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Classic Cars Classic Cars as daily drivers
552 messages, Last post on May 11, 2009 at 8:03 AM
You are in the Classic Cars Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
What kind of new car did your purchase? Do you like it?
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kind of retired itself. Looking back now, I can't remember exactly why I quit driving it primarily. I did find this 1979 Newport in the junkyard, just crying out to me, so I bought it for $250. Let's not talk about how much it cost to get it through inspection though!  And then the tranny finally called it quits. About a mile from the tranny shop that told the previous owner the tranny wasn't long for this world. I thought that was kinda ironic when I found that out! Nowadays though, I mainly drive my Intrepid or '85 Silverado for the daily grind, and in bad weather. The LeMans, and my NYer and Catalina convertible are strictly nice weather cars. I'll drive them to work, but I'm only 3 1/2 miles away, and work at a gated center with generous-sized parking spaces, so it's not like these cars have to experience the parts of America we wouldn't want to send our worst enemies!! Anyway, I delivered pizzas in the evenings after work back then, which over time gave the Dart around 30,000 of its miles. Now that I think back on it, the heater in the Dart didn't work, and the power steering pump was non-functioning. So that may have been why I started driving the Newport more. The Dart's heater itself worked, but the fan had burnt out. So basically, hot air would filter into the cabin, and the faster you went, the faster it would trickle in. In the fall of '97, I finally broke down and got the Dart's power steering fixed. Had to replace the steering box by then, too. But I still just didn't drive it that much. It was considerably faster than the Newport, although not really that much more maneuverable. I found out later that the Newport had something called an "Open Road Handling Package" that firmed up its handling, so that may be one reason. The Dart also got a bit better fuel economy, and had a much better sound system. But if nothing else, the Newport was lower mileage, even if it "only" had 230,000 miles on it, versus the 338,000 the Dart now shows on its odometer. Eventually my Mom gave me her '86 Monte, which accelerated almost as well as the Dart, but was much more maneuverable than the Dart or Newport, and got much better economy. Although it was high mileage too, 179,000, and was getting to the point that it really needed premium. Well, that car lasted 3 months, getting T-boned in the summer of '98, with about 192,000 miles on it. So I went back to driving the Newport, until its water pump went out on me. By that time I was getting fed up with it, and wanted something newer, so I found this 1989 Gran Fury police car with only 73,000 miles on it. And ultimately proved to be more troubleprone and expensive to fix than the Newport before it! Also guzzled like there was no tomorrow, but I LOVED its handling, and it accelerated pretty quickly too. Anyway, that got replaced by my Intrepid in November 1999, and I held onto it for a few years as a spare car. The Dart just sat around, got run occasionally, and then one day I parked it at my Grandma's house near a mulberry tree. A few weeks later my uncle decided he wanted to take that tree down, so I had to move the Dart. Only thing is, the Dart refused to start! And I've just been too lazy to mess with it. When it would get in the way I'd just push it somewhere else in the yard, or chain it to something else and pull it. I really should either sell it for parts or just have it hauled away, but I've just gotten too sentimental over the danged thing! 
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Replying to: jrosasmc (Mar 09, 2006 10:02 am) |
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| Do you drive that Scion like you did with your Alfas and Porsches? | |
| today when I went out to lunch. It was in that "black cherry" color or whatever they call it. I never realized how close that color actually is to my LeMans! At one point we were roughly bumper to bumper up front, but I swear where I was sitting was about level with the back of his car! | |
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I'm in the market for insurance for a restored '66 Mustang which will NOT be a trailer queen. While it won't be driven on a daily basis, it'll definitely be driven. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about insurance for older cars. How does Classic car insurance differ from 'regular' car insurance (limitations, etc.) and can I use my regular agent to get coverage or should I get coverage through one of the outfits which specialize in Classic car insurance? Opinions?
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Replying to: rorr (Mar 15, 2006 2:23 pm) So classic car insurance is the best deal if you can restrict use to club drives, meets, and occasional "exercise" of the car. If they catch you in a wreck at the beach, you might be screwed.
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Mar 15, 2006 2:40 pm) At first blush, the 2500 mile limitation seemed a bit confining but after thinking about it, that shouldn't be too bad. I like the "agreed upon" value aspect. It doesn't help that much if the value appreciates (although I'm under no illusions I'm sitting on a Barret-quality car by any stretch), but it keeps me from having to screw with the "up to stated value" aspect of standard automobile insurance. 'Wreck at the beach': well, if there was a local club drive event which included a little sun/surf time, I would think there'd be no problem.
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Replying to: rorr (Mar 15, 2006 3:16 pm) They're really cheap, partly because they only hit you ONCE for liability, no matter how many cars you own. Then, they only charge something like $6.00 per $1000 of agreed upon value. I'd have to dig up the bill to look at it, but I think the liability portion is only around $65 for the year. Then I have my DeSoto insured for $7,000, which would add $42 to the bill, and the Catalina for $8,000, which would add another $48. So, for like $155 a year, I have full coverage on both cars. I can't remember if they have a mileage limit or not. They've never asked me for a statement though, and I've been with 'em since around 1999. As for the agreed-upon value, you can always choose to up it if you feel your car has appreciated in value. And they're not really picky about how you drive your car, as long as you do have a daily driver with regular insurance. I think the thing you really have to worry about, if you have historic tags, is that if a cop happens to see you driving to work and passing the same spot every single day, he might get suspicious and pull you over. But that's more an issue with Johnny Law, and not the insurer. Oh, and even though I don't think my insurer has a problem with mileage, I don't think I've come anywhere near 2500 miles per year. I might have when I first got my '67 Catalina, and drove it all over the place. It was the first, and only convertible I've ever had. But lately I almost have to make an effort to put any real miles on it. In fact, I remember filling the gas tank around September 2004, and that lasted me until maybe July of '05!  I've had the car for 12 years as of late April, but have only put around 11,000 miles on it. I've had my DeSoto for about 15 1/2 years, and I doubt if I've put more than 4,000 miles on it. It's hard to tell though, because I've only had the odometer working for maybe 2 months out of that time. As for other old cars, well I've had my '79 NYer since October 2001, and have put maybe 6,000 miles on it. I've had my '76 LeMans since last April, and have put around 1200 miles on it, INCLUDING the 500 mile trip back from Ohio, where I bought it! Now I put around 85,000 miles on my '68 Dart over the years, but that thing was my daily driver from around April 1992 until May 1997, when I mainly started driving a '79 Newport. And in the interim, I had an '82 Cutlass that logged about 12,000 miles, which gave the Dart time to rest, and get stripped down and repainted. |
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Replying to: rorr (Mar 15, 2006 2:23 pm) i do get pangs of jealousy every spring when i see the other fair waether vehicles back out, but i don't compromise on the roads being clean. ok, my oldest has their permit, and we snuck it out around the block last weekend when mom wasn't home. 
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