To actually EXPERIENCE the era....

[1*Cool*Kitten]

experiencing the era

I think SO!I was in the process of purchasing a '39 Plymouth Business Coupe when the gentleman I'd been paying suddenly passed away .even though I had receipts for the payments the heirs declined to uphold the deal, which much to my shegrin,they could legally do .so......I really could have seen myself tooling around in my vintage look with my vintage car stepping out of the vintage door with a well heeled turned ankle! :eusa_clap but I'm a bit of a all out type person anyway:eusa_doh: !if your going to wear '30 & drive a RAM p/u I just don't see the connection like I would if you jumped down out of a Ram with a Risistol for a lid! Ya know?lol

 

[jamespowers]

Is driving an older car really experiencing the era?

Is it?


B
T

Yes.

 

[David Conwill]

Experiencing the era? Probably not while driving in traffic, but while warming it up in the driveway or rambling alone down a back road, I think yes.

In actuality, I think of owning my Falcon today as being somewhat the equivalent of owning a Model A back when my car was new. There is a similar gap in technology and people of a certain age have similar fond memories.

-Dave

 

[BellyTank]

Of course it isn't.


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[Eyemo]

I'm not a vintage vehicle owner...but have always always wanted a WW2 Jeep...

My ultimate driving experience was on "Band of Brothers"...we'd finished shooting that day, and the Bastogne set was empty, I was still in my Photographers uniform and I had a Jeep for my own use...I spent an hour on my own driving around the set..as you can imagine, there was nothing around that said "modern"...The strangest coolest experience I've ever had...
Despite getting a nail in a tyre...

I have some pics somewhere....

 

[David Conwill]

Of course it isn't.


B
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What's your point? Clearly there is no way to experience any era but the present. But “Why I Wore A Car Coat This Morning: A close approximation of what it must have been like to start and warm up a Keller-era Plymouth on a cold morning in the 1950s” might have a bit cumbersome for a thread title, don’t you think?

-Dave

 

[jamespowers]

Of course it isn't.


B
T

That depends on your perspective.

 

[repeatclicks]

Is driving an older car really experiencing the era?

Is it?


B
T

I would say no. I drove a 1972 beetle for 3 years in Michigan Winters, but to me evoked nothing but a 1972 beetle driving in Michigan Winters. It was a fun car.

 

[BellyTank]

What's your point? Clearly there is no way to experience any era but the present. But “Why I Wore A Car Coat This Morning: A close approximation of what it must have been like to start and warm up a Keller-era Plymouth on a cold morning in the 1950s” might have a bit cumbersome for a thread title, don’t you think?

-Dave

Point? No big deal.
Just that driving a '50 Plymouth in winter, is probably not-
"To actually EXPERIENCE the era".

OK then- I've had loads of "old" cars- the oldest, from the '30s,
driven in the early '90s.
Hey, it was just like driving a 1936 model car in 1992.

Think of all those things you didn't have to put up with,
on the road, in 1936, that you did in 1992.

And winter in an old car with 6v, vacuum "powered" wipers, bad/no heat, etc., is usually going to be colder and more troublesome than in a late model car.

I can understand how driving a '50 Ply in winter, would cause one to think what it really must have been like, driving a contemporary car in the '50s-
especially after driving modern cars.

Maybe it was a slightly grandiose thread title choice, including "actually" and "experience" in combination.



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[Miss Neecerie]

Point? No big deal.
Just that driving a '50 Plymouth in winter, is probably not-
"To actually EXPERIENCE the era".


Maybe it was a slightly grandiose thread title choice, including "actually" and "experience" in combination.



B
T

Nah...you are missing the 'Just like a delorean....old cars are all time machines factor.

lol

 

[Mysterious Mose]

Think of all those things you didn't have to put up with,
on the road, in 1936, that you did in 1992.

B
T

Or 2009( it's 2009 right?).
I did and stopped driving, can't stand it anymore.
Feeling much better lately, but still suffering from severe nostalgia.

