Used and Abused

[Joe in Canada]

Here is a 1931 Ford Model A being my first antique car I had. I did a ground up restoration on it after being told by my father to never call him if I break down and to either sell it or donate it to a museum. It was a great car putting thousands of miles on tours never letting me down over the years. Sold it to a fellow in 1989 that left it outside until last year when he gave it to his son. We were in the area two years ago looking at an early REO for sale so we dropped in to see if it was still sitting outside and it was as you can see. The only time the car moved when he owned it was when he drove it on and off the trailer getting it to were it sat for 25 years. Engine was seized and tires all flat. The drivers window was down a few of inches the first couple of years for the heat was his explanation. The interior was covered in cat hair and used as a scratching post in places The trunk on it was NOS I bought at Hershey back then now covered in rust. He had a two car garage but it was full of junk. For some reason he could never find time or the stuff ( mainly scrap metal) in the garage was more valuable than to put the car inside. You can see the different layers of snow on over the winter it like tree rings. He also still has a 37 Dodge that he did the same to earlier but finally dragged it out back into the woods where it still sits. A very nice fellow in his 80s now but has a different outlook on possessions I guess. 

This was posted in Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow....  and was asked to start a new topic on this subject as to why you are seeing it twice.

 

[Mike36]

Too bad it's not a crime to be that stupid.

[John_S_in_Penna]

My first car was an old but well-kept 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan.

My father had it repainted, and the minor rust was repaired, 

before it was handed down to me in the 1980's.  Interested in cars,

I took excellent care of it, washing and waxing it regularly.

It was one of the nicest looking 10-year-old cars on the road.

After all, it was my first car.

 

When it came time to get another car, the Cutlass still looked 

and ran great.  A buyer came from a couple of counties away.

He paid me for it, we talked, and it was time for him to leave.

He opened a stick of gum, reached through the window, and

dropped the wrapper on the car's clean, vacuumed, carpeted floor.

 

Right then I could tell he wouldn't be keeping the car pristine.

I wonder whatever happened to my Cutlass--

 

 

[mercer09]

maybe the old fella just enjoys looking out of his window every day and seeing it- sometimes that's all it takes to be happy................!

[60FlatTop]

Thinking about your opening sentence, if it was MY son's car it would be sitting there with MY ashes in a jar on the back seat.

 

Kid's got a weird sense of humor, must be from his Mother.

Bernie

[John_S_in_Penna]

1 hour ago, mercer09 said:

maybe the old fella just enjoys looking out of his window every day and seeing it- sometimes that's all it takes to be happy................!

 

We all like to look at cars, but I prefer to look at them

protected in the garage.

 

You'd think that eventually, he would notice the degradation,

the fading paint, the rust spots, and recognize, "I'd better put this

one away.  It was really nice when I got it."

[auburnseeker]

Unfortunately people that seem to leave them outside can't grasp that they are deteriorating until it's too late and the guy from the scrap yard is winching it on his rollback as it has degraded to no more than swiss cheese scrap metal.  

We can all quickly envision one we have in our memory that disintegrated right before our eyes over the years.  (i'm going to fix that up one of these days)  Well if you had just put it inside,  it wouldn't need much fixing would it. 

This is the ultra classic case being parked right in front of the garage door/ bay that could house it. 

That's why my first priority is a big dry clean garage.  My next will be to try to fill it.  I decided a long time ago not to buy any car I can't keep inside. 

[plymouthcranbrook]

I have a two car garage, my Plymouths sit inside it. All others sit outside.(Including my wife's new at the time Kia)

[Paul Dobbin]

 

The guy bought the car and he may do whatever he chooses.  I'm pretty sure that Forum participants would not do the same. The only violation he did was to his insurance agreement to keep it in an enclosed garage, but then again maybe he didn't buy insurance.

About 10 years ago I found a 1931 Cadillac Fleetwood V 12 that had been left outside to long.  The owner's wife (As the story

goes) was so pissed at the owner that he bought the former Glidden Tour car, she threw him out and pushed the car outside

with the windows down.  There it sat for a few years and the interior became a swamp.

Fortunately a friend of mine bought it and restored it to it's appropriate grandeur.  Now it has a warm dry home and is used occasionally as a wonderful antique car.  I wish the same fate for the Model A.

[John_S_in_Penna]

10 hours ago, Paul Dobbin said:

The guy bought the car and he may do whatever he chooses.  I'm pretty sure that Forum participants would not do the same. 

 

I know what you're saying, Paul, and I agree up to a point.

But he's a steward of an historical car, and with every right

comes responsibility too.  For example:

 

---An owner of a grand Victorian house could let it go to ruin,

but his community would appreciate his preserving it.  It was

in the community before him, and it should be there after him.

 

---The buyer of a 17th century painting could throw it away

because he wants to keep only the frame.  But if something

has lasted 400 years, who is to say that he has the right to destroy it?

 

---A armed band might occupy a land and destroy old historic temples.

But, as the temples are centuries old, shouldn't they be preserved

to tell history to future generations?

 

Cars are history too!  May everyone see them as more than just masses

of sheet metal, rubber, and chrome.

Edited March 24, 2017 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[8E45E]

19 hours ago, Joe in Canada said:

Sold it to a fellow in 1989 that left it outside until last year when he gave it to his son. 

 

 

 

You must have sold it to him for too cheap!

 

Craig

[Guest Skyking]

In 1988 my nephew bought a 1961 Impala bobble top.  The car was in pristine condition inside and out.  It didn't need anything.  I saw that car deteriorate before my eyes!  It was left out in the snow, rain and everything else you could throw at it.  Now this is from a family that is in to old cars.  My younger brother and I talk about it all the time and get sick!  We tried to talk to deaf ears........

 Total shame!!

[60FlatTop]

I don't take too well to someone imposing their values on me. I makes me contrary. I have my own set of values and I figure they are demanding enough.

 

I have let things sit out and deteriorate, usually it happens when I hear too much chatter about things like my responsibility. This local bottom feeder used to stop by and got all antsy when he saw a John Deere mower sitting next to my garage. He was one who would get a glass of water and a hot dog if you went out to lunch because things cost so much more in a restaurant than a grocery store. He was nearly in tears each time he saw it. Mowed the lawn pretty good for 15 years.

I can be one big PIA perfectionist at one thing and the next thing I will show the opposite attitude. That's mostly with "homeowners" type stuff. Probably like the 1853 house I am sitting in. We had a door we didn't use any more. The little porch to it deteriorated and I threw it out. No big deal, we didn't use that door. A few years later I got to thinking it could be dangerous. I could only think of one person who might fall out. I put a window in place of the door. So far the code inspector hasn't been over, but he's safe now, the only person I figured might fall out.

 

The cars, I take real good care of. And the idea of selling too cheap has some validity. I always charge a price high enough so the next owner REALLY appreciates his car. Sometimes I have to suffer some extra profit, but it's for the car.

Bernie

Edited March 25, 2017 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[CarFreak]

On 3/23/2017 at 9:22 PM, plymouthcranbrook said:

I have a two car garage, my Plymouths sit inside it. All others sit outside.(Including my wife's new at the time Kia)

 

We have parking for 15 vehicles (being used by vehicles, not 'stuff') and our daily drivers sit outside. 

 

Remote start is a great thing.