transmissions in winter that required that same quarter mile until the grease was heated up enough to shift out of first gear.
Always have the spare parts and correct tools for roadside repairs.After a while you knew what parts usually would fail.
Listening to the cars normal noises.
Older Fords with automatics seemed to require a unusual starting procedure.Left arm over column to lift up gear shift selector,right hand turned key.
Knowing how to feather the gas pedal juuuuust enough to slide through a corner on a gravel road.
Turning into a skid.

 

I HATE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES! I was headed down a steep hill in the rain when some fool cut in front of me and stopped. I hit the brakes and the anti lock kicked in and started pulsing. In an old ride I would have been able to tell whether I needed to jump the curb or ride it out by the sound of the skid. With Anti-Lock Idiot Brakes you hold the brake and pray it's going to stop. My heart was in my throat. Maybe they are better statistically for the average frikin idiot but good drivers are exposed to greater liabilities.

 

The other week I was playing in my Jeep and slid off the road. I was pretty close to the roll-over point and figured I better get out and scope the situation out. I got back in and figured I better belt up before trying to power out. The Frikin MODERN CRAP seat belt wouldn't let me have any belt. It was locked up due to the angle. Damned I hate new crap!