What do you miss about your old cars? (windshield, plugs, heated seats)

[urban analysis therapist]

^ I'm not sure which year marked the time when the increase in salaries stopped matching the increase in the rate of inflation. All I know is that it seems like the average teacher's salary has remained $36,000 since the 90's.

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by urban analysis therapist

^ Based on an inflation calculator, $3500 in 1967 bought you $24,000+ in 2013 dollars, and $3500 in 1969 bought you $22,000+ in 2013 dollars.

Calculations don't always match real life. My mom said one paycheck went farther in the 1960s than they did in the 1970s and '80s (and later).

Nowadays, you can buy a base Ford Mustang V6 for a MSRP of $24,000, and it would not only be faster than those old muscle cars, but have far more luxuries and features even in base trim (and not just different interior and paint colors).

There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

The old cars were easy to modify (and don't need a smog check). They had the classic '60s styling along with plenty of steel and chrome. There were dealer-installed axle ratios available. To post one example, Motor Trend tested a '70 429 Mustang with 4.56 gears and 7" slicks (which probably had about the same traction as today's regular radial tires) and ran a 12.3 sec @ 112 mph 1/4 mile.

A '71 Mustang, with either the Boss 351 or 429 engine could easily run in the 13s with the 3.90, 4.10 or 4.30 axle ratio. Put in an aftermarket cam and headers (which many owners did) and it went into the 12s.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by PullMyFinger

My old car was a 2005 Ford Explorer Limited. New car is a 2012 Nissan Rogue

-I miss the mass of the vehicle and the weight. I always felt safe in it.


What I don't miss-

-Gas mileage. I went from around 15mpg to averaging 25.

-constant repairs. I had the Explorer towed to the dealership 3 times in 4 years.

-Heat system. The Explorer would blow cold air on the floor from the AC in the summer. They took the dash out and worked it over and afterwards same thing. Our feet would freeze. Nissan's AC works great.

-Ride. Explorer rode rough. Nissan is like a luxury car in comparison.

-Price/Resale. I took a beating on the Explorer. The Nissan Rogue retails for about half new of what a new Explorer Limited-but holds a much higher percentage of it's value. My vehicle expense has dropped dramatically.

This is my second Nissan Rogue and not one visit to the dealership for anything other than oil changes.

I'll never buy Ford again and I drove them for 30 years prior.

My next car? Nissan Pathfinder loaded.

apples to oranges comparison here......Explorer also got killed with the bad press (firestone tires, blow outs). Rogue is like a Ford Escape (economy SUV) and Nissan currently makes the ugliest cars on the planet from the GT-R to the minivan to the cube/puke oops I mean juke.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by greg42

I think you're both right on cost. ... That said, wages have not inflated at the same amount especially at the lower end so buying power for someone in the same position today compared to late 60s is quite possibly less.

Yup... how many of us bought muscle cars on our 'gas station attendant' salaries ?!

After 'closing down the shop' at 10pm we would pull them into the heated bay and wash / wax / and tune till the boss showed up at 5AM! (the we would go to breakfast and off to high school!)

I just don't think you could buy a HOT car on a gas station attendant salary (If you happened to live in the only 2 states that still have gas station attendants.. (pump jockey).

I just don't recall lately, seeing gas station and high school parking lots teeming with NEW Muscle cars.

But... My eyesight is getting a bit weak.

Heck... I could sell a few 4H cows, sheep, and hogs and buy a NEW Muscle car in the 1960's! Even my HORSE was worth 1/2 the price of a new muscle car...and I had 7 horses in Jr High school (all paid for, of course).

[GregW]

Well what do I miss about old cars? Phenomenal power ('58 Desoto with 392 HEMI) none existing brakes (4 10" DRUMS).

My girlfriend bought a '65 Beetle new. We drove that thing for well over 250 k miles. It was a very frugal, evil handling (until I modified the suspension) slow car. Recently I drove a friend's equivalent VW. It was a very good car. Quick, stable, solid and gets better mileage then our original Beetle. We drive an old Buick LeSaber sedan and a Subaru Outback Wagon. Both are far better cars then available in the 70's.

[Sunnydee]

I miss the 49 miles per gallon I routinely got in my old Honda CRX. I just loved that little car.

[urban analysis therapist]

Originally Posted by Fleet

Calculations don't always match real life. My mom said one paycheck went farther in the 1960s than they did in the 1970s and '80s (and later).
.......
There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

The old cars were easy to modify (and don't need a smog check). They had the classic '60s styling along with plenty of steel and chrome. There were dealer-installed axle ratios available. To post one example, Motor Trend tested a '70 429 Mustang with 4.56 gears and 7" slicks (which probably had about the same traction as today's regular radial tires) and ran a 12.3 sec @ 112 mph 1/4 mile.

