Quote:
Originally Posted by Teddy52
I don't miss cars not starting in winter.
Today, we take it for granted they will start.
I the 50's and 60's some cars were notorious for not starting in cold weather and that was before we had tank heaters and frost pug heaters.
|
More misinformation. Most of that could be contributed to people not taking care of their batteries, fuel, ignition system and or having their carburetors properly adjusted. Providing they were properly maintained, the cars from that era were very reliable. I can fix anything on on those old cars and most often it was a bad choke or weak battery. Manual chokes worked 100% of the time and rarely broke. I cannot work on today's fuel injected cars. The beauty of those old inventions was that the average person using common hand tools could fix most things on their own cars. Most of the trouble shooting was a matter of common sense and basic mechanical knowledge. This is no longer true of today's electronic nightmares.
The last real car I owned was a 1969 Grand Prix.
What do I miss about that car?
There was nothing on that car that I couldn't fix. Once I rebuilt the 400 in it, the only thing I had to replace was the points, tires, and brake pads/shoes, and the occasional clutch. Yes, it was a four speed. The first thing I used to do to any truck or car I bought was to swap out the automatic for a four speed.
That car went through 18" of powdery snow like it wasn't there. I'd have to slow down to 10 mph because of how it would blow straight up over the hood and blind me. *Note, that's 18" of standing snow on roadways and hills that were not plowed.
That car was in my family for more than 20 years.
Next, miss my 1974 F-250 4x4.
After I rebuilt the engine, 390 4V, I had no trouble with the truck. I ran that truck another 210,000 miles before I could no longer afford gas and tires on it. The truck had 330,000 miles on it when I unloaded it. The local car dealership bought it 13 years ago. They've kept it at their shop ever since. It pulls their big car trailers without any trouble. I've talked to people who use it, and the newer diesels and gas trucks don't have the guts that old 390 4V does that I rebuilt. I didn't do a stock rebuild on it... I'm told that with several cars on the trailer, my old truck goes up the mountains on the interstate like they're not there. Find me a new truck of today that's going to run that long and pull with such power. They've done nothing to the truck since I rebuilt it in 1992, and the only reason I did rebuild it was due to the fact that I didn't like the lack of power that the middle 70s smog motor delivered. Still, 40 years after it was produced, it's still purring along on all original running gear... I beat that truck to death, and the dealership that purchased it uses it hard like a 3/4 ton truck should be.
I miss my 84 F-250 diesel. It was another simple truck I could fix everything on it.
I miss not being able to fix a car, and I am not one who enjoys buying a new car every two - ten years. Since my factory closed and my job went overseas, I can no longer afford to buy most things.
The other day I saw an old early 1960s Ford Falcon. I thought about how great it would be to have one, put a four speed in it along with positraction and either a small 50 - 75 hp diesel, or a small straight 6. In such a car, there would be nothing I could not fix, and I tend to keep my vehicles for decades, so sooner or later something always wears out. Those old Ford Falcons were known for 25 - 30 mpg, which is very competitive to a car of equal size today.
As far as tires slipping, a lot of that boils down to tire technology. If you think rigid differentials were junk, you've never had one and built one up. Every car I've owned from that era, I put a positraction unit in it, and it went through mud and snow far better than any front wheel drive I've driven since. Moreover, the older cars could easily be changed to suit my needs, so they usually sat up a lot higher than these newer cars do, which is important when driving through several inches to more than a foot of snow. This isn't true of today's cars. Sure the gizmos and gadgets may give a slight edge, but it's not the winning deal. The bottom line will always be a driver's ability to control his car. Furthermore, those gizmos and gadgets don't last very long and are getting worse not better. Throttles and brake pedals are no longer manually connected to the part they control... That's why car sometimes want to pause when one tries to pull out, slip suddenly on lose terrain, and the brakes are jammed on when all one wanted to do was gently brake. The computer traction control is a joke. If people would learn to drive, run the proper tires for the given road condition, the need for computer controls wouldn't be there. The more complex something is, the more prone it is to failure.
I no longer care about fuel economy. It's not like I have a job to drive to. They've shipped all those overseas as well, but a 60s econobox with a small four cylinder diesel or gas engine would be a pretty fair economy car unlike the gas guzzling 10 mph figures all the school boys who were born after 1980 parrot. Every V-8 I had got close to 20 mph highway and averaged 15 - 17 hacking about in light traffic to and from the city. Look at the fleet average today, it's not a whole lot better. The only time a big V-8 I owned got less than 15 mpg was when I put a big cam in it or it was in a large 4x4 F-250 that sat more than 6' tall. Even then, my diesel f-250 4x4 with 35" tires still got 20 - 22 mpg.
That's what I miss about previous automobiles that I've owned. Their simplicity and ease of maintenance. Today's junk can't be fixed, and when it can, it's usually a heart attack bill, but I guess if one can afford 45k for a rebranded foreign car, repair bills are moot. The same's true if one buys a new car every 2 - 5 years. For the rest of us living in the reality of Nueva 'Merika, older cars were a better option because we could actually fix and nurse them along for decades.
Since I do not speed or carry on, I could care less about race track handling or top fuel quarter mile times. All I care about is how much does the car cost me per year including price, operating cost, and maintenance. Also important would be, does it get me from point A to point B, and will it go through a dozen inches of snow. Since I can't afford a truck, I have to have a car, and it's virtually impossible to chain the tires. What's worse, I have to purchase four snow tires instead of just two like on a rear wheel drive, and I also have to chain all four tires now due to front wheel drive's unique handling characteristics. In the old days, tire chains on rear wheel drive didn't negatively affect braking like it does today. Anybody who's run snow tires or a pair of chains on the front and all season/unchained on the rear knows what happens when one has to execute an emergency stop. The front end stops, but the rear end swings around and passes you. When rounding a turn, if front wheel drives slips, the car goes straight. In rear wheel drive with positraction, if the front end slipped, one could power-slide the car around the turn with the rear wheels. Yea, I can jam on the parking brake on a front wheel drive, but if I lose my momentum, another approach on the hill and turn has to be executed. It was just so much simpler with rear wheel drive and positraction.
Thanks for reading,
bolillo
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not that I could fix them, but my boys could. Now all I hear from them is: "mom, sorry, its all computer stuff now days, I cant fix it". 
My Plymouth Horizon, I think it was a 84 was the easiest car to drive I've ever had. I used to brag that I could make it do cartwheels if I wanted. Plus I never had to visit the gas station. The 68' El Camino was just so darn good looking. My 91' Chevy S10 Blazer had my heart. She would go and go, without much upkeep. I cried when I sold it. Having it smogged was the only trouble I had, that was its lemon problem.
