My last long trip in my '39 was over 1200 miles, and the car was still in primer and had about 500 miles on the build. It went flawlessly, and good thing it did as there were numerous places with no cell phone service along the way! No AC, no power steering or power brakes. It was great!
Completely agree. I drive my sixties car with three pedals and manual everything and it transports me back to my youth. When I first sat in the car before buying it twenty plus years ago the smells took me back to high school. My brother has the same year make model as mine. He thoroughly rebuilt it and has driven his to FL, TX, KS and more. Some 30k plus on the rebuild. Lots of thumbs up, gas station questions, roadside help etc. He had trouble in West Monroe Louisiana and the help was incredibly awesome. From the young lady on the AAA help line, to the tow truck driver, to the guy at the NAPA. It ended up being one of the best parts of the transcontinental trip.
Old cars used to be new/fairly new cars at one time. My buddy and I drove all over with our 6 cylinder/drum brake cars. His old slant six could get up to 87 mph on a downhill grade on the interstate, but we didn't cruise at that speed. BUT, we could maintain the posted limit, and that's all that mattered. Repairs were simple, if needed, because the cars were simple.
I see some people saying that they just hang out in the slow lane. Here in California, heavy trucks have beat big potholes in the right lane. So, I have to run the fast lane. Average speed is about 85 mph. Sure can feel the lack of aerodynamics on my full fendered Model A. I prefer to run around on the back roads, when I can.
I don’t have any issues in the left lane either. Especially in the bus. Or the 61 flatbed. I’m not really worried about getting rear ended in either. Put 2:75 gears in my f100. Take off was not very good but cruising 90 was no problem. the folks behind me can wait until i can move over. Getting flipped off? Not my problem. Im having a great day Driving the normie ride to work stinks. AC, power everything and a radio. Feels strange. Hopefully, this 64 c10 deal I’m working on gets worked out. 6/8 drop sounds about right. We’ll see.
[QUOTE="Algoma56, post: 14613743, member: 11164" we could maintain the posted limit, and that's all that mattered. Repairs were simple, if needed, because the cars were simple.[/QUOTE] Maintaining posted speeds today will get you run over and a lot of single finger intelligence exposure. I drive to some local gatherings Saturdays and Sundays 20-25 miles away and run 65-70 in 55 construction zones of the 405 in SoCal and get run over by everyone in a gd hurry. It’s crazy at times with everyone cutting lanes just to stop in 200 yards…oh well.
I've driven tens of thousands of miles on US highways and interstates, going 55-65 in old cars, and never been run over once. I've also seen a whole bunch of big trucks driving on those same highways at those speeds, never getting run over. Strange. Folks actually do slow down. But I guess if you need an excuse, that sounds like a good one, on the surface.
Atta boy, Jim! LOL. I drove some 3,000,000 + miles in a "big truck" and never ran over anyone. The ONLY thing keeping me from the hwy in my 1950 is the need to be a caretaker to M'Lady. Well , maybe funds, but that can be worked around. Ahh, but excuses are cheap. Ben
Geez, I drive the speed limit in my daily, yes, I’m the guy that’s being tailgated who won’t speed up for ya.
Some of these guys are as bad or worse than my dad was. He would always find some lame reason as to why he couldn't put in some stick time on the freeways during our road trips to Texas and back. I thought I'd get a break every other tank of gas but because the speedometer in the 51 Merc didn't work he decided that he couldn't drive it. All he had to do was run mile after mile down the freeway staying with other traffic that was running at a speed he felt comfortable with. As far as 80 mph speed limits go, Most of I 84 in Idaho is 80 mph, part of it in Utah and most of 80 in Wyoming is. When I made the trip in my OT car a few years ago I found that I could run up to the mid 70's before the difference in gas mileage cost more than time saved. I think we toddled along at 73/74 most of the time because 80 cost us about 5 mpg. That car was happy to run 90 or 100 all day long if you were allowed but it got real thirsty above 75. On my trip to Bonneville back more years than I want to think about with my 48 running the 250 I would just toddled along about 300 yards back from a semi most of the time and that was a pretty comfortable cruising speed. Unlike the 51 Merc the 48 had every old car quirk that you can put in one book. The only problems I had on the trip outside of using more oil than gas was having my battery fail at a rest stop by Pendleton Oregon and having to get some migrant workers to give me a push to start and then get a new battery in LaGrand. Then the main hot wire to the alternator broke on Thursday after I left speedweek and I had to take the battery out at a gas station and ride the shuttle bus to a garage to have it charged and then the bus picked me up two hours later and hauled me back to the gas station. Oh, then the bent tie rod on a toll road north of Pleasanton that I shouldn't have been on in the first place. That took an hour or more in La Pine Oregon the next day when I started noticing excess tire wear. Bought a big pipe wrench from some never ending yard sale for 5.00 and ran the front wheels up on the sidewalk in some closed on Sunday business parking lot to be able to get under the truck and adust the tie rod. Fun trip though. You can't let it worry you that much if you intend too have fun driving your car. Stuff happens, you do some side of the road repairs, have a story to tell and aren't sitting home making excuses.
