Back in the day before kids, I had a 65 New Yorker, great big car, nice 440, but I sold it, (now kicking myself) and now I find myself looking for a fullsize car to haul my boys around, but I gotta have something different. I am not the kinda guy who can drive a camry, even if its all "pimped" out. So I am looking at the usuals, chrysler 300, dodge charger, etc. But still have a lust for an old piece of americana to cruise in as a daily. What do you guys who have classic tin drive as a daily? Any good advice, particular cars that are better than others? Thanks. Jason
had a nice crown vic till the trans started slipping and I gave it away. Just get a pickup truck, like everyone else.
man, im at the point were im thinking of buying a new car. but im going to drive my peice untill it dies. i was looking at a half ton truck, but then i really want one of them 300c's. i keep going back and forth. you can get a good four door truck to hal your boys, and then haul your car, truck, parts or what not. just my imput.
I thought about the truck thing, but damn if I cant get over the redneck factor of having a truck. No offense to any rednecks, shit my old ladys from arkansas! Plus the gas mileage on those things suck ass! jason
my wife's dd 99 silverado gets 19-20 mpg on almost every tank full. Not much worse than that crown vic did. Around here pickup trucks are normal transportation for many people...are they really still only driven by rednecks up there? wierd.
I drive my nova probably 95% of the time and my 66 c-10 about once per week. ... that my be changing soon though. there's a guy selling a 93 nissan sentra with 70k miles for $800... mmmm... air conditioning...
not big enough to haul the kiddies , but i'd immagine ya got another car for the wife , but look at my avatar . 53 f-100 barn find . it aint pretty and it has glitches , but it is my daily transportation and even the grand kids love it . sold a late model gmc sierra with all the goodies and a warmed up 350 to get the effie and don't nor will i ever regret it . p.s. it still has a flathead for power
I have to admit that i drive a '73 Volvo 164. Though it is too modern for my taste, I would like to replace it with something older. Edit: Oh, now I found out that it wasn't what this thread was about... Nevermind.
I use my 67 big block Caliente conv as a daily driver in the summer. It is in excellent condition, but not restored. I refuse to get caught in the trap where you get so much time and cash into the restoration that you can't drive the car anymore. I also have a 76 GMC big block 3/4 ton for a daily driver. I would just get the car or truck I really want and enjoy it. Even my 55 Chev 1/2 ton Cameo ( with a 454 ) is a daily driver. We also have other cars, but my point is, why have a car if all you feel you can do is trailer it and polish it? I have a friend who owns a couple of Shelby's and a 454 powered Cobra kit car. They haven't moved out of his garage in over 3 years. What fun is that? Bob
When I need a utility vehicle it's my '90 SS454 1/2 ton. When I'm just riding it's the '32 2dr between snow melt in the spring and 1st snow in the fall. For formal occasions it's the wife's '37 2dr or her '97 Eldorado. Going to try and get the '48 F1 on the road to use as a daily. Waiting for ElPolacko to get a kit to me to adapt the Dakota front end to it. Frank
I was thinking a galaxie, an electra, or maybe another new yorker. Those new yorkers are pretty inexpensive, and I worry about the entry price on a galaxie or a electra (more sought after cars) If I go with an older car, does an orginal do better than a restored? Jason
An original old car has a whole lot of old parts on it...a restored old car has some new parts and some old parts. How reliable it is depends a lot on who did the work, and how much money they had available.
If you don't want a truck what about an older American full size car,you can buy em' pretty cheap their not too bad to work on.I know somebodys gonna say"what about the gas mileage"if you ever crash it with your kids in there you'll be glad to trade the gas mileage for some metal around you.
