Sounds like the Northway. 72 will get you killed in the middle and left lane. 75, and you’re still being p***ed. The troopers will tolerate 78 if you’re not tailgating or weaving through traffic. Oh, and no handheld devices.
I understand your view-point, I grew up on the Mohawk Trail (Rt 2, North Adams, MA - 1952 to 1961). Not everybody lives where the roads are defined by the valleys. I live in the high desert (Rolling land, Mesquite trees, smaller cactus, and an variety of scrub brush - square miles of sp**** grazing land). 65 mph on the rural highways and 75 mph on the interstates. Driving my wife to the VA Clinic in Tucson is a 160+ mile round trip. I have no need to putter along and take in the scenery. I've seen the same barren land for the last 47 years... Russ
And can you imagine trying to drive around the hairpins at anything above the speed limit there? Stockbridge for me, 55 through 80, Pittsfield for a few years, then Sunderland before Ohio followed by Michigan. Highway engineers throw in a curve or two out in the flatlands just to keep drivers awake. If they haven’t experienced the Berkshires, the Green Mountains, or the White Mountains, they have no idea what it’s like, having a turn every hundred yards or less…
I was at UM***, Amherst 1962 for 3 semesters (Earning my college dropout credentials - The electrical engineering department did provide me with some preparation for what came later...). Was Sunderland, MA still called Skibiskiville when you were there. p.s. Background story: Small town, almost every business had Skibiski in it's name. Russ
Honestly don’t know. I know that the apartment complex we lived in was owned by a business owner who also owned a local hardware store that had everything. Was pretty tight with the town politicians. I was too occupied with studies, mech E, to pay attention to anything else, and SWMBO worked for the Greenfield public high school as a secretary to the principal. Neither of us had any extra time for getting involved with local politics or anything else.
Same deal here in DFW. Speed limits are 70 so folks do at least 80 on average. Some speed limits are 80 & the same applies. Hell people tow trailers at 80 plus all day out here. As far as pet peeves go. Digital or modern looking guages in an old car. The worst for me though is modern wheels & rubber band tires. Ive seen a bunch of otherwise nice cars like that the past few years & its always a bummer.
A second cousin of mine was at Le Mans some time in the '90s. He said you didn't so much hear as feel the Vipers approaching.
A lot of people don't get how the way we experience how a car sits depends on the bottom edges of the wheel rims. Slap big-inch wheels on an unlowered car and it'll look like the suspension has been raised. It'll look like it's on stilts. Go from 15" wheels to 19", and you have to lower the car 2" just to get it to look stock.
My pet peeve is my wife always eating off my damn plate after offering to buy her whatever she wants and she says she's not hungry. At the local 50s style drive in diner by me they have two sizes of French fries. Regular, and "my girl isn't hungry', which is of course larger... Lol
Again, I said most not all, and both myself and FoMoPar Joe are from the northeast. I know Interstates in NY are 65 the last time I was in M*** and only time I have in Rhode Island the speed limit was 65. I don't dive my daily a 2018 Chevy Silverado over the speed limit the speed limit is set for a reason! Just because others choose to drive over the speed limit and just because over their heads doesn’t I or others have to you can only react so quickly! I stay in the right lane and let' em go! I watch on more than once I have seen packs of cars going 70-80 where someone F-CKS UP! Next thing up know it's brake lights ducking, dive swerving. I have seen some where everyone is lucky and others where it looks like the big one at Talladega! I just roll out of the throttle watch the chaos unfold as more people drive into it!
