A 1970's American car as a daily driver. How stupid am I?
Discussion
Hi All
I've just sold my 2008 Crown Victoria which I've run as my daily since October. The sale sort of came out of nowhere - while it was up for sale I expected it to take a lot longer to sell, and the way it sold was quick - phone call with an initial enquiry on the Saturday, collected and paid for less than 24 hours later.
I am a little bit gutted as I loved the car.
The only usable car I have currently, is a Morgan 3 Wheeler, which doesn't have a roof so I am in the position where I NEED to buy another car.
My budget is around £15k and I'm looking at all sorts but really would like another American car for what will mostly be daily motorway driving.
It needs to be a bit different and a bit special.
I don't care about fuel economy, practicality etc but it does need to be reliable and does need weather protection!
I love the idea of a 1980s Lincoln Continental or similar, which can seemingly be had in usable-condition for that price range, however, I am a little concerned over running a 45-year-old car as a daily.
I have absolutely zero mechanical knowledge and no ability to work on cars myself.
How suicidal will it really be?
Should I nip the idea of a 70s barge or truck in the bud and focus on something newer?
Also, any other suggestions as to what Yank I could buy for my budget would be appreciated.
I am open to anything. V8 preferred.
I've just sold my 2008 Crown Victoria which I've run as my daily since October. The sale sort of came out of nowhere - while it was up for sale I expected it to take a lot longer to sell, and the way it sold was quick - phone call with an initial enquiry on the Saturday, collected and paid for less than 24 hours later.
I am a little bit gutted as I loved the car.
The only usable car I have currently, is a Morgan 3 Wheeler, which doesn't have a roof so I am in the position where I NEED to buy another car.
My budget is around £15k and I'm looking at all sorts but really would like another American car for what will mostly be daily motorway driving.
It needs to be a bit different and a bit special.
I don't care about fuel economy, practicality etc but it does need to be reliable and does need weather protection!
I love the idea of a 1980s Lincoln Continental or similar, which can seemingly be had in usable-condition for that price range, however, I am a little concerned over running a 45-year-old car as a daily.
I have absolutely zero mechanical knowledge and no ability to work on cars myself.
How suicidal will it really be?
Should I nip the idea of a 70s barge or truck in the bud and focus on something newer?
Also, any other suggestions as to what Yank I could buy for my budget would be appreciated.
I am open to anything. V8 preferred.
I can't speak from direct experience (as I have never owned a yank older than an 89) but while it would be cool, I expect anything interesting would cripple you with fuel bills and be woefully underpowered. Also, unless a recent import from one of the salt free states, would be rusty and the build quality from that era is not great, with replacement parts potentially difficult to get.
That said, get something bought! A Ford Bronco from that era would be cool, as would any of the giant station wagons from the 70s. Don't see why they couldn't be daily drivers as long as you can manage the fuel bills
That said, get something bought! A Ford Bronco from that era would be cool, as would any of the giant station wagons from the 70s. Don't see why they couldn't be daily drivers as long as you can manage the fuel bills
Sixsixtysix said:
I can't speak from direct experience (as I have never owned a yank older than an 89) but while it would be cool, I expect anything interesting would cripple you with fuel bills and be woefully underpowered. Also, unless a recent import from one of the salt free states, would be rusty and the build quality from that era is not great, with replacement parts potentially difficult to get.
That said, get something bought! A Ford Bronco from that era would be cool, as would any of the giant station wagons from the 70s. Don't see why they couldn't be daily drivers as long as you can manage the fuel bills
Funny you mention the station wagon. Last year, I very nearly traded my Mustang to buy one that was exceptionally clean - but I chickened out. That said, get something bought! A Ford Bronco from that era would be cool, as would any of the giant station wagons from the 70s. Don't see why they couldn't be daily drivers as long as you can manage the fuel bills
I posted about it here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
It was stunning.
It does worry me about sourcing parts and general reliability.
Fuel bills (and being slow) don't bother me.
The Pontiac in the thread I just mentioned didn't feel slow at all, it feel quite quick for what it was, although after '73 power was crippled in these cars so maybe that example isn't the best thing to base performance on...
Around the 15k mark there doesn't appear to be to big concerns with rust but that isn't looking at cars in person, just based on the ads...
I'll keep looking but for 'newer' older cars (if that makes sense) something like a Chrysler 5th Avenue is appealing, too.
I've been daily driving my buick for about a month waiting for my normal DD to get out of the paintshop.
Honestly, I've been mechanically fine, but had to chase down a little electrical gremlin, so it's not been without issue. s
t comes to bust, sometimes you've just got to bite the bullet and be willing to hire a backup car if something goes majorly wrong, it really depends on your appetite for risk.
Plenty of interesting stuff for sub 15k though, GMC Version of el camino maybe? Can't go wrong with a small block chevy.
But, god damn, if I'm not a pair of fuzzy dice away from being sold on this...
Honestly, I've been mechanically fine, but had to chase down a little electrical gremlin, so it's not been without issue. s
t comes to bust, sometimes you've just got to bite the bullet and be willing to hire a backup car if something goes majorly wrong, it really depends on your appetite for risk.Plenty of interesting stuff for sub 15k though, GMC Version of el camino maybe? Can't go wrong with a small block chevy.
But, god damn, if I'm not a pair of fuzzy dice away from being sold on this...
Out of interest, what sort of average MPG do you see when dailying these tanks in the UK? I realise that's a "piece of string" question where the car and the usage will give wildly different answers... I'm just thinking that a crippling fuel bill to someone who has been dailying a modern small diesel at 80mpg, might be business as usual to someone who runs a V8 Euro or Japanese car as a daily and fancies something more unusual.
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