I'm impressed that some people actually drive these cars regularly anymore other than me and a handful of others! While I do agree that "if you could drive these cars in the 60's and 70's without issue, why can't you do it now?" is a very valid point and one I prove regularly, the biggest hangup towards driving a 60's era or older car regularly is the parts and service availability on the road. It's one thing to be driving a '67 big car across the country in 1975 when Pontiac v8s were still made and dealers\service parts were readily available along with the knowledge of how to repair them, but in 2016 when the vast vast majority of working mechanics weren't even born when these engines were in production much less worked on or even seen one before and the average parts store takes 2-3 days to get simple things like a water pump or a carb kit, unless you travel with a full complement of tools and parts to service all but major failure, it's a very valid concern. When I got stranded in the middle of the California desert (Kettleman City!) due to a failed longshaft TH400 transmission, there wasn't a single shop in 100 miles that could rebuild it. All of them insisted they'd just go to a junkyard in LA and find another, then toss it in and I'd be good to go (on my dime, about $3500-4500 were the quotes). A transmission that hadn't been made since 1976, in a junkyard in 2013? No way. I had to be at work the next day and they were going to charge me $150/day to store the car at their shop.
I drive my old stuff everywhere, but it's constantly checked and re-checked and I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a small part of me that wonders and worries how much the tow truck bill would be if I broke down 300 miles from home and no shop would be willing to fix the car...
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam
Which brings up the next point for discussion, how safe are they to drive so much. My 64 didn't even come with seat belts. And I'm sure many here have seen the you tube video of the 50s impala being crash tested into a modern impala. Yes, they were bigger, but they were NOT better in a crash for sure.
|
I'd say that adding 3 point seat belts is the smartest thing you can do on any car that didn't come with them. Maybe upgrading to slightly later seats with headrests ('69-72 A-body for earlier A-body) if you aren't into the modern seat transplant look. As far as taking a head-on with another car, if you're afraid of that you might as well just stay home because that can happen in any car. I accept that it's a risk as part of driving any car, not just my old ones.