How old was your car when you bought it?

[Restorer32]

My '55 Jag was 13 years old when I bought it in 1968. I was 19.

[DAVES89]

I was 50 when I bought my 17 year old 1989 Reatta.

[D Yaros]

My 1962 Oldsmobile was 43 years young when acquired by me in 2005; certainly a lot younger than me!

[60FlatTop]

16 hours ago, Willie Wurke said:

Most of the above texts contain the words "when I bought mine".  None of them start with the words " when a good friend gave me his old car.'

Does any one on here ever get a "freebee"?

 

In 1965 I was a Junior in High School. Some of you ACORNS may remember Ray Bishop. He was our Prudential agent at the time and a true old car guy. He started teaching at that time and had to move to a city apartment. He had just traded his Volvo 122S in for a new yellow Pontiac GT, the only one he had room for. He sold his refurbished '56 Jaguar XK 150 drophead for $800. His freshly painted '56 Studebaker Golden Hawk didn't have a fast selling market so he gave it to me. I drove it to school that year and it had to be disposed of, along with five other cars, while I was in the Navy. The Studebaker came with three damaged hoods, folded from opening wrong, I never ran one on it.

He also gave me his parts XK150 DH and a garage full of pieces.

For about 40 years, Ray would find a little pile of Corvair parts next to his garage door when I came across them.

 

I have given away a lot of cars over the years to both friends and family. When the recipients were younger it felt good. The last few times I have given pretty good cars to older men in their 50's or 60's. They complained and the cars never seemed to be good enough for them. I think I will sell my stuff to strangers from now on.

 

Oh, the Studebaker was almost 10 but I was not much of a hobby participant until 5 or 6 years last.

Bernie

[charlier]

1980 VW Rabbit was about 1 month old when I bought it new in 1980. Now it is 37 years old.

1981 VW Pickup was about 14 years old when I bought it from it's 2nd owner in 1995. That was 22 years ago. Now it is 36 years old.

1985 VW Golf  was about 12 years old when I bought it in 1997 from it's 2nd owner. That was 20 years ago. Now it is 32 years old.

1987 VW GTI 16V was about 1 year old when I bought it new in 1988. Now it is 30 years old.

 

At one point or another most of the above vehicles were my daily driver for a number of years before it was semi-retired and another vehicle took over.

 

Looks like so far, I am the only person here who is the original owner of their old cars. Of course they were not "old" when I bought them but they are now.

 

FYI, I met a very nice gentleman in his mid to late 80s yesterday at a local car show. He purchased his 1987 GM car brand new back in 1987 and has owned it since. Another AACA member and myself (both of us judges) spoke with this gentleman for a while, We invited him to join the AACA and enter his car in an AACA National Meet. He was hesitant to do so because he did not think his car was old enough and good enough for class judging. Since this gentleman has been to Fall Hershey before I cannot help but wonder if he overheard negative comments from other less open-minded people about 1980 & 90s vehicles on the show field. This low mileage car would be extremely competitive in a point judged class given what the other judge and I both saw when we looked at this vehicle. The other AACA and myself both told him about the 1980s vehicles we both own and show in AACA events. Hopefully our little chat helped him to reconsider membership and entering his beautiful car at Fall Hershey.

[trimacar]

For some reason I thought I'd posted on this thread, maybe not.

 

Anyway, my first car was only 33 years old when I acquired it.  I was 13, the year was 1964, the car was a 1931 Chevrolet.  It's now 86 years old, and I've owned it for 53 of those years!  Restored it, body off frame, took almost three years (I did have school and a little social life, ya know!), and drove it to high school and part of college, and it's followed me around through the years as I bought and sold over 200 other cars.....had virtually no money in the car, and it never crossed my mind to rechrome bumpers...but toured it in the 1960's with the old car people in Louisiana, and never a criticizing word was said, everyone was just glad another old car was being driven and a young person enjoyed the old cars....note the new wood in the body, my father had a foreman at his cotton gin and cattle feed business, the foreman's father was a retired carpenter, and in ONE WEEK he replaced about half the wood in the body of the car, dovetail joints and all, working out of his garage in a little town in south Louisiana.....craftsmen were easier to find then, and his payment for replacing all that wood was a newfangled toaster oven that he wanted!  By the way, the fenders on the car were NOS..

Edited July 16, 2017 by trimacar (see edit history)

[Guest]

My current car was 77 years old when I acquired it 2 years ago. 