The other thing is many of the people here seem to forget the history of the Interstate Highway system! The Federal-Aid Highway Act was p***ed and signed in June of 1956! Not to mention many states like New York and M***achusetts build there own “Interstate highways” the NYS Tru-Way which was started in 1946 the first section being opened in 1954 and I finished in 1960. It would get the Interstate designation I-90 East/West and I-87 North South. M***achusetts Turnpike Authority was formed in 1952, construction was started in 1955 and the main section from the NYS finished by 1957 this to would become part of I-90 The automotive manufacturers were well aware that Interstate travel was coming by the late 40s and early 1950 and designed and built cars for it. However now that’s to people who don’t know or choose to ignore history these cars were never designed to be on the Interstates!
call me a wuss if you want, i really couldnt see driving my 57 thousands of miles in one shot. it would be abhorrently expensive for one, and two, it wouldnt be fast at all! if im doing a loong road trip i will most likely do it in an O/T car thats still cool from the last 30 to 40 years in age as theres (for the most part) a CHANCE of getting parts. plus as you mentioned all my ot cars have bangin sound systems
My wife is up front about it. As I'm loading my plate, "You know I'll want a happie?" (Afrikaans for "little bite")
I'm not calling you a wuss because you're speaking from your perspective. I know you're a young guy and I give you a lot of credit for diving in, being involved in this thing, and learning the ropes. You have my respect. When I was your age, I didn't feel much differently. When my buddies and I would drive to Hartford, CT for the Road Agent's Rumble, sure as anything the drive would claim someone's car every year. We were young kids, driving old beat up junk, put together the best we could, and we ran with that. But times and cir***stances change. As you get older you have access to more resources, whether they be tools, knowledge, and especially, money. Ocean-liner fuel consumption and the possibility of a break down far from home **** and are inconvenient, but not financially crippling. And I think you'd be surprised just how quickly you can move things along in an old car, especially with some more modern gearing. Let's face it, a T5 or 200/700R4 IS a 40 year transmission like you're describing as a late model. With one of those you'll be able to drive very comfortably a speed that could yield you a sizable traffic violation on the highway. Even without, an obsolete transmission with no OD is still 1:1 and you can cover a lot of ground at 70 mph. And I hear you on parts availability, but generally speaking, when you're out on the road, the types of repairs you could make are not to major engine or transmission components. It's going to be a fuel pump, an alternator, a set of points, a water pump, etc., so you just carry a spare in a small toolbox and throw it in the trunk. God willing you don't need it. There are few ways to enjoy this hobby more than getting in your old car and taking a really long road trip. Don't deprive yourself of that.
It's not a Mercury? I can hear the guy that knows everything tell his buddies it's a Mercury, look at the hub caps. HRP
which, also, at your age the old junk you were driving is just as old as the old junk im usually driving is. i enjoy reasonable distance road trips (ie, lloydfest is about 300 miles) in the 57 because thats about what i can afford. im just glad to make any road trip happen 21 years ago you were my age, a 30 year old car was a 1975, a 69 year old car was a 1936. these cars arent getting any younger especially if it hasnt had an overhaul in its life. dont get me wrong I LOVE driving my 57. its just very expensive and... less than trustworthy. its only ever broken down on me once (my fault), but it still drinks a quart every other tank.
Hey, 210superair; "At the local 50s style drive in diner by me they have two sizes of French fries. Regular, and "my girl isn't hungry', which is of course larger... Lol". This I gotta see; pic of the menu please, hopefully it's on the outside drive-up kiosks too... . Marcus...
I read most of the thread, I don’t see where these were mentioned. If pet peeve is something that I don’t really care for, but do not get all tied up in knots about, it would be running board step plates on otherwise really nice cars, and white walls on pickups. You do what you want, but I don’t have to like it.
You know what rubs my rhubarb? __***___****__ **__* I just wanted to say "rubs my rhubarb". I got nothing right now, but when I think of something, I'll paste it in here. I also wanted to say 'chafes my ch***is', but I couldn't figure out how to work it into this post.
"You know what really burns my ***? Flames about this high (holds hand up to his waist)" - Jim Morrison
I have two rules for when I'm running above the speed limit. (They actually work all the time.) Don't do anything that makes anyone else have to think and DEFINATELY don't do anything that makes anyone else have to react.
I heard one of my pet peeves at the swap meet this weekend. I just want to get my money back- to me this means you made a mistake and you want me to pay for it.
My current pet peeve is being unable to source a SBF and trans for my '50...... I've had feelers out in every direction with no luck. I'd buy a whole ****box pre-90 rwd Ford to get one....
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