Things You Learn as an Old Car Driver

[Big Man]

I never worry about leaving the keys in my Plodge. A starter button on the floor is even more baffling to modern folk than a clutch pedal.

You don't even have to go as far as the starter on the floor. Having the key on the dash and not on the side of the steering column is baffling enough to most folks these days.

 

[2jakes]

On my '39 Ford, first I flip the switch to on, turn the key,
press on the starter button which is not located on the floor .

Caressing the clutch pedal with my left foot,
I gently massage the gas pedal on the floorboard with my right.
But having a mechanical starter...& if I haven't driven her in several days....
I must sing her a sweet song to get her going.

I affectionately see this as a "labor of love"...

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

I had to laugh. Yes, I don't worry too much about the model T Ford. Between adjusting the carburetor, setting the spark and throttle, then having to pull the crank and choke it? Having the key left in the ignition isn't going to help a thief much. And if you have never driven one? The way the clutch, transmission and brakes work may as well be from another planet!
A good friend of mine many years ago had (still has) a 1934 Chevrolet (nice four door sedan, master). It has what Chevrolet at the time called a "starterator" (I may have misspelled that). Many of them failed over the years and have been bypassed or replaced with a different combination of parts. No button to push. The key had to be on and activating the starter was interlocked into the clutch pedal. His worked just like it was supposed to. He liked to invite other antique automobile owners to sit in his Chevy, and after a minute he would tell them to "start it up"! Just so he could watch them try to figure out how. Now, these were antique automobile hobbyists. They were used to things being different. Yet about nine times out of ten, that starter tied into the clutch linkage would throw them.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

 

[F. J.]

Model T's can hurt thieves . . .

I had to laugh. Yes, I don't worry too much about the model T Ford. Between adjusting the carburetor, setting the spark and throttle, then having to pull the crank and choke it? Having the key left in the ignition isn't going to help a thief much. And if you have never driven one? The way the clutch, transmission and brakes work may as well be from another planet!
[...]

Not to mention the fact that if improperly cranked, it can break your arm, and if you don't have the break-lever set, it can run over you.

 

[sola fide]

I like your list. Something I learned on my 38 Chevrolet is mirrors and turn signals were options so I find myself using hand signals and looking over my shoulder a lot.
Mike
38 Town Sedan

*You're operating a machine, not an appliance.

*Cars, like people, will take their own damn time getting started in the morning.

*There's a reason why "car coats" were popular.

*No matter where you go, you'll run into someone who used to own a car just like yours, except it was a different year, model, and make.

*"Suicide doors" are aptly named.

*Only an idiot drives around without a fire extinguisher in the trunk.

*That scene about changing tires in "A Christmas Story" is not an exaggeration.

*Drippings on the garage floor are just a fact of life.

*Hot-wiring is just as easy as it looks in the movies.

*"Zerk" is not a funny word.

*You aren't in as big a hurry as you think you are.

 

[p51]

I have a few points:
- You are so used to the stares at intersections and from people going down the road, you don't even notice anymore.
- You know every wide spot in the road near your home, so you can pull over to let the faster traffic pass.
- You've spent an amazing amount of time explaining to people why you can't drive it to work every day, and they never get why.
- You might not even know what the engine compartment on your new car looks like or when you last changed the oil, but you have such detailed notes on your classic ride that you know everything that's ever been done with it. And you check every fluid before you even try to start it up.
Even my own retro ride is different from many here:

You don't just hop in something like that. It's far more like a walkaround like you'd do with an airplane before you fly it!

*No matter where you go, you'll run into someone who used to own a car just like yours, except it was a different year, model, and make.

Dear God, yes. If I had a nickel for everyone who served in the military in the 70s and 80s, saying they drove a Jeep just like mine, I'd be rich. WW2 Jeeps were phased out by the 50s at the latest. The M-151s from 'Nam to the early 80s were a totally different vehicle. It gets tiring.

*Drippings on the garage floor are just a fact of life.

You don't just have a drip pan, you have one for each thing that leaks. I have an industrial-sized oven pan for the area between the transfer case and the transmission, another for the rear diff and one under the engine. Each have to wiped down from time to time.
Each spring when I'm getting ready for show season, I get under the Jeep and check the fill ports for the tranny and the rear diff, as well as the master cylinder. I top off whatever needs it. Then, I fire it up to change the oil.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My garage has a wooden floor. If it ever catches fire, it'll never stop burning.

 

[scotrace]

Found this captioned "in the old days you had to separate the tire from the rim and change the tire itself." True or false?

