I'm thinking of buying a classic car...

VisualBrian

VisualBrian

D'oh!
Location
Quahog, R.I.
In spring, when a young man's thoughts turn to girls, an old man's thoughts turn to cars. I have a lot more time these days and I've always wanted to have an old classic or muscle car (or truck) to tinker with and enjoy driving. Does anyone here have one?
 

We have a 54 year old vintage VW Camper ..
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If I had a huge bank balance, I'd get a 1968 Chrysler Imperial. This was one of the first cars to go all out with electronics windows, seats, AC, stereo, all leather, etc. Of course, when I had one, it sold for $300, and none of that worked. I loved that car. I always said you could land planes on the hood.
BTW, It had front disc brakes, I can't tell you the times some car guy would say they didn't have disc brakes in 1968.10127161-1968-chrysler-imperial-std.jpg
 
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In his younger days, the Spousal Equivalent had a whole bunch of the muscle cars. He'd get one and then trade it in for another one six months later. Rinse and repeat.

We'll go to a car show and he'll point out one....."I had a '67 just like that but mine was black" or "I had that same one but it was a '66".....

I ask him how much money he'd have today if he hadn't spent it all on muscle cars.

He knows them all, too. One will pass us up and he'll say, "Oh, man, that's the limited edition '67 GTO with the Framus Quadra-Doodle Double Hoopty-Doo cylinder housing and it had the Posi-Trapezoid suspension with the triple Doohicky Exhausts" (or something like that...I'm really not listening...).

If I see a car like that, my remarks would be, "Oh, look at that nice red car!" and I'd consider that sufficient.

If I had my druthers, though, I'd druther have a
'55 Bel Air convertible, crimson and cream, with fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror and a little bobby-head dog with eyes that lit up when I applied the brakess in the back window (when I had the top up, of course).

I'd get me a poodle skirt and some saddle oxfords and drive in all the parades throwing bars of Bonomo Turkish Taffy out the window.
 
gruntlabor said:
Long time ago I read a book, 'How to repair your Volkswagon for Dummies' or similar title. It was hilarious, "That's not the carburetor, that's the cover, dummy."
It took me through the repairs step by step. I'm a dolt, but I really thought I could do it.
Anyway, I've been looking for a VW Bug ever since.
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My husband rebuilt this from the base up after he bought it back in the early 80's, when it was 10 years old. It had originally been a sit up and beg traditional looking Blue van.. similar to this...
old-VW-camper-van-parked--001.jpg



and he stretched and lowered it, replaced the engine with a Porsche engine, with a twin choke webber carb....

Tinted out the windows...designed and made all the interior furnishings, seat upholstery etc.. and roof linings.... all grey but that was his choice...inside...
 
gruntlabor said:
Long time ago I read a book, 'How to repair your Volkswagon for Dummies' or similar title. It was hilarious, "That's not the carburetor, that's the cover, dummy."
It took me through the repairs step by step. I'm a dolt, but I really thought I could do it.
Anyway, I've been looking for a VW Bug ever since.
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How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive by John Muir? I had a VW and that was a very handy book to have.
 

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VisualBrian said:
In spring, when a young man's thoughts turn to girls, an old man's thoughts turn to cars. I have a lot more time these days and I've always wanted to have an old classic or muscle car (or truck) to tinker with and enjoy driving. Does anyone here have one?
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we have a TVR V8 engine but not sure if it's classed as a classic - it's old enough. It's great for summer (if there is any in Scotland) to bowl around the Cairngorms and West Coast etc....
 

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I have owned this classic car for 25 years. It is nearly 60 years old and has less than 47,000 original miles. Below is a picture I took last Saturday night at the local cruise night. Some advice, I would suggest to make sure you know exactly what model you are looking for and then buy the best example you can afford. It costs a lot more than you think to bring a thrashed car up to a safe, drivable condition. A lot depends on how mechanically inclined you are. Also suggest you only buy a model that has strong after market & repo parts availability.
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I'd Love to have a '57 Chevy Belair 2 dr hard top. Having said that, if I had it, I'd never be able to go anywhere and walk away from it after parking. I'd be afraid someone would mess with it or, heaven forbid, try to steal it. Parts for it are uber expensive, not to mention insurance, gas (in CA), and on and on. So, as much as I'd love to do what you're considering doing, it will just have to remain a distant dream for me. @VisualBrian, I certainly wish you all the best in your endeavors though, for sure :coffee:. Don...
 
Tom52 said:
I have owned this classic car for 25 years. It is nearly 60 years old and has less than 47,000 original miles. Below is a picture I took last Saturday night at the local cruise night. Some advice, I would suggest to make sure you know exactly what model you are looking for and then buy the best example you can afford. It costs a lot more than you think to bring a thrashed car up to a safe, drivable condition. A lot depends on how mechanically inclined you are. Also suggest you only buy a model that has strong after market & repo parts availability.
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I don’t think he’s looking to do a complete restoration. Going out and finding a barn car or truck could easily cost anyone up to $40,000 or more to do a complete makeover. I know a fellow that just bought a small block ‘350 crate engine and it cost him over 2 grand, plus shipping. Depending on how mechanical you are, it may cost less to rebuild the old motor.

I have built a couple of cars in my younger days, but back then, I never got all my money out of them compared to what I spent, but I had a lot of fun building the cars, except doing the interiors. This is one my son bought to restore. He has 2 other guys that help him. I never did see the end result.

DSCN4385_Original Copy.jpeg
 


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