Amen. I drive my avatar (or it's underpowered, drum braked I6 sedan version) in stop-start Sydney traffic, on 300 mile runs with a loaded box trailer, towing a car trailer, loaded with the kids or beat on them at the drags. Drive to conditions. Relax, and enjoy the ride. Life is too short to not enjoy an old car. Cheers, Harv
I often think that the rebuilt parts, (especially thinking about rebuilt ford flathead V8’s) are probably more reliable than when new. My other theory is that, - if like my ‘32 sedan, it starts up easily and you can drive it 1 mile up the road, without any problems, you can drive it 500. Whats the difference between 500 x 1 mile trips or 1 x 500 mile trip. If it’s going to break down on a long trip, ( less likely in my opinion ), it’s going to break down on one of those short trips……..
If you feel that your 1950 needs some exercise, I would be more than willing to run it down the road for you, say from your place to LA, to E. Tennessee and back to Wichita Falls. It should be well lubricated and the battery charged by the time I get back. You buy the gas, of course. I'll even leave you the keys to my OT mid-'90s F150. Good deal, huh?
Not 85 but 80--outside of San Antonio heading to El Paso. Nobody does 80-90+ is the accepted norm. 85 would be the slow lane.
Had that happen to me a few days ago on the way to work. The **** pucker thing about it, is I was in the right lane.
You need to get out on some of the long roads in West Texas, New Mexico, Wyoming and Idaho. You get out of the hill country west of San Antonio and you can some times see 20 miles of road ahead of you. Run across Wyoming and you see signs that say next service (of any kind) 110 miles. It's 551 miles from El Paso to San Antonio, 579 Miles from El Paso to Austin and those guys don't bat and eye at jumping in the car and running from El Paso to either for a good weekend rod trot. Once you get 50 miles out of San Antono there isn't much of anything all the way to El Paso to slow down for except a gas and food stop. My club member Johnny who was from Waco and drove the blue 40 Ford Sedan in the mid 70's was famous for drivng from Waco to far flung rod runs and back home the same day then. That was an I beam front end car with a small block Chevy in it. He would put more miles on that car in a month of going to rod runs than most guys on here put on theirs in a year. Throw in back in the dry county days in Texas if you lived in Brownwood it was an 84 mile drive to get a six pack of beer.
It’s all what your used to at the time. As others have said I throughly enjoy driving basic old cars, no power, windows down the sights, sounds and smells something few people can appreciate and identify with. In the 60’s and 70’s I had muscle cars (the kind banned here) and never thought for a moment about taking a road trip. Hop in and go! Of course I always had a small tool box, extra set of points, condenser and maybe a set of spark plugs, rags and a can of hand cleaner. It’s just the way it was and nobody thought anything about it. When I go to cars shows I often hear “they don’t make them like they used to” and I usually think to myself “thank god.” Few people remember grease jobs every 1000 miles, oil changes every 2000 miles, brakes job or adjustment every 5,000 to 10,000 miles, tires that if you were careful lasting maybe 30,000 miles, major tune ups plugs, points, condenser every 10,000 miles, engines getting very tired at 70,000 miles and people starting to unload them, etc. From the north where I’m from rust starting to come through the rocker and quarter panels at three years. Im sure there are exceptions but I think everyone would agree old cars need more work and attention. Can they be driven daily and on long trips? Absolutely! Compare cars of today which pretty much if you keep oil changed easily go 200,000 miles. Tires easily go 60,000 miles, some advertise 10,000 miles between oil changes. When is the last time you changed spark plugs? Most car guys can’t even work on them now. Prior to retirement I was a Sales Engineer who visited customers and prospective customers and it was not uncommon to drive 1,500 miles a week. Can’t imagine or it being practical driving a 50’s, 60’s car. However people did it back in the day because it was what they were used to. I/we like old cars because of the way they look, feel, smell as well as the nostalgia of simpler times. Can you drive old cars daily, should you drive old cars on trips? The answer is yes to both it just takes some planning, patience and at times perseverance.
The Jalopy Journal