 

[ingineer]

Scott;
True in a way, the whole rim comes off, if there was another spare rim , you could go replace it
here is an explanation,
the rim dismounts from the spokes.This one looks like a demountable clincher
http://www.evmtfc.com/APhotoGuidetoChangingaModelTTire.pdf
Still this method is used modern days to allow different rims.
http://www.then16files.com/2014/11/automotive-porn-force-racing-wheels.html

 

[Stanley Doble]

Take a good look at that wheel. Notice the wheel bolts she is taking off. The rim is just a ring of steel, once you take off the bolts it slides off. The wood spoke center stays on the car. It has its own steel ring or rim to hold it together. She must have taken off the flat tire and is putting on the spare.

Soon she will stop at a garage, the garage man will pry the tire off the rim with tire irons, pull out the inner tube and put a hot patch on the puncture. Then put it together, pump it up and it will be ready to go again.

Very early cars did not have spare tires or removable rims. You had to take the tire off and fix it on the spot. By the teens or earlier, they had removable rims and spare tires. The car in the picture is from the mid twenties.

 

[Big Man]

One somewhat funny thing I've learned as an old car driver is to field odd (dare I say "stupid") questions.

While I have three "old cars", I drive a '65 Ford on a daily basis. I am 60 years old (that means I was born in 1955). I think (and have been told my most everyone) that I don't look 60 years old, but younger. Nevertheless, I don't think I look much over 60 if anything. That being said, I don't know how many people will ask me "did you buy that car new?"

Think about it. It would be a far stretch of the imagination for a 10 year-old (someone born in 1955) to have bought a new car in 1965. Then again, maybe I do look like I'm over 76 years old. [huh] (No offense to anyone who is 76 or older, of course.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think for a lot of people an "old car" is an "old car," with little difference in their eyes between a Model T and a VW Bug -- they're all "old." I've had people guess that the Plodge is anywhere from the twenties to the fifties, even though it has 1941 license plates in plain view on both ends.

 

[2jakes]

One somewhat funny thing I've learned as an old car driver is to field odd (dare I say "stupid") questions.

While I have three "old cars", I drive a '65 Ford on a daily basis. I am 60 years old (that means I was born in 1955). I think (and have been told my most everyone) that I don't look 60 years old, but younger. Nevertheless, I don't think I look much over 60 if anything. That being said, I don't know how many people will ask me "did you buy that car new?"

Think about it. It would be a far stretch of the imagination for a 10 year-old (someone born in 1955) to have bought a new car in 1965. Then again, maybe I do look like I'm over 76 years old. [huh] (No offense to anyone who is 76 or older, of course.)

I get the same questions on my ’49 VW Beetle.

And on a smaller scale, I often get asked this:

They appreciate the bikes, they just don’t know how to ask if it’s original or reproduction.

 

[Stanley Doble]

People often don't think things through when it comes to dates, or are bad at math.

My favorite is the guy who was wearing an old college sweat shirt. A stranger mentioned that her brother went to the same college then read " ------ ----- College 1838" and said "1838... so you went there before he did".lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

Just today when I was pulling into a parking lot to get my lunch I heard a couple of thirty-something loafers in front of the restaurant talking about my car -- "yeah, it's right out of the sixties." Well, yeah, I can remember occasionaly seeing such cars on the street in the sixties, but....

My favorite is the cable-tv guy who asked me if my TV set came from "Civil War times."

 

[2jakes]

My favorite is the cable-tv guy who asked me if my TV set came from "Civil War times."

Pre-war models have a higher value over the post-war sets !

 

[1930artdeco]

I love the look people give me when I tell them I drive my A on the freeway. They get even more brain tied when I tell them I drove at 50 MPH on the way to Seattle.

Mike

 

[2jakes]

I love the look people give me when I tell them I drive my A on the freeway. They get even more brain tied when I tell them I drove at 50 MPH on the way to Seattle.

Mike

I go the speed limit on the freeway, but I feel like I’m going backwards with everyone
zooming by me!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

When I had my 1990 Grand Marquis Wagon (not particularly old, but unique enough to draw some attention) I had people tell me it was "Straight from the Brady Bunch" all the time. Hmm...didn't know that was still in production in 1990 lol

 

[1mach1]

When I had my 1990 Grand Marquis Wagon (not particularly old, but unique enough to draw some attention) I had people tell me it was "Straight from the Brady Bunch" all the time. Hmm...didn't know that was still in production in 1990 lol

Dude! You NEVER see Marquis wagons. Why did you let it go?? :doh: