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man, I don't know if I can wrap my head around the concept of a car from the '80s or '90s being "vintage." As far as simplicity, most cars from the '80s and '90s are MORE complex than they are now, as far as engine management systems, with all sorts of bizzare band-aided systems in place for emissions reasons and attempts at fuel efficiency, as well as early, not-as-reliable electronics. For vintage, I'd be looking at cars earlier than about '65 or so, and for simplicity, stretch that forward to about '74. And really, before that time, what you get is determined more by what particular car appeals to you, rather than brand or model. Whether that's a BMW 2002, a Datsun 510, or an old Falcon or air cooled Beetle/Ghia.
I have two classic cars, one a 77 MG for summer fun and the other is a 1951 Ford F-3 Pick up truck for fun. It all depends how much driving you want to do. Cars from the 50's are heavy but lack safety in seat belts, safety glass, etc, but they are relatively easy to work on the engines. Parts can be a problem sometimes, particulalry in "extinct" lines like Willys or Nashes. Probably not a good choice for a "daily driver".
The 60's brings not only more safety ,but also more technology, although not as bad as the 70's and up. Keep in mind you must have a garage to maintain your investment and should be familiar with the mechanics so you can do your own oil changes, transmission fluid changes, or simple electrical work.
The 70's and up bring emmission controls and all of that stuff so I would stay away from that nightmare since when the emissions act up, you will need techology to fix it. I just tore the emissions stuff out of my MG and registered it as historic, and no emisssions hassle from the nanny state.
I would recommend the first line of American "compact" cars from either Ford or GM from the early and mid 60's. There were small Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Fords. Ford Falcons were a great car and came simple or dressed up. The small station wagons, when you can find them, are gems, sine they have more space yet still are a "compact" car. No Corvairs as Ralph Nader proved them to be deadly as were the Ford Pintos b/c rear end collisions resulted in deadly fires and explosions.
Warning: The older VW Bugs are very dangerous since their driver seats weren't bolted to the floor too well and in a rear end collison, I have seen cases of the driver flying backwards and breaking their necks only to be paralyzed for the rest of their life. If you buy one, I would weld the front seats in a permanent position right to the floor but it would no longer be adjustable forwards or backwards.
One last point, don't go crazy on a "trailer queen" restoration. Just get somethng that can handle your needs and don't worry about the "looks"...Daily drivers are meant to be used but you must be prepared to fix them.
Older engines from American mfgr's usually only lasted 100K miles before they needed a full rebuild. You can get a remanufactured short block and just tear off the old carbs, manifolds, and starters, etc, and install it, and reconnect every outside pc back on changing all belts and hoses, etc. This is where a good garage comes in to play since you need to lift the small engine blocks out and place them back in, and the reconnect the other pcs...The small blocks aren't too heavy maybe about 500-700 lbs
Edit: The old "Checkers" used for cabs in NYC went for miles and miles and were beat to hell and took it all in stride. Find a good one from the late 60's and you got yourself something.
not a big fan of new cars with all that electrical stuff which ends up costing the earth. some people on this forum have suggested buying a vintage type car and restoring it for daily driving. what make and model would you choose?
Actually the worse thig you can drive is a older less environemntal friendly vehcikle if that is your reason. Its not hard to find the studies showing why.Its not anyhting to do with the elctrial stuff either many of whcih actaully help in milaeage amd power taken to drive mecahanically stuff.Car safety and their effect on the environmant has impoved. Clunkers are really bad polluters has study after study have shown.
Actually the worse thig you can drive is a older less environemntal friendly vehcikle if that is your reason. Its not hard to find the studies showing why.Its not anyhting to do with the elctrial stuff either many of whcih actaully help in milaeage amd power taken to drive mecahanically stuff.Car safety and their effect on the environmant has impoved. Clunkers are really bad polluters has study after study have shown.
OTOH, driving a well maintained older car is recycling, which is good.
