Hot Rods I have no desire to drive my just finished Jalopy....

Hi Hamb folks...

Got the ole heap so it runs and I have no desire to drive it...none at all...

I sit inside the old girl and it is like...what was I thinking???

This build has been a life long dream of mine since I was 4 years old...I am now 63 years old...

...I have had it since April of 2022...so over 2 years...I have had a blast rebuilding it....trying to keep the old "barn find" feel going for it...

But I have no desire to go take it out on the road...it actually kind of terrifies me thinking about trying run the old girl down the road...
When I was kid I use to love to drive...now a days...I dread driving anything now...I only drive now when I have to...

I think I am the only gear head who does not enjoy driving motor vehicles...

My wife thinks I am squirrel....I think she might be right...

It was such a fun rebuild...looking now for my next crusty rusty heap to tinker with...

 

Well, option 1 is let it sit. Option 2 is sell it.

 

Option #3 find someone willing to drive it and give you a ride, I’d volunteer if I was closer. I think you captured the old track car vibe with your build.
Dan

 

I, for one, would love to hear more about how you found it, what you’ve done to it, and what was especially fun for you. I don’t drive my roadster as much as I used to but I love walking by it in the garage, and looking at it. Please share more of your story. I remember seeing cars similar to yours racing at Rhythm Inn Speedway in Massachusetts long ago.

 

Thats a long time to keep a dream alive and finally achieve it, so congratulations on that at least. If there are any back roads close start there and get a feel for it. Its scary with all the drivers with their eyes on their stupid cell phones and swerving on the road. I quit riding motorcycles because of a buddy losing a leg by an inattentive driver and other buddies getting killed. I have been rear ended twice, so I always install a led third brake light and the brightest rear bulbs I can get,as well as turn signals on all the old cars Ive had, and added seat belts.

 

probably best to identify what your concerns actually are .
I suspect the comment above may be an indication.
Is it safe, reliable, comfortable ?
(When road testing mine, I started with short trips, took a cell phone and had my wife on standby with the tow vehicle).

edit :
so two days after writing this, (and many, many road tests and always made it home), I took the coupe on it’s first outing, wife not on standby this time as she is in another country, son was unavailable, but I now have confidence it will make the 120 km round trip - and sure enough 40km later, it coughs and dies…………never made it to the destination………it came home on a trailer……….

 

There's no set formula that you have to follow during the build....... or after the build.
If you enjoyed getting it to start and run, check that box and call that mission done.
But maybe create a couple more "missions".
Do the brakes work to an acceptable standard? Does the suspension do what a suspension is supposed to do? You probably still have a few projects sitting right there in the barn on that bad boy.
It looks like you're out in the boondocks and must have an acre or more to challenge yourself to do at least a lap to see if the wheels are going to fall off or not. You never know; you may find it fun to try it once. It might be fun to scare the neighbors just once, too.
Okay, you're no longer a 4-year old with jalopy dreams, but can you think of a 4-year old or an 8-year old that you can make their dream come true by letting them roll that sucker a 100 feet or so around the barn and back to the front? If you happen to have a breakdown on the shakedown what better place to have it than in your own yard. Then you get to have more fun fixing it.
Put it on a trailer, take it somewhere. You'll probably make a new friend in the first 10 minutes.
Don't make me have to come to you and show you 16 ways to experience a build afterglow.

 

Heck, my drive/wrench ratio is always skewed. Maybe for reasons other than yours.
I can’t afford really nice cars, so have to wrench on them to improve them to my standards. I love the challenge of making them run good and working all the bugs out. I’ll take them out for a drive or two, and then tear into one of my other projects. In other words, I think I like wrenching more than driving!
I’ve never been into the “look at me” cruise in or car shows really either. I like fixing things.

 

I'm kinda the same way. I like driving my rods but for me, the true joy is in the building and fabrication! I say this as I'm heading out in the '54 to a local cruise-in in 20 minutes. Never mind!

 

I enjoy working/building more than driving. Once I finish something I’m usually on to the next thing.

 

Keep building it until it's something that you want to drive.

