60FlatTop

The insurance company and the New York State DMV say my '94 Impala is an antique. I have possession of the document. It gets better. I got the senior citizen discount at lunch today. I plan to live another 40-50 years so I am looking at cars built in the early 2000's with collector potential. What makes it great is that it is an evolving and adaptable hobby. The next car may very likely be a 2003-04 Lincoln Town Car in black. Although originality would suffer, a German W-12 begs to go into one of those cars. A Lincoln just needs a 12. Bernie

Here is a quick trip to the ACD Museum; one of the best places on Earth: http://brockportinternational.com/AuburnWebPhotos/ ernie

In 1970 Special Interest Autos were coined by Hemmings Motor News in their sister publication with that name. At the time there were few American periodicals or books that dealt with the general field of collector cars. Hardbound were Motor or McGraw-Hill and most books came from the UK. That is where the "Veteran & Vintage" automobile terms came from. Other than the marque clubs and AACA there wasn't much around. A lot of research was done through letters to other owners. From 1960 into to early 1970's a car under 25 years old was just a car. And if it was over 25 years old the die hard collectors would strip out anything that wasn't a convertible for parts. So definitions only came to the masses after the ACD Club had a little auction in 1974 and launched a revolution. Then every salesman and huckster had a classic for sale. Today some cars are recognized as having a hobbyist following. I have a 19 year old Chevy Impala SS that is recognized and insured through J. C. Taylor. It falls under the limitations of collector car insurance and encourages me to save it. In about 5 years it will be an antique. I remember buying my 1964 Buick Riviera when it was 15 and I was 30. It seemed like eons before that car would be considered an antique. I still have it. Bernie

From looking at you previous posts the silver Corvette Matt showed or one similar would be a good choice as long as you stay in the $10,000 to $12,000 price range. None of the cars you listed are "classics". The term is very well defined. The Corvette is sporty like your earlier interests and built with attainable parts. Many of its systems are owner repairable. And if you can't do it yourself and experienced shop is not hard to find. I would got with the Corvette. A lot of owners have been babying their car since new, just for you, and there are good buys. With an eye to long tern ownership, bumping the cash and buying a 1996 or newer would get you a nice ride. If you have $10,000 cash a four year loan for another $8,000 should be around $200 a month. Some guys spend that on parts and materials while never getting the car finished. Imagine driving a nice car to a part time job instead of grinding rust through the night hoping to drive someday. Bernie

On the French cars, I remember a quote from the 1960's: "The French copy no one, and no one copies the French!" Bernie

Although 1/6 PI might be better loading buckshot, figuring the stress on a tube sheet is a whole lot easier with 1/4 PI. So this guy parachuted out of an airplane and his chute didn't open. He is panicing and suddenly notices a guy below him who looks like he is getting closer. Then he sees the guy is appraoching at the same speed he is falling. When they get close he hollers over "Do you not anything about parachutes?" Just as they pass the ascending guy yells "Nope, and I guess I know less about boilers than I thought I did!" And that's why .7854 is more important than .5236. Picard? That was the staff meeting when the two engineers argued whether anal-retentive is hyphenated. Look close, you gotta be a nerd to associate this picture: Bernie

Stationary Engineer since 1971. Only a picture does it justice: I taught the kids about 1/4 PI (.7854) and no one got calculus. Bernie

Ten model years later the words still work! Bernie

Another thing you have to watch out for is that sometimes Buick owners don't have that great a sense of humor. There really wasn't an anarchist motorcycle gang involved. Bernie

OOOps! It must have been the "day and age of identity theft" part that side tracked me. Really, it is the club that manages the money receipts for the National, with some financial help from the club and a few others. Credit card payments would take at least 10% for processing through a third party. And if they set up an account with their bank the gateway fees and short term would add enough to, probably, raise the various registration fees. There's a bone of contention, for sure. All those squeaks in old Buick's aren't because the chassis is tight. Bernie

The Biscayne would not have had the bright window trim so it is dechromed. In 1970 I had just transferred to the Navy base in Charleston, South Carolina from two tours in the South China Sea. With a few bucks, I went to the Chevy dealer and told them I wanted a new black 1970 Biscanye two door sedan with a red interior, a 350 engine, and a four speed. A radio was the only option I was interested in, otherwise. The salesman said "Sounds like a nice car, kid. We don't make two door sedans anymore. You can get and Impala hardtop." It just wasn't the same. Bernie

