There has to be a cure.

[Guest Double M]

It must be a disease. Old cars. Do we like to drive them or is it we like to restore them, or is is we like to preserve them? All of the above? I have had 26 cars, not all at the same time, mind you. The list is impressive, but I usually owned these cars when they were not that saught after or valuable yet. But it was always selling one for the other mostly. It is almost like being a husband that cant stop cheating on his wife.

I thought I could cure it by buying new cars. Thinking that spending all that money would make me a one car man was quaint, but it didnt work. I also thought that the amount of money I spent on fixing/maintaining/restoring old cars would be more than what I spent on a new car. That was wrong too. A monthly car loan and the required insurance ended up being just as costly... and I still had to pay for repairs and stuff too. Most of the money I have made (not much) has gone into trying to satisfy this habit.

I've had other habits and kicked them, but this one is hard nut to crack. People uneffected by it, dont understand. "It is just a car" they say "something to get you from a to b" they also say. "You just need good transportation" is another common call from the un-infected. Well... It isnt just a car in my book or maybe it is just the disease saying that, I cant tell. I am infected bad.

It runs in my family, I watched my older cousins in the sixities and seventies go thru Chevelles, Camaros, Firebirds, Jags, Mopars like candy. Every 6 months or so, one of them would be tearing up the road in some new monster super car or a cool caddy. I guess this is when the infection started. I tried in vain, but today, I have to be a hopeless case. It is 35 years later and I am looking at my next car.

I have a car already. A pretty cool one in fact. It's a 1990 Buick Reatta and more than a handfull sometimes with things to be done, restored & maintained. It runs great, gets 25MPG and it is "Good transportation". It more than satisfies my craving for interesting & collecting cars. So why then am I looking at my next car.?

I can tell you all MY reasons. But they are just the ravings justifications caused by this disease. Yeah, it is a 1966 Plymouth Fury with possibly 27,000 originall miles, it runs and looks pretty mint. It is a 4 door, so its value is limited. I have posted pics of it here before, a few months ago in fact. Further proof that I am beyond a cure. I have little money, live in a foreclosed upon house, high legal bills and I cant afford oil to heat the house this winter. But I can do this.

Perhaps, that is the reason. Because I can. The owner isnt in a hurry to sell, so I have a chance to get the funds together. I cant do many other things, but if I satisfy the cravings of this disease, maybe I will feel better. If you suffer from this disease, have pity on me and hope that somedaythey will find a cure!

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

There is no known cure! The nature of the disease is so complex no one will ever find a cure. I've had the disease since I was 14, and if anything it has progressed from the first lodging of grease beneath the fingernails. I think in my case the original symptoms began with the likes of Hot Rod Magazine, but then I can also remember at age 8 being completely taken by the introduction of Olds' Rocket 88.

I guess the good news is for all that are enamored by cars is it tends to keep one young. Every time I buy a "new" old car it's like being 14 all over again. I guess I'll keep on crawling underneath cars until the day the body refuses to let me get back up, which I hope is years from now though I'm about to see the old speedometer hit 70.

[keiser31]

Nope. No cure. I have had it since I was nine years old.

[dalef62]

Be glad your not a Crosley nut, you get Crosleyosis, or Crosleytitis and there is no known cure for it either. The disease(cars) actually finds you and you can't refuse.

Enjoy it while you can...

[DAVE A]

Dale is absolutely correct, once Rustycrosleyosis strikes, there is no cure. Add to it that Crosleys are parthenogenic and gravid at all times. If you bring one home and leave it in your driveway, you are liable to come home from work one day and find a second one. This is quickly followed by a third, fourth and so on. From time to time you can try to reduce the herd by selling, donating, disassembling, or even (horrors) scrapping one or more but you will still end up with more than one no matter what you do. I challenge anyone to try.....I'll even help you by inviting you the national meeting of Crosleys Anonymous Club (CAC) in Ohio in July. It usually causes an increased outbreak of the disease.

[Restorer32]

Not only is it incurable it will eventually kill you. So far old cars have cost me 2 new knees, a broken right arm, a broken thumb and a double hernia. She's an evil muse, she is.