My money would be on a 60's Mustang with a rebuilt engine. There are sooo many beater stangs (in various stages of wear) here in LA that they've got to be reliable & easy-to-maintain if ppl are actually using them as daily drivers. Plus parts are readily available. My only concern is how rust-resistant they are, considering their bodies are 35+ yrs old.
The old vehicles are better than the new ones. The overhead valve hydraulic cam engines built from the 60s and up are far better and last longer even without fuel injection or overdrive transmissions with lockup torque converters than any engines made today. The old vehicles seem to have been built to last and handle abuse that the new ones simply cannot take. I drive two vehicles both over 30 years old daily including on long trips.
Older engines from American mfgr's usually only lasted 100K miles before they needed a full rebuild. You can get a remanufactured short block and just tear off the old carbs, manifolds, and starters, etc, and install it, and reconnect every outside pc back on changing all belts and hoses, etc. This is where a good garage comes in to play since you need to lift the small engine blocks out and place them back in, and the reconnect the other pcs...The small blocks aren't too heavy maybe about 500-700 lbs
That's not quite accurate.
Many, many older American engines lasted well over 100k miles.
For instance, my '66 Dodge Dart GT V-8 had 109,000 when I bought it (original engine and drivetrain). The engine was rebuilt in 1990 with about 175,000 miles only because it was burning oil; it still ran fine and still had quite a bit of power.
Same thing with my brother's '66 Plymouth Fury III V-8... bought with around 110,000 miles and was good for many miles more.
Just two examples of many. The key, of course, was caring for the car... regular oil changes and maintenance. The V-8 engines usually lasted a long time because they weren't stressed much... they were running at about 1/2 their potential (60 mph highway speeds were typical). And most of those engines were well-built to begin with.
Actually the worse thig you can drive is a older less environemntal friendly vehcikle if that is your reason. Its not hard to find the studies showing why.Its not anyhting to do with the elctrial stuff either many of whcih actaully help in milaeage amd power taken to drive mecahanically stuff.Car safety and their effect on the environmant has impoved. Clunkers are really bad polluters has study after study have shown.
got nothing to do with that. if i go and buy a new mercedes and spend $50k, by next year it will be worth $40k, a year later maybe $35, 3 years later we're down to $25 grand and that's before you've even taken financing costs into account. around about year 5 the electrics start getting niggly. then window washer jets fail or the immobilser starts to play up. the keyless entry breaks on the rear passenger door and then the fuel gauge starts playing games. if you're really unlucky the electronic suspension or the fancy tiptronic tranny goes haywire.
while the small stuff isn't that major, it does cost to repair especially when you consider that you can only go to mb to get the work done. if i buy an r107 or w108/9 or w116, i can take the car to just about any garage on the planet and much of the work i can do myself
Any Chrysler product with a slant six engine. Those things ran forever.
Or any old Chevy with the Blue Flame 235 6 cyl engine.
Guess I'm showing my age on this one.
And you could actualy fix them without having to be a nuclear scientist with a bunch of fancy equipment to diagnose the problem.
I have a 1949 Plymouth that I can find and fix any problem without needing to use a computer to tell me whats wrong. But I've made my living for 40 years as a mechanic.
On todays cars I have to know codes and read outs to tell me the problem. On the old ones I just used my own brain. I am now retired and turn down anyone wanting me to diagnose their new car problems. Give me an old one, I'll fix it.
The old slant six mopars, chevy six, or ford six, pre 1970 are all pretty reliable. Learn how to change and adjust the points & condensor in the distributor and adjust the carb and you should be good to go. Small block chevy's before electronic ignitions were reliable too.
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As far as simplicity, most cars from the '80s and '90s are MORE complex than they are now, as far as engine management systems, with all sorts of bizzare band-aided systems in place for emissions reasons and attempts at fuel efficiency, as well as early, not-as-reliable electronics. For vintage, I'd be looking at cars earlier than about '65 or so, and for simplicity, stretch that forward to about '74. And really, before that time, what you get is determined more by what particular car appeals to you, rather than brand or model. Whether that's a BMW 2002, a Datsun 510, or an old Falcon or air cooled Beetle/Ghia.