[DonMicheletti]

OK I'll play. My first driver was a '41 Plymouth that was a year older than me when I got it at 16.

My first "old"car was a '31 Buick that was 29 years old when I bought it.

 

Being an old fart, I have to laugh when a '57 Chevy is referred to as a classic or antique - to me they are "used cars".

 

Heck, I have a 1918 Buick that I have owned for more than 1/2 its life (actually built in 1917)

 

OK, tongue in cheek.

[trimacar]

Be careful with the term "used cars" ( I say also tongue in cheek ), a lot of people get really aggravated at those words.  I personally wish the AACA would go to some kind of sliding scale, as they did at one time, only advance acceptable "antique" cars one year every two years, or even every three years, but guess it's too late for that. 

 

To me, a lot of the reason for keeping advancing the acceptable years is to keep membership up in the club.  Same reason the CCCA is adding more Full Classics, it seems almost daily, so scared that membership will dwindle if they keep the same list year after year.  Once you add the water to the whiskey and lower the proof, you can't go back.....

 

My personal opinion (which is mostly worthless in the grand scheme of things, of course) is that an antique car is pre WWII.  After that, you have vintage, special interest, and so forth, but not antique.  I'm sure someone will tap dance on my head for that comment, have at it, it's opinion....

[cahartley]

^ You and I are the same age and I feel the same way.

Most of my 50 year oid friends talk about cars from the 60's and 70's which is fine but I don't consider them "old"........then again I don't think they do either in the grand scheme of things.

I don't consider my '59 Chev as being an "old" car but I don't consider myself old either....... 

I think it's a given that new classes will need to be created in order to attract the newer generation of collectors.

They aren't very many "youngsters" who are interested in teens, 20's and 30's cars.

There are some but not enough to carry an entire class of cars

It's a real conundrum.

There is probably ONE chance to attract a new member and if they are put off chances are extremely high that was an opportunity lost...... 

 

 

[JV Puleo]

I agree with trimacar exactly. For me, it is already too late. I simply won't bother with a field or parking lot full of 50s, 60 and later cars (not to mention blasting 50s & 60s music) because there is nothing there that interests me. That eliminates every old car even within a reasonable distance. I have no problem with others doing that... their interests are their business but they aren't mine and I don't feel the need to waste my time with events that bore me silly. I'm certain there are those that feel the same way about the pre-war cars I would make an effort to see.

[DonMicheletti]

To put things in perspective, When I bought my '31 Buick it was 29 years old. I joined the AACA then.

In reality a '57 Chevy is 60 years old now.... much older than my '31 was way back then.

 

So, I guess the real question is "When is a car old?"

[pont35cpe]

Not my first car, but in 1991, I had a 1941 Pontiac that was 50yr old, and a 1950 Oldsmobile that was 41yr old...

[60FlatTop]

After posing the question, reading the answers, and thinking about it, I think the 25 year designation may have been flawed. At the time it was introduced, 25 years aligned with a significant evolutionary point in automobiles, but evolution does not advance in yearly increments. Lifespans for individuals generally total 4 generations with social, but not technical changes. And memories are long, as well as impressions lasting.

 

I think the 80 year old car hobby was spawned by a rising economy, blossomed during years of national wealth, and is declining with the decreased economical advantages to the two youngest generations. We are also at a significant evolutionary point in the automotive evolution. There is change for sure. A lot doesn't include cars.

 

I bet the future will remark "Car collecting, that was done during a period of personal wealth and transportation back when people believed oil was some sort of juice from dinosaurs. It lasted nearly 100 years."

 

Enjoy your cars and welcome others. It is all finite.

Bernie

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

My 1950 Buick was 58 when it came to me.  Equivalent to a 1959 today. 

 

  Where we going with this, Bernie?

 

  Ben

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

On 7/16/2017 at 7:23 PM, JV Puleo said:

I agree with trimacar exactly. For me, it is already too late. I simply won't bother with a field or parking lot full of 50s, 60 and later cars (not to mention blasting 50s & 60s music) because there is nothing there that interests me. That eliminates every old car even within a reasonable distance. I have no problem with others doing that... their interests are their business but they aren't mine and I don't feel the need to waste my time with events that bore me silly. I'm certain there are those that feel the same way about the pre-war cars I would make an effort to see.

 

 Blonds do the same for me.