[Shop Rat]

Sometimes referred to as "Auto Pox" and not only is there not a cure.....there isn't a vaccine against it at this time either.

So if you contract this "pox", either through direct contact with someone that has it, you got it genetically or the virus hit you from out of the blue....you are sooooo not going to recover.

[Restorer32]

Very true Susan. My wife was apparently born with natural immunity to the disease. No amount of exposure seems to infect her. Even the approach of Hershey seems to have no effect. She can look at a Duesenberg and her heart doesn't even flutter in the least. It's unnatural.

[Guest Gary Hearn]

I have 5 horse drawn Studebakers, 10 Studebaker cars and trucks, but also have another affliction called CAD. Nothing related to cars, but Chainsaw Acquisition Disorder. Try to explain to your wife why you need 150 chain saws....

Here are a few I took to a get together this past spring.

To keep this car related, they are now all stored in the back of my 1955 Studebaker E-38 grain truck.

[Guest billybird]

No cure that I know of. I've heard to be cured of something you have to want to be cured. I don't want no cure! Ilove it! That time in life when your twigs are bent in that direction it's over. You have it for life. The onset of my symptoms came on as far back as I have memory.

[keiser31]

No cure that I know of. I've heard to be cured of something you have to want to be cured. I don't want no cure! Ilove it! That time in life when your twigs are bent in that direction it's over. You have it for life. The onset of my symptoms came on as far back as I have memory.

I agree...why would you WANT to be cured? What else could you do with all of that time and money, go fishin' or something?

[DAVES89]

I must not have been bitten as bad as you guys. I have had the neat cars over the years and right now have two Reattas [one for summer, one for winter]. I did look very hard at buying a 1950's Studebaker and even had permission from my wife to get one.

But I couldn't pull the trigger, so I did the next best thing... I bougt a 1:18 scale model.

Cost me $30.00 delivered, and now I have the car my grandpa drove when I was a kid.

No storage and parts problems here!

I think I am going to add to my new idea by buying the model cars of my youth; 66 Mustang,70 Barracuda, '72 el Camino...

[Paul Dobbin]

Double M said: "It must be a disease. Old cars."

I have to take exception to "disease", or at as at least as a fatal disease.

I prefer to think of it as a admiration and love of old mechanical things, kind of like women, but with a owners manual. (Take no offense to "old" or "owners", because it's not intended).

It's a wonderful hobby that is sometimes out of control by some men who may

over indulge in the purchasing part of the hobby and become under achievers in the restoration part. However for most of us, the occasional purchase is in a effort to buy low and sell high to keep the end cost under control. The resulting overstock may be classified as "inventory for sale", someday.

The desire to collect and restore is commendable, but the over purchase of old stuff that you don't need for your restoration project, can get out of control if that stuff is held and not used or turned for a profit. Buy and hold may lead to hoarding if you are not careful. (We all like to find hoarders when we need something, but like Frank & Mike from American Pickers, we aren't always able to buy the stuff we want when hoarding is out of control) If we become hoarders, we tell our family how valuable all our junk is and not to give it away if we die. (This is a mistake, because without your knowledge of what it is, it's scrap iron)

Back to this addiction to old cars, It's a great hobby of you keep it reasonable.

But unlike golf, bowling, gambling, travel, spectator sports, there can be some recovery of cast when we're gone. Plus, if we're out in the garage working on our latest restoration and lusting after a big finned V8, our spouses know where we are and that we're not out drinking an lusting after a large busted blonde.

Go ahead and enjoy the hobby, I've been in it for nearly 40 years. When I joined, I was one of the youngest guy around who loved my favorite car, and

I still am. I've bought some junk, learned a lot, enjoyed the work and especially the antique car tours

My conclusion is the hobby keeps me young. Many older friends enjoyed the hobby their entire life and participated to the very end, happy all the way to a very high number end. We should all be so lucky.

[Guest Kingoftheroad]

I've had the old cars disease my entire life, loved cars from the day I knew what they were. I can't think of a disease I'd rather have, what a way to go ! Life wouldn't be the same without one !