Ben, I am glad it showed for you. That is an example of the kind of things I do now that the stroke and heart attack are 2 years behind. I hope it brightens up your day and gives you ideas to daydream about the future. Everything I do now seems better than before. I weight less, exercise more, and eat better. Six months ago my cardiologist and I discussed longevity and we figured another 50 years would not be unreasonable. My GP concurred. Looking into the future came down to one major conclusion. I need a bigger garage. You probably will, too! Bernie

I'm good: Bernie

My '60 has a filtered plastic breathing box on the inside of the passenger compartment. It penetrates the firewall. Remember about 30" of vacuum equals 14.7 PSI, 20" puts you in the 10 PSI range. Bernie

Nice to see those pictures. That car, except for the 3 speed, is a twin to the first car I ever licensed to drive. I was 16 years old; the car was a little younger. Bernie

What else, Sam's in Holley. Lunch on the square: And about an 80 mile ride; getting close to 500 miles already this year. We turned onto one side road and I asked my wife if she remembered the Chevy I bought at the house on the corner. It was the dirtiest car I ever bought on the inside, an older couple with a little white dog. I remembered cleaning the front carpets with a nap brush and lifting up lots of white hair. While I did it I kept thinking "I sure hope this is the dog's hair." I had seen the wife! Bernie

Government approves tuna. What next cool aid? Bernie

Gee, I thought is was an Opel! . Well, maybe a big one on the Lambda platform.Bernie

Some things in life are just good memories. I haven't been back to LA since that job. Maybe my neatest recollection of the last trip was the road through the Brea Valley and finding a diner that wasn't a chain in town. This picture was taken about 10 miles from me. The name of the road is Woodchuck Alley. Just park the car in the middle of the road and get out so you can take a picture. Bernie

Take a close look at that '63 Corvette; the front fender peaks, hood depression, cowl vents. No wonder it looks so good. Bernie

I was polishing the grille of my '60 over the weekend, getting the bugs off (AACA meet in Amherst in a few days!) and I was considering what I would do if that casting was as hard to get as the mustaches. I think a brass one could be cast in sections and brazed together. As our cars age more of these options will have to be addressed. Well, the bank opens in a few minutes. I'll make a quick stop and then off to pick up a 20 CFM air compressor. I bought a new bumper cover for my Impala and took it to a "professional" shop for a coat of black paint. Like to take a guess at why I'm buying a big air compressor? Bernie

I checked out your run from Cuyama to Huntington Beach. The county to the south of me has more cows than people populating it; doesn't look like there are even cows around you! The route is familiar. A couple of decades ago I spent some time around Pomona fixing a broken cogeneration plant. After reading about Huntington Beach in car magazines I went down there for a break, kind of a let down. The best thing I remember is the big powerplant just to the south of the beach. That was exciting to me. We came back home base in Diamond Bar on the LA Freeway at night. The waves of brake lights are still etched in my mind. One afternoon we took the mountain road north out of Azusa, looks like it heads your way. (Main St. Azusa looks like my town). We went 20 miles or so, past a couple of reservoirs, and figured we better head back to civilization. I'm glad I looked at the map. That was a good time. Bernie

My '60 has it, but a few of the locals think it has voice control. Bernie

I have been on this forum since 2006. The same stories keep surfacing. From 1991 to 1999 I serviced collector cars. I would only work on restored or good original cars. My specialty was making them start, stop, and steer. Most fell short in one area or more. I had about 30 cars that I took care of when I went back to my other career. Over the last few months I have been looking forward to what I want to do for the next 40 or 50 years (yes, I am 66). A tuneup has been requested for a Centurion convertible. I think this releases the "drawn bow". There are four of my own cars in the garage and I am going to arrange a storage location for one of them while I do the customer car. And others will follow. Location is an interesting challenge. My area is not good for weather or discretionary spending, What is a good location for a collector car service business? Should I contemplate trips to Sweden or Germany, maybe Australia, to service US cars of the ;40's, 50's, and '60's? Summer is here for this hemisphere some people will be unable to attend events because of reliability issues. Some will have nagging problems that can be deferred. Make a list of the shortfall in fun you are having. I have an address of cruizing@mainstreetsteel for that. I remember seeing about 5 big smiles and waves today. If you think THEY were happy...... Good mechanics create serotonin. Bernie

85 here in Western New York; just took an 80 mile ride over the Oatka Trail http://www.oatka.org/photos.php, and along the Genessee River. I put 50 bucks worth of Mobil regular in it before we left. We had lunch in a little diner on the way back. As we drove out I told my wife there was a lot of chat about hard starting cars on the forum. She said "Really". I said "Yeah." Bernie