Are your classic cars daily drivers?

[MarkV]

how often do you drive them (even if they are not daily drivers)?

[The Old Guy]

I drive mine whenever I can. Usually I get them out in April and put them away in October because of the inclement weather.

I have driven mmy 40 over 105,000 miles in the 35 years I have owned it and do not use it for long trips anymore as my wife like the cars with AC.

I have owned my 69 Sport Wagon for 7-8 years and have driven that 35,000 +

My 72 GS has been driven 60,000+ and is used quite a bit as it is a convertible. i have owned it since 1990.

My 37 has been upgraded with a later model running gear and has been driven 45,000+

[Guest Debby Soucia]

We can only drive ours from April to October also but yes all of ours get driven as much as we can. Walter(1938 Chrysler) is well know at the post office and the local store. I hear "there goes Walter " all the time!

Deby

[Twitch]

The Packard and Z-28 go no more than 3-500 miles per year.

[Oxnard Montalvo]

* 105,000

** 35,000

** 60,000

+ <span style="text-decoration: underline">45,000</span>

*245,000 mi.

And that's not even counting the AC cars Mrs. Old Guy likes.

You certainly DO get around.

[Guest Dave Mills]

My driving season here is also April through October and I do drive all the cars. I usually pick a different one to use each week in the summer. I use the '28 the least.

[The Old Guy]

The 40 is the only one without AC The 69 wagon and the 72 GS both have factory AC. and the 37 ,as I stated , has been somewhat modified. It has a 455 Buick engine,AC, power steering, brakes ,windows and keyless entry to the doors and trunk. It also has 6 way power lumbar seats an automatic trans and power brakes (disc on the front)

The Buick club has national meet all over the country, and I have been to them all. The first one was 1971 and we have been to MA FL CA WA TX GA VA and some more than once. This is not a complete list, but you are right. I LOVE to drive old Buicks.

[Barry Wolk]

I've put 10,000 miles on my Mark II and 7,000 on my Town Car since 2003.

[stock_steve]

8,000 miles in my '68 VW Bug last year--it is my summertime daily driver (~50 mile daily commutes mostly along I-95 between Branford and Stratford, CT).

While off the road for the past couple of months, I've done brake work, clutch work, some other miscellaneous chassis work, and also got a rebuilt engine running. Looking forward to more vintage fahrvergnugen in '08...

Photo taken on Monday afternoon of this week (3/3/2008):

[Guest Leonard Shepherd]

Here is a link on Youtube to the drive I did in my 52 Studebaker a couple of weeks ago.

[eric_b_1937]

I wouldn't consider my 1937 Buick a daily driver but I try to drive it every week and I drove it to work today. I figure it's the best way to find out if it needs tuned, something is broken or needs replaced, and it keeps the battery charged, fuel fresh, and brakes working.

Recent trips

3/5/08 10 miles

3/1/08 100 miles

2/24/08 50 miles

2/10/08 10 miles

[Steve Carter]

I have always driven whatever I owned. Since I'm a new car salesman and always working Saturdays, I have rarely been able to attend shows and meets, so my cars are really just for my own enjoyment. Within the list of 30 or so I've owned, my best daily drivers have been Buick Rivieras. My first boattail never laid down on me, not once, and the three Rivieras I've had since have all been just as reliable.

Steve Carter

1962 Cadillac Fleetwood

1967 Buick Riviera

1971 Buick Riviera

[JohnD1956]

My 95 Riv was my daily driver even though I got a pickup for winter driving the last few years. I took it from 49K to 129K. However with the exception of my Electra, I never used my older Buicks for daily commuting although I did drive them there on rare occasion.

My 56 I have had the longest and it gets used the least. Sad to say because just about anytime I wanted to use it it also never let me down. There was even the time in 1981 when I was planning to go to a National with my other Buick and that let me down one week before the event. I just took the 56 out, even though I had not used it in over a year, washed it off, and drove off. Over the years I would guess I have used the 56 for about 10,000 miles. But this is a wild guess. I never kept such records except the one year I drove it one mile. To the garage to get inspected and then almost a year to the day later back to the same garage for the new inspection.