[auburnseeker]

I must just have a mild case of it.

Um wait a minute, a 1600 square foot shop full with just enough room for 2 cars, a 2 car garage at the house with 3 cars in it. A short tractor trailer body full of NOS parts, 2 more 2 car garages in another town with parts and a couple of cars and a storage unit full of parts.

Second thought no I've got a full blown case.

Just don't tell my wife. I have been trying to infect her for years and all she got was a sniffle or two from it.

Oh does anyone have an Auburn for sale??

Don't worry I'll find space somewheres!!!!!

[Uncle_Buck]

There is no cure for the 'knack' .......

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I have 5 horse drawn Studebakers, 10 Studebaker cars and trucks, but also have another affliction called CAD. Nothing related to cars, but Chainsaw Acquisition Disorder. Try to explain to your wife why you need 150 chain saws....

Here are a few I took to a get together this past spring.

To keep this car related, they are now all stored in the back of my 1955 Studebaker E-38 grain truck.

Was that a "Texas Chainsaw Get-together"?

[Guest shadetree77]

Be thankful you're not one of those old car hoarders that wouldn't turn anything loose if they were living hungry in a cardboard box! Now that's a disease!! I'm not talking about 10 or even 20 cars either....I mean those old coots that have acre upon acre of perfectly restorable and rare iron literally rotting into the ground for no other reason than to feed their addiction. Case in point, Old Car City in White, Georgia. That man's family has been adding cars to that property since 1931. It is the most awe inspiring collection of old iron I have ever seen or heard of. I walked for almost 2 hours and didn't even see half of it!! They might tell you it's for sale, may even quote you an outrageous price....may even sell one or two a year off the small front lot. But don't be fooled! Even if you agree to the crazy price they name, be completely respectful, and infinitely patient, you won't get it. It's all slowly turning to dust and they never "call you back" like they say they will. Wow, sorry. That touched a nerve or something!! I feel better now. Back to the point, what you have is a love of cars. You truly appreciate them for what they are, works of art that you can drive. I don't think that qualifies as a disease my friend. Now, as for the chain saws.....you might need to get that looked into. That would be an interesting episode of "Hoarders" wouldn't it? Just kiddin'

Edited November 2, 2011 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[Guest DinoBob]

Sorry. No cure. I have tried.

As far as the old car bug goes:

If you're not into old cars, no explanation is possible.

If you are into old cars, no explanation is necessary.

[R Walling]

It is not a disease! It is a cure for old age.

It started when I was 7, My father let me take anything in the house apart as long as I put it back togeather.

As the years progressed, my fingers increasted their dexterity 100 fold. My mind went into overdrive at 18 when I realized that I could put a Chrysler engine onto four wheels and go 164MPH.

At 60 years of age I found out that cralwing under a car and getting up at least 26 times a miniute gets your heart beating faster than at age 17.

At age 70, I swore of cars for life and it almont took its tole, until I realized that there were more cars to buy and repair.

Now I am confident that I shall live forever as I have so many cars to do daily maintence on.

[caddyshack]

Back in '63 when I was 16, I frequently went to Raceway Park to watch early modifieds race around the track. The burnt fuel, dirt, oil, and rubber smells must have caused my illness. My first car was a '28 Chev that was sitting off the highway next to the race track. Bought it for $5.00, primered it, put in safety glass, got it running and sold it for a huge profit. Hey, this is way to easy, and besides that, it was fun. Swapmeets and car shows must be like going to the hospital and getting a transfusion, I feel better immediately. I love this disease. So if I really do get sick, just look for the closest meet and bring me there.

[Dandy Dave]

LOL.... .... uncontrolable laugh. Like wait till you start bringing home old tired Power Shovels and 25 ton Buldozers.... Ohhhh nooooooooooo... :eek: It's the guys in the white coats. I gotta hide under the road grader. I bet they won't find me there! Ooohhhhhhhhhhh, their comming too take me away ha ha, their comming to take me away ho ho..... Who? Me? Nooooooooo. It's not me. It's the rest of the world! LOL.....