 

[jamespowers]

I would say no. I drove a 1972 beetle for 3 years in Michigan Winters, but to me evoked nothing but a 1972 beetle driving in Michigan Winters. It was a fun car.

A 1972 VW isn't exactly a 1950 Plymouth. Big difference. Not much differnce since 1972 really. [huh]

 

[repeatclicks]

A 1972 VW isn't exactly a 1950 Plymouth. Big difference. Not much differnce since 1972 really. [huh]

Of course theres a difference, but both are vintage cars, both are freezing cold in the winters, and both can cause a feeling of nostalgia.

You can't honestly say that a VW from 35 years ago is the same as a 2009 VW. Theres a big difference.


We dont live in 1950, and warming up a car in your driveway and driving it to work in vintage clothes is not actually experiencing the era. Its nostalgia, sorry.

 

[BellyTank]

Bingo, Repeatclicks.

I love old cars an old clothes too... but... no.


B
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[jamespowers]

We dont live in 1950, and warming up a car in your driveway and driving it to work in vintage clothes is not actually experiencing the era. Its nostalgia, sorry.

We don't live then but you are doing nothing different driving that car today than you would have done then. It is just the time that is different. The original poster is not saying that the car is a time machine. He is saying that nothing has changed with driving that car today than it would have been to drive the same car fifty years ago. The car doesn't change with the times.
You also can't say that a 1972 VW is the same as a 1932 VW. There is a huge difference---much more than that associated with a 1972 to 2009 jump. They are still built the same way they were in 1972 in some countries.

 

[BellyTank]

A 1972 VW isn't exactly a 1950 Plymouth.

It might be a similar thing, for someone born in the '70s,
as the Plymouth, for someone born in the '50s.


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[Carlisle Blues]

We dont live in 1950, and warming up a car in your driveway and driving it to work in vintage clothes is not actually experiencing the era. Its nostalgia, sorry.

It is truly about perspective. I enjoy performing music from bygone eras and cooking the way my grandmother taught me. I, however, realize that I am reaching back to an era, not living in it.

I once owned a 1964 Chevy Impala, not because it is vintage, it was the only thing that I could afford. [huh]

 

[jamespowers]

It might be a similar thing, for someone born in the '70s,
as the Plymouth, for someone born in the '50s.


B
T

No the same level of technology though. The Plymouth is superior.

 

[repeatclicks]

We don't live then but you are doing nothing different driving that car today than you would have done then. It is just the time that is different. The original poster is not saying that the car is a time machine. He is saying that nothing has changed with driving that car today than it would have been to drive the same car fifty years ago. The car doesn't change with the times.
You also can't say that a 1972 VW is the same as a 1932 VW. There is a huge difference---much more than that associated with a 1972 to 2009 jump. They are still built the same way they were in 1972 in some countries.

This is true, driving is the same, but since I was 18 when I owned my '72 Beetle (this was 2004, Im 24 now), it was very much the same experience as maybe someone in their 30s or 40s driving a 50s car (lots of numbers there!).

The very last 'original' (using the term loosely here, as it has been changed dozens of times over its 70 year existence) beetle rolled off the line in August 2003 in Mexico, to the tune of $13,000US. Good replacement parts are still made in Germany, bad ones in Brazil.

One of my old VW mags had a wonderful article about the last car with tons of photos, but you can read the story here!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-07-30-last-vw-beetle_x.htm

Hi Res photos of last 2 bugs here (click the numbers in top right to view other images): http://www.desktopmachine.com/framepic.php?id=2699&size=1024

 

[filfoster]

Redux

Is driving an older car really experiencing the era?

Is it?


B
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I get the point, but I think driving or riding in a vintage car is a powerful time travel experience, (one I seldom enjoy). You compare everything about it to the modern and imagine a lot about the world contemporary with the car. Short of participating in an 'authentics' living history reenactment or a production of
'1940's House' or 'Manor House', or visiting my aunt Elizabeth, I'm not sure how much any experience can conjure up the past more than a few fleeting seconds. I prefer the past safely viewed in small installments. After all, polio, rationing and poodle skirts are all back there too, and who really wants to get closer to those?