The GS I have now has been in my possession since 2003. I have put about 6K on this car. I've had the Electra since 1994. This poor car has been on the road and off the road so many times since I can't recall what the milage was when I got it. But the first year I had it I used it for my daily commutee and I know the timing chain crapped out at 101K that year. It is showing 144K on it, so even though it's been inconsistent, I have used this car a lot.

Now I'm officially retired, so there really is no more daily drivers. But all three are on the road and if I stay retired, I plan to use all three a LOT this summer.

[Guest ZondaC12]

I take it my odometer works correctly....but it still seems very hard to believe...I've put a little over 3000 miles on the '38 in 2 years of driving it.

At least during the on-season, I often find myself taking it out even to run errands or go to work some random day I feel like it. My daily car happens to be a lot of fun also due to its power, but it just doesn't have the charm and character and uniqueness this one does! It's also neat kind of "pretending" it's my daily a-to-b car. Just pull up to the hardware store get out "yep hi neighbor yep just ma' beater ya know she's reliable gets me where I need to be"

And the looks....it's unmatched. I think I'm a pretty humble person, I've never WANTED to be in the limelight, but when EVERYONES staring first of all because it's a 70 year old car, THEN they see who's drivin', for a few minutes I'm not so down-to-earth anymore and I just suck it right up as I'm cruisin' along. Hey never said I was perfect!!!!

Oh and @ Leonard Shepherd: nice video of the Stude! She sounds great! Oh and if that's actually your name that's pretty cool. Yes I actually wish that was my name. Probably because I think "Lynyrd Skynyrd" every time I see it (and naturally I like them a LOT). Shows the measly range of thoughts I HAVE!

[Guest]

My Pontiac is my daily driver (about a thousand miles a month) and has been since June 1959. There are two pictures of it in the photo gallery above.

[Guest ZondaC12]

You know that's good, I've been meaning to ask you FOREVER for pictures of that thing. That is amazing. That works out to on the upper end of 500,000 miles! That's nuts! I take it you restored it at some point, or have just kept it up as necessary? Either way it looks great, I had no idea what to expect. That's some daily driver! Very impressive.

[Guest imported_Dwight V.]

November thru March here is Salt Season, so nothing gets driven unless we've had heavy rains to wash it all off the roads (like this week). I have a company car for work as I do a lot of miles. I wish I lived in a nicer locale so I could drive something 'old' every day and park the Taurus/Stratus for 'normal' trips. The Mini is too small to take far and the truck puts the gas away. I'd like to have a Falcon or Mustang for daily use, even just a six cylinder, but I couldn't stand to see it evaporate over the slush months.

[Guest]

I only fixed what was necessary. One engine overhaul at 190,000 miles and three differentials. Blew the transmission last October when I missed a shift (I have alway driven without using the clutch). I rebuilt the transmission (first time it had ever been opened), refaced the flywheel (first time), rebuilt the pressure plate (first time) and replaced the clutch disc (second time). Counting the original purchase price and all repairs except gas oil and tires it averages out to $80.00 per year for 78 years this June 6th.

[Guest Hinckley]

For reasons unknown I have always been attracted to old cars, now labled "classics". As I live in Arizona where weather is not an issue they have always been drivers.

More years ago than I am willing to count, when everyone I knew was after GTO and Mustangs, I rattled around in a battered 1942 Chevy p.u. About 25 years ago when my wife and I were dating I would drive in from the ranch near Chino Valley, a trip of about 125 miles each way,to visit in my "new" truck, a 1946 GMC. We would often double date in the other car, an unrestored 1926 Ford.

Since that time my transportation has included a herd of Advance Design Chevy trucks, a 1954 Dodge, a 1975 Ford, and 1970 Chevy. My current driver is Barney the wonder truck, a 1968 Dodge Adventurer. I have posted numerous videos and photos of adventures with the Adventurer on my blog, www.route66chronicles.blogspot.com of this fascinating and unusual truck.