 

  Ben

[oldcar]

I will not attempt to list them all but I still remember quite clearly my first car, an 1918 Austin 20hp I bought for (Australian) Ten Shillings. I would have been 16 or 17 at the time. I am now 80 so you can do the sums. Our currency at the time was Pounds, Shillings and Pence. Ten shillings would have very nearly filled a tank with petrol. As the "office boy" in an Advertising Agency my pay was One pound, seventeen shillings & six pence per week. There were 20 shillings in a Pound. The car is now "somewhere in England" fully restored. The person selling the car said that he would not give it to me, I had to pay for it or I would not appreciate it.  If he had only known the slippery path he had sent me down........

 

Bernie j.

Edited July 18, 2017 by oldcar (see edit history)

[36 D2 Coupe]

I still have my first car - a '36 Dodge RS Coupe bought when it was 30 years old in 1966. I was 18 and had been in love with old cars since my early teens. It's now 81 years old, I'm 70 and today I ripped its heart (motor) out to finally get a long overdue rebuild. It was running as a daily driver when I was in university; then it sat sulking while life took over and shouldered it out of the way. Now it has returned to center stage.

[60FlatTop]

14 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Where we going with this, Bernie?

 

Over the years I have noticed that, in general, the oldest hobbyists bought their cars at a relatively low price when the car was around 20 years old. I surely know of exceptions, but they are a minority. After they have owned their car for a generation or so a younger hobbyist may do the same thing the old guy did, but the car is usually not to the old guy's liking. From experience and conversations the price on a good "keeper" can be adjusted to the economy at $3,000 to 4,000 at the time of purchase, many times much less. I didn't see a lot of that in the replies. That may not be a large computer using group.

Cars purchased during the inflation period of the 1980's and '90's tend to be higher in price, owned by 80 year old's with less mechanical skills. I think a lot of them sit in garages, unused and with mechanical problems. Those are cars bought by "early retirees" of the time, 55-60 year old's skimming off the retirement lump for that "dream car" they always wanted. They got cars they paid too much for or couldn't fix. When did the term barn find increase in popularity?

 

There is another group that did not show up in numbers. The ones with Dad's collection or family collections. Those are out there.

 

I wasn't really going there, but I did have to show my Wife. She is a young adult librarian, not young herself (living with me would age anyone) but provides programs for grade school through High School children on a pretty intensive schedule. I called her into my little office and said "Hey, read this topic and the replies." She reads fast and after a bit she stopped and looked at me. "They don't follow instructions any better than my kids do." "Yeah, really"

 

My point was that the young people are going out and buying a nice desirable car at a reasonable price that appeals to them. They have the intent to keep it, just like the old guys did when they did the same thing. I did it when I was 30 and again when I was 60. I got the same response both times "What are you doing here with that?" "Ummm, doing the same thing I did 30 years ago." "Well, that 50 year old car is appropriate, not this new one, only 20 years old." "It wasn't the first time I showed up."

 

Remember, it is the collector car you have now. How old was it when you got it. Not the car you had and don't have any more. That was covered in another topic.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

 Gotcha, Bernie. That is what I thought .  Great minds!

 

  Like her remark. Fits.

 

  Ben

[Grimy]

Bernie, I disagree with your Hegelian dialectic, which appears to suffer from the Fallacy of the Undistributed Middle (I suffer from that ailment today).  In short, Apples and Oranges....

 

In my own case, the cars I bought in high school and college averaged $100 at a time when my gross wages were about $1.25/hr, representing 80 hrs of gross pay.  HOWEVER, my lodging and food were paid by my parents, and were not my responsibility or burden.

 

When I bought my condition 4+ 1939 Cadillac 75 upon returning from RVN as a first lieutenant in 1968, in such condition that I then drove it from west coast to east coast, its purchase price was 12.5% of my annual gross pay or 260 hrs.  I was indeed paying my own housing and food by then, and was married.  And that car was a "Full Classic (TM)" even at that time.

 

A major issue not yet addressed is that in my own youth, working on old cars (old=capable of being successfully repaired with minimal tools and skills) was a rite of passage for many teenage boys, especially those who were not terribly committed to high school and college competitive sports (time issue).  In my own case, I attended a Jesuit high school which had no shop classes; and the Jesuits were mortified when I received a Bank of America Achievement Award in Vocational Arts simply because I mentioned my interest in working on pre-war cars as a hobby.  (BTW, I still have and display that trophy today, >55 years later, still relishing their discomfiture at the time.)