My daily about 10 years ago was a very solid original 66 Impala SS, 283, glide 3.08 rear.. looked cool, rode great and got a touch over 20 mpg all the time. NO rocket ship by any means, but real cool reliable transportation. I had a pristine 59K mile 63 Impala last year, 283, glide, 3.36 rear 2 door hard top..Again, rode and drove real nice, and got around 20 mpg as well.. I currently have a 63 SS 327 4 speed that i was driving daily until a few week's ago.. Not as good of milage because it's slightly built up with a set of gear's in it...but still not bad..still comfy and a pleasure to drive..plus a 4 speed What i'm getting at it is, these old Chevy's are GREAT daily drivers! They don't cost a lot to maintain, can be bought at a reasonable price providing your not looking for a 409 or someting crazy like that.. and are just plain cool crusiers.. my 2 cent's Tony
Other than the wife's 97 Caravan, with 300,000 miles on it, my son and I share 2 vehicles for our daily drivers. An 88 Dodge 4x4 and a 74 Dart Swinger that we just picked up. It is a bit rough, bit has only 36,000 miles on it. He wanted a muscle car era car for his first car, and the Dart was close enough for him. I know it ain't HAMB material, but it sure beats all the other crap we looked at for him, and it was a hell of a lot cheaper too. Now he is after his old man to stop working on the 47 and start getting the body work done on the 74. He wants it painted by spring... Since he is a senior this year I am sure I will oblige... Oh, and the good news is, we drive it every day, it's current slant 6 gets 25 MPG, it runs like a dream, and I'll have less that 2 grand in it when it is all done, including a total drive train upgrade. (I've got a lot of left over Dart Parts from my 68 GTS.)
My summer daily is a bone stock 72 pontiac ventura (nova) with 65K miles, 6cyl, powerglide, power steering, manual drum brakes, a am radio that doesn't work, and that's about it. The body is very solid (now that I put a new floor in the trunk) the gold paint is faded, and the interior looks new since a good friend in the upholstery business recovered the seats cheap. I put some tires on it and now have almost a grand in it, I LOVE that car, most people think I should rod it, but no way, even though I have a 400 pontiac 400 turbo with 36K miles on em sitting on the floor of the garage right next to it, and my buddy has everything I need to do the swap since he scrapped one that had a 400 in it, I like it just the way it is, I have other fast cars, this ones simplicity just makes me smile.
heres my daily pretty close to your 65 new yorker, but with the fuel efficient 383 (10 mpg) deadender's pic not mine matt
i know where there is a white 65 (i think) New Yorker convert. with a 383 down here that can be had for cheap pm me and i will try to find out if the dude still has it
Hi Jason we have a "back up" daily driver that we just decided to put up for sale. Its a '62 Dodge Custom 880. Its the first year they were made and very rare. Here in so cal. its the only one registered with the department of motor vehicles. Its a very reliable car. Other than replacing an alternator, we have never had any problems with it. The only reason we're selling it is because we're trying to put money together to put my wife through nursing school. We're asking 6,500 for it. Like I said its a very rare car, and By far, I get more looks in this car then I do in my 54 chevy. Its been lowered and shaved. It has a 361 Big Block Mopar with 2bbl carb. 727 pushbutton tranny. It has the beautiful Pagoda dash that I think was discontinued on that model after 62. Titled, Currently registered and driving! this pic is small, but if your interested I'll take some good ones and post them.
man! I'm on my second Dakota P/U. The first one is still being driven by my kid. It's got 200k on the clock. A friend of mine has one with 380k! The one I'm driving is a 6 cyl. 5 speed with 3.91:1 gears. They run good with mpg around 20 hwy. With a lowering kit and your favorite wheels they can be decent to look at and provide the utility.
here's a picture of my daily driver.... parts are cheap and easily available, i get about 20miles to the gallon with the 140 motor, gets plenty of looks, but according to a pretty notable political high up its basically unsafe at any speed =(
If I were looking for a cool older car for a daily, I would go for a 64 Galaxie. I think those cars are WAY under valued and they ride nice and have a great look stock.
My hotrod '29 chevy truck with upgrades,(some not so traditional) is my daily driver. I'll never buy a modern car, been there, done that! My wife squawked a bit, but now we both understand that what we both want is important! She needs a ride, I need the ride to be old! The old pickup 'looks' traditional, with the upgrades, AC etc, all out of sight. Okay, call it cheating, but I feed my true-taditional-hotrod-ego with the '29 nash anyhow.
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