I am quite fortunate as my wife has zero interest in fancy or new cars. All she asks is that it be reliable. Since she only drives about 2,000 miles per year her driver for the past 14 years has been a 1973 Olds 88.

The trucks are our around town/hunting/camping vehicle. Until recently her car was the one for road trips. A few years ago we added a 1988 Ford Crown Victoria LTD Country Squire Wagon for road trips so the Olds is driven less and less leading us to consider selling it.

[Mika Jaakkola]

Oh, I have a '88 Country Squire myself too. It's a real good driver!! I really love the car! Got any pics of yours?

[Guest Moepar]

My '71 300 isn't getting driven as much as I'd like because the radiator has been out since the end of August. Got it fixed & back end of September, & it seems like it'll never get back in the car. Mother-in-law has been in hospital/rehab since October & just got home - with the amount of attention she requires now, don't know if it'll be on the road anytime soon.

Normally it is my daily driver (won't take out if roads here have been salted - which is only on average twice a winter).

[mbstude]

My '59 Stude pickup is my daily driver. (I don't drive it the 1 hour drive to work tho) The bright Orange truck really stands out in the high school parking lot!

BTW, that is Leonard's real name. Talk about a great guy! Hope you get those tranny woes straightened out, Lenny!

[MarkV]

You were in hemmings wer'nt you?

[Guest Leonard Shepherd]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mbstude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My '59 Stude pickup is my daily driver. (I don't drive it the 1 hour drive to work tho) The bright Orange truck really stands out in the high school parking lot!

BTW, that is Leonard's real name. Talk about a great guy! Hope you get those tranny woes straightened out, Lenny! </div></div>

Did someone question my name? Matthew is a great guy also. Matthew was in Hemmings Classic Car magazine. Can't remember which issue. Matthew, you should post the Youtube video of you driving your truck.

[Guest ZondaC12]

Yeah I still need to send an email to Hemmings. Only been sayin that for over a YEAR now . I should actually end up doing it real soon, so they can come and get a picture sometime this summer, so the backdrop is nice and pretty and full of life, not leafless trees and white stuff!

Oh and I only "questioned" your name because some of us use our real names and others use nicknames and it sounded really neat, kinda rhymes and just flows off the tongue so I wondered if it was something you made up. There's actually a member here with the name Johnny B. Goode! THAT right there is awesome. That's gotta be fun.

Is this the aforementioned video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98bZo54XcEE I gotta do that myself.

[Guest Leonard Shepherd]

I went back and read your previous post and thanks for the compliment of my video.

Yes, my real name is Leonard Shepherd and my friends used to call me Lynyrd Skynyrd back when I looked like this...

[Guest ZondaC12]

Haha niiiiiiice. That really is cool. I hope it wasn't annoying to YOU. Cause that's fun for everyone ELSE, only.

Nice jeep!

[jimkf]

I enjoy driving my 53 Kaiser Manhattan whenever the weather permits. I also have a 50 Kaiser Traveler that sees the road alot more often. In fact, it was my regular driver until just last fall when I decided to start restoring it. Guess I'll have to look for another 'winter beater'!

[Guest Leonard Shepherd]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ZondaC12</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Haha niiiiiiice. That really is cool. I hope it wasn't annoying to YOU. Cause that's fun for everyone ELSE, only.

Nice jeep! </div></div>

You didn't offend me at all. I think it's great that you have your family's 38 Buick. My Grandfather had a 38 Buick. I think I posted the picture on this forum.

[Guest ZondaC12]

Without continuing to threadjack this too much more...I was actually talking about your friends. It isn't <span style="font-style: italic">always</span> a term of endearment and maybe it is but the recipient might not think so!!!

And yes you did post the picture, that was really neat.

[Guest Bluesky636]

The RED 1964 Galaxie gets driven at least twice a week from April through October. November she gets driven a couple of times. December through March she will get driven at least once a month as long as the weather and roads are clear (I live in Virginia).