I dont have a collecting problem. I buy something. I bring it home. I spend money on it. I store it, I give it TLC. I sometimes take it to a show and refuse a chance to sell it to another collector. I get greasy, dirty, and full of paint. Smell like gas, diesel, oil, paint thinner, and carbuetor cleaner. At night I come home and pass out on the floor, or fall asleep standing up in the shower. And even when I count up all the money I spend on soap to get the grease off. When I finally hear that grand old collectible breath it's self back to life. Yes, it is then that I know it was all worth it! Happy Trails. Oh S#@T, they found me! AAAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Dandy Dave!

[Restorer32]

I had very little interest in cars as a kid. When I was 19 I was badly injured in an auto crash. During my 6 month recuperation I read everything I could get my hands on. A neighbor gave me a stack of antique car magazines. Apparently the bug slipped into my weakened system at that time.

[Shop Rat]

Bill started working on vehicles when he was nine. His dad would buy them from folks that couldn't, or wouldn't, spend anymore money on them. When one was done it went up for sale to help buy the next one.

When he got his license he pretty much always had a vehicle to drive....until it sold.

I always loved seeing old vehicles but didn't have "the old car bug" until he and I got married. Our first old car was a one owner 1958 Chevy Biscayne 2-door. Artic White and Cashmere Blue.

Now we have an unfinished 1939 Dodge Deluxe 4-door, an unfinished 1963-1/2 Ford Falcon Sprint convertible and a cranky, doesn't want to run correctly 1974 Mercedes Benz 450 SL named "Woodstock" that has spent the last two years hiding under a car cover. Oh, and the frame of another 1939 Dodge Deluxe 4-door.

[Marty Roth]

It is an inherited disease -- but it is also contageous (my wife has a slightly milder case)

To mis-quote Tevye the Milkman in "Fiddler on the Roof" (when he talks with the Lord about a wealthy man):

May I (continue to be) be stricken --

and may I never recover !

Marty

Edited November 2, 2011 by Marty Roth
typo (see edit history)

[Shop Rat]

To mis-quote Tevye the Milkman in "Fiddler on the Roof" (when he talks with the Lord about a wealthy man):

May I (continue to be) be stricken --

and may I never recover !

Marty

"From your mouth to God's ears."

[Guest AlK]

There is no cure for this most virulent form of 'CAR-cinoma" Bad pun I know but W.T.H. In this form of the disease there is no organ to cut out, so it just has to run its course.

[Guest Double M]

Well, at least I am not fighting this disease alone and that helps. I know I have it, but I try to stay in some kind of denial as a defence, I guess. I know I am loosing the battle, as every day I am trying to find things to sell or ways to save for my next aquisition.

The thing that gets me is, it isnt even a car that I always wanted, but it is a car from the sixties that seems to have only 27,000 miles on it and it is a Mopar, my favorite. Plus it just looks so imposing and I do remember when these 66 Furys were used as NYPD Patrol cars. Those Army Green, Black & whites are seared into my memory. I grew up during the 60's in Brooklyn. This thing is like a dectictives car or something. Having recently owned a 1985 Dodge Diplomat didnt help me much with the disease's old police car strain it seems. That was also used by the NYPD and many police depts during the 80's and I remeber many of them in my rear view mirror..

The best proof I offer as a hopeless case is that I dont even want to buy it as daily driver. I want to keep my Reatta for commuting and use the Plymouth for cruising and special occasions.

Yeah right. Did you see what I just wrote. That was the disease talking. Kind of like having the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.

The Devil: Buy that cool mopar, Angelo, it is bad ass and it only has 27,000 miles.

The Angel. You dont need a car, Angelo and you have so many other important things to save for.

Thank you for all your support, but I fear it is not enough to save me from myself... and the Devil and his Fury. Fury II that is...

Edited November 4, 2011 by Double M (see edit history)

[Shop Rat]

My dad got to drive a Fury III as a rental car right after they came out. We used it to go from Charleston, W. Va. to Huntington, W.Va. to visit my maternal grandparents.