 

The complexity of automotive systems increased, beginning in the late '60s and early '70s, making it (I believe) more difficult for novices to repair successfully cars of that era.  And there were other attractions/distractions for the next generation.

[60FlatTop]

3 hours ago, Grimy said:

When I bought my condition 4+ 1939 Cadillac 75 upon returning from RVN as a first lieutenant in 1968

So you have the car today and it was about 29 years old when you bought it.. OK.

 

As a courtesy, because you write good stuff, I Googled the other terms you used.  I was smiling all the way up to the diner for coffee wondering if there was any possibility two 12 year old boys in 1845 could have achieved any dialectic point while sitting on the banks of Chautauqua Lake. AND I am sure there is a great story on how the term ever entered your vocabulary.

 

Oh, idioms and the like always entertain me.

Did you mean apples like these.

And oranges like these.

 

Just to be sure I am grasping the concept.

 

I own a 1986 Buick Park Avenue that I bought in 2011 at 26 years old. It is 30 now. No one thinks it is an old car, except one of my Nephews.

 

But I do have a lot of fun with old cars.

Bernie

[SC38dls]

Bernie, no wonder you have a problem. You have a tangerine and a grapefruit mixed in with your oranges but you don't have any pears mixed in with your apples! 

[1912Staver]

I bought my 1912 Staver Chicago basket case project in 2001. I was 42, the car was 89.

 

Greg in Canada

[keithb7]

I bought my 1953 Chrysler 2 months ago. I'm 46. The car is 64 currently.

[Guest SaddleRider]

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 5:03 PM, trimacar said:

Be careful with the term "used cars" ........ people get really aggravated at those words.........  Same reason the CCCA is adding more Full Classics, it seems almost daily, so scared that membership will dwindle if they keep the same list year after year.  Once you add the water to the whiskey and lower the proof, you can't go back.....

 

My personal opinion (which is mostly worthless in the grand scheme of things, of course) is that an antique car is pre WWII.  ........I'm sure someone will tap dance on my head for that comment, have at it, it's opinion....

 

Yes - I agree with your post in part.    But let's be realistic. 

 

Yes, in a previous USA,  when guys like you and I needed to get a job in a machine shop or similar occupation where "precision of speech" had value,   words had meaning.   You exaggerated or got caught lying,  and you were in big trouble.

 

In those years, the  phrase "antique car" meant a car with antique features - "T" head motors, "external contracting" brakes only on front wheels,  accetelyne gas lighting,  etc.  

 

In those years, calling, for example, a Model A Ford an "antique"  , with its four wheel "internal expanding" brakes,  on-board electrical system ..would have seemed silly at best.    Cars from the 1920's....yes... clearly a "vintage", "collector car".... or "used car"!  Of course I agree with you there.

 

Even more absurd is to call my 1941 Cadillac 60 S a "antique"...with its pressurized cooling system,  independent front suspension,  factory air conditioning, radio, even climate control ( yes,  that's the white plastic  control head just to the left of the steering colum )...well....again...let's be realistic.

 

In those days, the dictionaries of that era defined "classic" as "something unique..of first rank..representing the highest standard of excellence".  So car hobbyists of that era knew a 1931  V-16  Cadillac Imperial town car was a classic,  but the ordinary 8  cyl. La Salles were not.

 

Let's be fair - there are fewer and fewer jobs these days,  so there are more and more people  trying to make a living elling used cars.   No question people LIKE the  sound of the words "antique" and "classic"....they add value.      Who cares what those words mean....You want to deprive used car dealers of their right to put food on the table ?

 

It is getting harder and harder to go into a grocery story or open a car magazine and find something NOT called "classic".   So let's not fight the march of time...relax, smell the flowers - enjoy the day.

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by SaddleRider
i gots to learne how to tipe.... (see edit history)

[trimacar]

Ah, shucks, I'm always relaxed...and always smell the flowers, being careful not to inhale a bee!

 

You're absolutely correct, words have lost their meaning.  It used to be, as you mention, words were used more precisely, news was fact and not opinion, cars were form following function, chickens had more fat and tasted better.  I could go on.....

 

Yes, I'm an old timer.....hard to change, I like the older stuff.....but soften the blow somewhat by driving a '69 Cutlass convertible quite often!!

