Features Are You More a "Builder" or "Driver"

I love to drive the cars I buy; never had one yet that didn't need something fixed to be able to drive it though. I built one car and I never want to do that again as I was afraid to drive it because it was so pretty.

 

I vote for both. When I was building my car that’s where most of my free time went. Now that it’s on the road, I use any possible excuse to drive it. Now I just need a bigger garage so I can drive one while I’m building the next one.

 

That is exactly why my car is built rough around the edges. So I’m never afraid to drive it. No shiny paint here.

 

At age 77 I don’t work on or drive my roadster very much. I don’t care about going fast but I really love driving it on the back roads in New England. I do very much love having it. I built it more than 20 years ago and have made some changes to it over the years. It’s an ongoing art project for me.

 

^^^This.

 

Driver for me, all my life I've enjoyed the cruisin part, still jump in one of my rides when mood hits. Agree with statement never enough money, builder/modifier by necessity. Born into car hobby and a DIY family, I hate to pay someone for something I can do, with age this is changing some. The garage fun is now just work, any DIY project I'm still doing , not enjoying but the self satisfaction/pride of accomplishment is still rewarding for me. Life has been very good to me, through hard work, ambition I've acquired many skills, now old not using them much, enjoying my life as it's winding down.

 

You made it pretty once, you can make it pretty again. My Plymouth got sideswiped last year on the way back from Nashville. 7 weeks later, it was as good as new. Can't say it didn't piss me off, however.

 

I'm a fixer if anything. I don't consider what I do building, I replace what needs replacing, rebuild what needs rebuilding. In the case or my 55, that means everything but the sheet metal and frame.

 

In order, 1) building, 2) driving, 3) cleaning. #1 & #2 are still fun, #3 is now a PITA but I like shiny cars.

 

I'm a driver, drove my coupe all over. Took it to Bonneville a few years back, but I do enjoy doing the body work on this truck I'm building. I can't wait to take it down the salt at Bonneville.

 

I like to do both, I enjoy the problem solving, making things instead of opening a catalog and just ordering them, I like the feeling of accomplishment of the build.
It probably helps on the driving side of things that I don't have "boring" cars, they are fun, exciting to drive and I instantly become a teenager again.
I will say that with the limitations my health has placed upon me in the recent years the build side is a frustrating mess now and at times I wouldn't mind having someone else finish some of the jobs.
The main thing is to ENJOY which ever you prefer, because you just don't know when it could be taken away from you.

 

EXACTLY!

 

Builder, only get to drive 9 seconds at a time....lol

 

Definitely a driver nowadays. I have too much going on to be building much any more. The last car I really put a ton of effort into (truck actually) was at least a decade ago, before having a kid. There's just no way right now between work, family, boats and lake chores, band travel, etc etc etc. Maybe when I get older and the kid leaves the nest I'll build something again....

 

I guess I am a builder. Simply because I will never make it to the driving stage.

 

Definitely the build, I enjoy the process of starting with an idea of the finished project then moving everyday towards that image, and that first drive is a thrill others need to have but once the car is built it bothers me to see it sitting in the garage and waiting to go on the road...When I take a moment and think of the cars/trucks I have built it gives me a lot of pleasure knowing that I have built a running driving car from the ground up.
I once had a friend make a comment about why waste all that time building a car when you can just buy one and drive around...I said to him that he would never understand the joy that comes from building your own car and driving it. When we were at car shows or cruise night it always cracked me up when someone would ask him about his car and he had to say..."I bought it, didn't build it" when asked about the car's construction.

 

I'll go along with you, I have been building & driving hot rods since my teen's, I enjoy the building but if I am going to have a hot rod I am going to drive it, I don't care if it's across country or to the grocery store, people see me in our hot rods more than in our daily drivers. HRP

 

I always have grandiose dreams of these huge road trips and they never seem to materialize.

I usually end up selling my cars when they are done to finance something I found that I want more. It’s a vicious cycle.

 

Yeah, I'm definitely more of a driver, no doubt about it. I love enjoying a finished car; I love driving 'em, cleaning & polishing, even servicing/maintaining them; I enjoy photographing them, or just sitting and looking at them, enjoying the lines, the colors; I just enjoy the hell out of them. But nothings better then turning the key and hitting the road. I don't have to have a destination, we can just drive. Maybe head up into the hills behind the house and just drive around see the homes we wish we had, take unknown roads and see where they go, look at the views. I prefer driving events to car shows, driving down the road with other hot rods is just cool, being part of a group, catching the attention of all the other drivers as they roll along in their boring p.o.s's; looking in my mirror and seeing a line of hot rods following along, that beats sitting in a lawn chair in a parking lot any day.

And like @210superair I don't have the time, or the work space, to do much building these days. 40 hour a week job, plus music gigs (7 gigs on the calendar this month), plus maintaining a home, and family life, and I do side jobs repairing tube guitar amps for fun & profit. Any build job I started would take triple as long as it should, at least. I'd rather be driving or enjoying a finished car in the limited time I have than building.

I do hope that changes though when I retire from the day job, I've got a few "someday" projects in mind. But driving will always be my preference.

 

I voted towards driving but it's a combination of the two. I can't work all day and night like I use to.
Usually, I'll end up selling whatever fine automobile I just got drivable to fund a vehicle that I can't live without that probably doesn't run and drive. Was hunting projects an option?

 

It’s changed with age ,

I used to enjoy building , scrounging for parts , problem solving , tunes on after work and fixing stuff in my own mind in the garage and away we go .

absolutly live driving !!!!

now that I’m a father with young-ish kids a job and family life that takes up time I’m less likely to hole up in the garage for days, weeks , months at a time .

amd the kids and wife enjoy driving so it also time I get to spend with the family .


Now I like week end projects , tune ups , brakes , cleaning stuff up etc.

Im sure once life slows down a bit I’ll get back into a big project .


But for right now it’s driving that I get the most enjoyment out of.

 

^^^^^ Man, isn't that the truth? Whether it be a hot rod or motorcycle, those epic 10 day to 2 week trips just never seem to happen. My wife and I are both retired, have been married over 37 years, and I think we saw more of one another when we had kids at home and both still worked.

Lynn

 

Builder — at least in my head. But it's always been about the design, how the car is. Driving is mostly a demonstration of that.

 

@ lake_harley I was hoping that retirement might free us up more......you're dashing my dreams.

 

I would have to say that I'm a bit of both. I enjoy putting them together but I also like getting in and driving them. I don't even mind doing the yearly maintenance to keep them going. At 74 my health has been okay and has allowed me to still do the car stuff that I like.

 

Root, If you are like me you will work harder after you retire and wonder how you ever got anything done when you were gainfully employed.

It seem the more I do the more needs doing. HRP

 

Both but more towards driving,the older I get the less I want to get into major projects and do mot mind tinkering to keep them going. Now finding the parts is something I love to do and can not stay out of the local old junkyard.

 

I don't do either. I just look at what the builders and drivers bring to shows.

 

Well I really enjoy the building process... I also really like to drive old vehicles.
I have a problem getting the two to coincide. I have to finish a build be fore the driving
can commence. The artist Robert Williams stated in his excellent biography type
book to keep a vehicle on the road as long as possible while making it your own,
so to speak. Really good advice to my thinking. I was driving my 40 coupe while undertaking repairs and modifications without disabling the vehicle. After finally reaching the point of non driving, it
is now building only. Sucks but necessary. So now I am putting the 40 aside to replace the motor
in a stock model A. Hopefully this will go well and give me a tool around the neighborhood ride!

 

Good to know I'm not the only one like this.