why do we drive them?

[EndStar]

Enlighten us of why we all decide to drive old pieces of shit that breakdown all the time over a new car that is more reliable? This article is what got me thinking http://www.petrolicious.com/why-did-you-buy-a-classic-car?utm_content=bufferda781&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer, I have my reasoning, what about you?

[thumpgun]

A vintage car has character, soul. There's a connection to it. It moves you. The simplicity in the design. The ease of mechanics. Solid built and time enduring. Several of these old cars have a racing pedigree. Time at the track, the ralley which they proved their endurance.

It also takes you back to another time. The time of your youth. Seeing some of these cars for the first time and longing to own one. The smell of the interior, the sound and feel of carburators at throttle.

We see something others don't. A more simple time and cars that became icons. Some lasted longer than many thought.

Sometimes it's the sheer brashness of the perfect mix of grace, beauty and brute force. And the way these cars mingle with the road. You can feel it, you're in it and you know what to do with it.

Older cars evoke a stirring in your soul and mind. If it doesn't make sense to someone. Then they're just not a lover of cars.

[Z-train]

I don't know about yours, but mine has never broken.

[EndStar]

I don't know about yours, but mine has never broken.

You are the 1%

Mines never been unbroken haha...

[datzenmike]

I like driving something that only costs a total of several new car payments.

That gets about the same mileage as many new SUVs though it's technology is forty years old.

I like working on them to improve them to fit my wants.

I like driving a car that requires you to actually drive it, actually requires a minimum of skills to drive it. This is likely because of it's simpleness, it's raw nature to perform as a vehicle without benefit or reliance on today's technology and this makes it easy to diagnose and fix yourself. THIS sets me apart from all the other drivers on the road and I know it and revel in it because they don't.

[shacks510]

Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

[EndStar]

Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

isn't that what she said?

[shacks510]

isn't that what she said?

Nope, Kennedy.

[DanielC]

My Aerostar gets about 15 MPG, short trips, city driving.

My 1970 521 gets about 22 MPG, same driving conditions, mostly.  I have found a old Datsun, put back into close to stock condition is a pretty reliable car.  

 

When I bought my current daily driver, it was bought as a parts car.   As first, I was fixing things, now I am working on making it better, and look better.   As I work on it, it becomes more valuable.  it is through depreciating.

 

Search for a song by the group Rush, Red Barchette.  That song explains it a lot.

 

I have used my Datsun to haul tools for working on fences out in to the pasture of my ranch.  Yes, it even hauled a bed full of horse manure out of one of the barns, when the owner would not clean their stall and I had to do it.  My 521 has hauled 5 or 6 loads of wood pellets home.  A load of wood pellets is one ton, 2.000 pounds, 907 KG.   My Datsun has also tanken me up to Mt Hood Meadows, for a snow skiing trip, and to Detroit Lake.  Recently, I took it to McMinnville, and showed it to its previous owner.

[Raggleflaggle]

they just don't make them like they used to.

[graveltrapp]

Style baby style.

If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand.

[danfiveten]

Mine for 25 years never broke down, had its lil issues here and there that were easy fixes. It was once i let her sit for almost a year that shit broke on it, and now that im daily driving again its great and no issues.  Then even my other 510 never has real issues.  Compared to the newer crap ive driven that runs like shit and has more issues than my 40 year old 510.  Not only that but the looks i get, the thumbs up (just yesterday in downtown vancouver i got a thumbs up) and the attention the car gets everywhere you go makes it worth it. 

[67_1600]

Almost any well maintained classic will be as reliable as a later model car and they're much easier to work on if something does go wrong to boot.

[dhp123166]

There was a specific time, place, and state of mind for me to be attached to my '76 280z (R.I.P.).

 

I poured an inordinate amount of time, money and attention into it.

 

That attitude has been usurped by the realization that for me a car is nothing more than a tool to rapidly move me from point A to point B.

 

Couple that with the knowledge that like everything else in this system of consumer capitalism, a car is a disposable commodity.

 

I just don't care about them anymore...

[Z-train]

You are the 1%

Mines never been unbroken haha...

Maybe-maybe not. But if you're paying attention and with regular maintenance-they don't break.

[84720FourWheel]

I like old cars because they have character, little quirks that make them unique. I find that new cars feel too insulated from the road, I like to feel feedback in the steering wheel. 

[Z-train]

There was a specific time, place, and state of mind for me to be attached to my '76 280z (R.I.P.).

 

I poured an inordinate amount of time, money and attention into it.

 

That attitude has been usurped by the realization that for me a car is nothing more than a tool to rapidly move me from point A to point B.

 

Couple that with the knowledge that like everything else in this system of consumer capitalism, a car is a disposable commodity.

 

I just don't care anymore...

You need to sell your Datsun(s) and buy a Pius.

[danfiveten]

^ Agreed, give it to someone who cares.

[dr.feltersnatch]

Because racecar.

[bananahamuck]

Because i can drive to Chehalis and back in the 55 Ford f100 (and i little around town slow cruising)   or all the way up Mt. Rainer and back on the same amount of gas in my Datsuns. 

 

I have been running the F100 a tiny bit more lately ,, but sure as shit those $4.40 gas prices WILL come back.

[MicroMachinery]

You are the 1%

 

Count me in for that 1%... include also my buddy who in the last 6 months has spent more money and had more down time on his 03' Honda than he has ever spent on his Datsun(including the initial cost of the 521 itself, engine rebuild, etc..).

 

 

..just out of curiousity, where are you obtaining your statistical data?

[Mattndew76]

The car is an extension of my likes with automobiles. Its my drive-able model car. 

 

I drive because I enjoy the sound of the old 4 cylinder, the light response, and the feed back from the car. Its bare bones man and car. No tech to take away from the attention needed to drive. Its visceral and exciting every time you pull the handle to open the door and slide into the pilot seat. This is MY legal road race car, my fighter of the daily grind. 

 

Its peace of mind. 

[EndStar]

I need to save all of these responses and use them to write an essay or something, because you guys know how to write!

[MicroMachinery]

Well, if we actually KNEW how to work on cars, we wouldn't be here :lol:

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Why do we drive old cars? Because I can't build a 2015 Dodge diesel 4x4. I can build an old car with a couple grand worth of parts and a lot of my own labor. And after that labor has been applied, it becomes me, or an extension of me, that speaks to other people. It's a kind of language that we use to show others what we are like on the inside.

 

I read an article once about e-books. A good portion of the paper books sold go to people who only want other people to know what they are reading, and they display them, like on the subway or on the bookshelf in their house.

 

Ralph Luaren, the clothier, is a huge vintage car guy and he has a ranch in Texas where he only has old beat up and worn out (looking) trucks and Jeeps. When asked about it he says it relates to his marketing style he calls "aspirational lifestyle marketing". People identify with something that isn't neccessarily who they really are and they display it to the outside world in all sorts of manners. Buying one of his ties or shirts sends people a message. A subtle message of who you really are.

 

But do we display that to everyone? No. I chose to be duplicitous. I drive my kids to school in my new truck, but I run my errands and visit my colleagues in my old truck. That's the side of me I want them to see.