 

I probably spend more time in the garage working on my cars but try to drive them whenever I can. Had several I built and then lost interest in them and sold them.

 

I think I understand your angst. At 16 anything with an engine was fair game. 18, right after high school, I drove a 1 ton truck for a year. That got old quick. Early 30s, in Ohio, out on the back roads, no problem. Thruways got to be less than exciting. In my 40s, only 5 miles to and from work, city streets in Ann Arbor Michigan.

Then moved back east. 100+ miles a day average for 22 years. Wore out quite a few cars. Northway in upstate New York, same general area as Mike lives in. Traffic has become nuts around here as I've aged. Now in I'm 70, don't enjoy driving much either. Still like cars, and the sounds of a healthy engine. But with slower reaction times, aging eyes, and the traffic, I go out of my way to drive back roads at slower paces.

Am I going to stop driving? No! Just much more selective about the route and the time of day to minimize the angst...

 

Need some better pics…roll it out! Looks pretty slick…drive it!

 

Hey mikec4193
My thought would be to start looking for the rest of the body.
"First impressions are everything," they say.
The pride that you developed while building it is hidden from view.
Only way you can share and enjoy the pride, is to show off its beauty.
It really is beautiful, needs some more clothes to be decent in public.
Elsewise chalk it to experience and cash out.
ALERT: Buyers are happier when they are fully dressed
Keep us informed. The real deal could happen here.
Meanwhile Thanks for sharing.

 

I’d be doing doughnuts in a field

 

You need a picture of you turning right to go left in it kicking a cloud of dust.

 

For some the fun ends when the build ends............. so keep building.
No offence meant, but there is still a hell of a lot you could do to the old girl.

 

You are a long way from the first guy who flat looses interest in a car the minute it is running, driving and on the road and he doesn't have a bunch of other stuff planned to do to it.
I had a buddy in Texas in the 60's who didn't usually keep a car more than a few months after he had it running and driving. He was all about the build and not about the driving.

If the building process keeps you busy and happy sell it and use the money to finance the next one and stay busy and happy an so be it.

 

Don't feel bad; I am just rebuilding a car that I will not be able to get in and out of (a "T" tub with no doors.) It was a good idea in 1965, but not now, when I am finally getting around to finishing it.

 

@mikec4193
Don't worry! you're not alone.

I have no desire to drive this


3 weeks ago I went to our local "Cars'n'Coffee" in our Toyota Prius C [I don't care anymore]

 

There are people that love to build them, and there are people that love to drive them, and there are people every where in between.

There are also people that used to love to drive that no longer do, and their list of reasons can be as long as your arm.

Cars were meant to be driven. If its not driven, then its not a car, its art work. Art work carries no responsibility of being functional.

Selling art work and moving on can create many problems, the biggest one is establishing a price. You may think its done, but someone else thinks its a starting place.

Some just like to hang onto their art work and admire it.

Individuality is what makes the world go around.

 

Nothing unusual, sometimes your taste changes during a long build and sometimes you just enjoy the creative eliment, like model making but on a bigger and more expensive scale.

Options are keep it and keep evolving it, try and sell it or break it for parts and make another.

 

The most excitement I have with these cars (and I've had a lot of them), is that first day home after buying it, and going thru a mental list of what I want to do with it, and what hidden treasures it might possess.
Enjoy the hobby in whatever way works for you, there isn't any set rules.

 

Same here,i seem to enjoy the time i spend in the barn working on them more then driving them.

 

So sell it, and start to build another one that you have no desire to drive. Some people like to build and drive, some like to drive a built car, others just like to build.

 

Its a win win

 

I can relate to that. Lately I really don't care for driving anything at all. With all the horrible traffic and impatient, rude drivers who don't see any value in your vehicle, its more irritating and tiresome to drive anymore.

 

If ya get smacked driving it, then ya get to work on it again.

another win win

 

I don't build street cars for myself, I don't like driving on the streets where I live. I build race cars for myself and truly enjoy driving them on the track.
Your car looks dirt track, any vintage dirt track racing where you live?