We got out on the new Interstate 64 and Dad started accelerating and in no time we were going just over 90 mph. My mom started yelling at him to slow down that "we are all going to die!!!!". :eek: I was in the back seat telling him to go faster.

Angleo.....buy the Fury II, buy the Fury II. :cool:

Edited November 4, 2011 by Shop Rat (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

DITTO what Susan said!!

Ben

[Guest Double M]

I like you Susan!

I am going to buy it, as soon as I can raise the money. I cant help it.

To make things worse, he isnt even in a hurry to sell, which gives me the time to make it happen. So I get to pass by it everyday and it calls to me... Another plus is that it is my mechanic that has it and he is driving it and making it road worthy, but I think it needs a gas tank.

I just put my Motorcycle, my Bass Guitar and one of my Drum sets on Craigs List to sell, but I think that I'll be able to take it home in a few months and have it on the road by Spring.

As my OP stated, I have lost alot things in the past few years due to the economy crash & other things... my health, my job, my savings, a MINI Cooper, a mint 1966 Impala SS, a few Scooters and soon I will be loosing my house to foreclosure. Short of winning the lottery, I am powerless to regain any of those things.

You have no idea how much it helps to look foward to gaining something instead of loosing it. That helps another disease I suffer from called Depression.

[keiser31]

At least the Fury II has more sleeping room in it than a Mini Cooper in case things get REALLY bad.

[padgett]

No cure but may run its course. At one point I counted over 200 cars just ones owned for over a month. Ranged from a FIAT 850R to Caddys. Some with single digit production numbers. For about 20 years I was somewhat fixated on Pontiacs (still have spare 400 and 428 engines). Now it is Reattae.

Did have a rule though that cars had to be different, have different functions, and fit in garage(s) but violated that when more central Florida Reatta convertibles than sanity permits needed homes. Also find that I never drive the Fiero GT any more.

Have decided that four are enough - coupe, convertible, Vixen, and Judge - rest need to go. If anyone wants all three, a great deal awaits before sanity returns.

[John_Maine]

Sometimes I wish there was a cure.....life would be much easier. I've been a car nut since I was 2. That's when my mother said I started taking my toy cars to bed with me. I got over that eventually... My parents tried to "break" me at various stages of my life with no success. One of the worst Christmases I ever had was the year they thought I should get interested in sports. Everything I got had to do with some sport. I was miserable and will never forget it. Even now, close to retirement, give me some models and car stuff at Christmas and I'm happy.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

My dad got to drive a Fury III as a rental car right after they came out. We used it to go from Charleston, W. Va. to Huntington, W.Va. to visit my maternal grandparents.

We got out on the new Interstate 64 and Dad started accelerating and in no time we were going just over 90 mph. My mom started yelling at him to slow down that "we are all going to die!!!!". :eek: I was in the back seat telling him to go faster.

Angleo.....buy the Fury II, buy the Fury II. :cool:

And now we know the real reason why virtually every Highway Patrol organization in the country was driving Plymouths back in that day.

[karasmer]

I hear what you guys are saying, I think the cure is: Keep your eye on the road not in peoples yards, I swear my eyeballs have a rust magnet in them ,every where I look I see the (deals). Also space limitations when you run out of your space and everybody elses space they lend you to store your cars. With the hoarders ya what a shame I visited a few 50-100 car backyard junkyards over the summer and not for sale or 3 times what they were worth, so another winter of melting these cars away. As far as the wife goes she walks in the garage the other day looks at the 14 T and 31 Chev. and says "you sure have some ugly ass cars in here" WHAT are you kidding me.

[Guest Oldengineer]

The fatfenderitis disease ambushed me. I was having fun collecting old mantle clocks - the ones with nifty original brass works that chime. Then I came home with an automobile dash clock - with a 48 Chevrolet still attached to it. Wife encouraged me in self defense - she was running out of places to put the mantle clocks.

Regards:

Oldengineer

[stock_steve]

I can *so relate* to this thread...

[Guest longman]

I have a bad case of the Willys right now.

[padgett]

Nice things about "new" (anything after 1985) cars is that many have built-in diagnostics you can read from the dash. Now you can be a car nut and nerd at the same time.