A '71 Mustang, with either the Boss 351 or 429 engine could easily run in the 13s with the 3.90, 4.10 or 4.30 axle ratio. Put in an aftermarket cam and headers (which many owners did) and it went into the 12s.

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Yup... how many of us bought muscle cars on our 'gas station attendant' salaries ?!

After 'closing down the shop' at 10pm we would pull them into the heated bay and wash / wax / and tune till the boss showed up at 5AM! (the we would go to breakfast and off to high school!)

I just don't think you could buy a HOT car on a gas station attendant salary (If you happened to live in the only 2 states that still have gas station attendants.. (pump jockey).

I just don't recall lately, seeing gas station and high school parking lots teeming with NEW Muscle cars.

But... My eyesight is getting a bit weak.

Heck... I could sell a few 4H cows, sheep, and hogs and buy a NEW Muscle car in the 1960's! Even my HORSE was worth 1/2 the price of a new muscle car...and I had 7 horses in Jr High school (all paid for, of course).

Both of you speak of a different time and different era, one that I can appreciate.

It seems to have been a time when even low-level salaries could afford what may be considered luxuries today (namely, a new car). It was also a time when cars could be modified readily without having to go around the manufacturer's multitude of computers. And it was a time when owning a car was a defining part of the high school experience because all of your buddies had cars, and working on them and racing them was a big part of teenage culture.

But it seems like that time has come and gone. In many ways, the cars you owned and hung in during your youths could be considered as the video games, iPads, and internet of the current generation. In other words, they were a way to entertain and preoccupy yourselves.

Of course, it's not like car culture is dead, but it is somewhat less accessible. There's still the ricer scene and street racing scene that you run into every now and then on the weekends, but it does seem rather niche. It's a good deal more expensive to join this scene nowadays not just because our cars are more expensive (though you can get around this by buying used cars), but the tastes are also rather expensive. Because of fuel economy and emissions standards, there aren't many cheaper cars that come with big powerful engines. So rather than just modding your existing muscle car with some different diffs and the like, you have to buy a bolt-on turbo or supercharger first. Then, you have your mechanic (or yourself, if you're handy enough) to tune the car's computers to accept the forced induction and other mods and get them to produce the optimum power and power bands.

And then there are those other pricy but useless doodads (wings and side skirts, subwoofers, ground effect lights) that are favored in some street racing scenes. And let's not forget to mention how expensive gasoline is nowadays, and that it's still somehow considered cheap in the U.S. compared with gas in other countries.

By contrast, computers that are vastly more powerful than all of the computers used in the Apollo space program are affordable to teens making minimum wage. Not just that, you now carry a computer in your pocket in the form of a smartphone, or a somewhat larger one in you backpack in the form of a tablet computer. Video games are more sophisticated than ever, and the internet allows you to play your favorite games against friends and strangers alike from the comfort of your home. And if you don't like games, you can still follow your friends through various social media outlets.

All of that is essentially at the tip of your fingers and readily accessible by the click of the mouse or tap of an app icon. It's pretty easy to get into this, and considerably more work to get into cars.

All in all, I cannot say that the 60's and 70's youth culture was necessarily better that today's youth culture, but that it was different. But for me, I probably prefer a culture that adored cars and racing over a culture that adores social media and computer gadgets.

Of course, I probably won't miss the terrible exhaust fumes and air quality or the unreliability of the cars from that era.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by urban analysis therapist

Both of you speak of a different time and different era, one that I can appreciate.
... video games, iPads, and internet of the current generation. ...

All of that is essentially at the tip of your fingers and readily accessible by the click of the mouse or tap of an app icon. It's pretty easy to get into this, and considerably more work to get into cars.

....

OK... write a hundred apps at age 12, or start an IT business and when you are age 16, you can buy a new generation 'plastic and electronic' $50k muscle () car.

USA is a free society with plenty of opportunities and the opportunities are abundant to make abundant $$.

[Fleet]

Urban, true it was different times. The '60s being more social and the 2000+ being more technical.

It was easier to own a car back then... initial price, gasoline and you could modify it yourself. Some cities, in the 1980s, banned cruising and it was getting harder and harder for the street racers to actually find some empty streets.

I wouldn't know about the unreliability of cars back then because the '60s cars I owned were Mopars and Cadillacs... both well known for their reliability and longevity. Unfortunately, even today, there are cars with known reliability problems or are high-maintenance.

The air quality was pretty bad (even worse in the '70s) but exhaust fumes didn't bother, being a car guy. And I like the smell of burning rubber!

[EA]

I miss everything about my 300zx, all 6 of them.
I miss the manual transmission in past cars but an auto is probably best for the truck I have.
I miss the handling of my mx3. 88 hp and looked like a retarded frog but man that thing held the road.
I miss the power of my supra. 730whp. Nothing could beat me in my town.
I miss the comfort and luxury of my cressida.