[60FlatTop]

The thought mostly came from ways to recruit younger people into the ranks of active hobbyists. I thought the similarities of the age of what one considered an old/collector car when they entered might shed some light. Maybe, maybe not.

 

I had dinner with my Wife tonight and she went back to work for a youth program. It is a government entity struggling with losses in financial support.

 

In tonight's conversation I told her that six years ago, when I had a stroke, heart attack, multiple bypasses, and the routines that go with it, I talked with the cardiologist after the big turn around. He told me that for every ten years I followed the rules and maintained my health the medical community would advance its skills to help me get another ten years. Living another 40 years was not unrealistic.

I told her tonight that I came home considering how to support myself/us for another 40 years. The first step was to get online and look at successful business models in Third World Countries.

Ponder the motivation behind that and it pretty much wraps up my thoughts on the old car hobby, future members, and a whole lot of other stuff rolled in.

 

Oh, yes, I do have a plan based on the findings and it is being implemented. "I" plan on buying a few more cars. It should be a buyer's market.

Bernie

[PONTIAC1953]

i bought my 1953 pontiac chieftain custom catalina in june of 1973, i was 17, the car was 20 years old, i still have the car today, 44 years later. these pictures i took in july of 1973 with my kodak X-15 camera.

 

charles l. coker

1953 pontiac technical advisor

technical advisor coordinator

pontiac oakland club int'l

[John Byrd]

My latest "old car" that we own was 61 when we bought it last year.  The other one we still own was 28 when we bought it in 1988.

[poci1957]

On ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 2:46 PM, 60FlatTop said:

I think the 80 year old car hobby was spawned by a rising economy, blossomed during years of national wealth, and is declining with the decreased economical advantages to the two youngest generations.

Enjoy your cars and welcome others. It is all finite.

 

 

Regrettably I think you are right about the above Bernie.  Back to the original question essentially asking what is "old" it is a topic I have much considered, my own timeline is as follows regarding my 1957 Pontiac and 1979 Trans Am

 

In 1987 I was 20 and my newly purchased 1957 Pontiac project was 30.  It's appearance and technology seemed ancient to me and my peers and only the most hardcore prewar guy questioned it's old car credentials ("used car" you know).  Now in 2017 it is 60 years old and I have owned it for over half it's life and 40% of mine (yikes!). 

 

In 2001 I bought my high school dream car, a 1979 Trans Am.  It was 22, not an antique yet, I was 34.  Now in 2017 it is 38, older than the 1957 was when I got it.  Yet in my mind it is a modern car, with almost modern drivability.  I would be ashamed to take it on an AACA driving tour since it is so recent.  So there you have it, at 50 years old in my mind the car ten years older than me is an antique, the car I remember on the streets when I was 12 is not.  But the actual timeline shows that is just my perception.  I bet it is like that for most of us here, Todd C. 

       

 

 

[Guest SaddleRider]

2 hours ago, poci1957 said:

 

In 2001 I bought my high school dream car, a 1979 Trans Am.  It was 22, not an antique yet, I was 34.  Now in 2017 it is 38, older than the 1957 was when I got it.  Yet in my mind it is a modern car, with almost modern drivability.  I would be ashamed to take it on an AACA driving tour since it is so recent.  So there you have it, at 50 years old in my mind the car ten years older than me is an antique, the car I remember on the streets when I was 12 is not.  But the actual timeline shows that is just my perception.  I bet it is like that for most of us here, Todd C. 

       

 

 

 

I respectfully disagree. NO REASON FOR YOU TO BE ASHAMED OF YOUR "COLLECTOR CAR !"      Any more than I am ashamed of my 2002 Toyota Rav 4 "mini suv".!        Applying modern use of language,  once a car is 20 years old ( as mine will be in only a few more years)  the terms "classic" and "antique" are applicable.    You seem happy with your choice of a "collector car".    So am I !     Given the way things are these days,  that should be all that matters.

 

Of course you are correct that your particular favorite car is modern - with its short-stroke V-8, pressurized cooling system, "hi-speed" rear axle ratio,  modern lighting equipment - the list goes on,   fits in just fine under modern driving conditions  ( bet it would blow the doors off my Toyota...! ).

 

You would be correct in assuming that    "long long ago..far far away"... things were quite different in the auto hobby...but, obviously definitions have changed.

 

Yes, there was a time, as I noted in an earlier post,  when we had precise definitions as to what was an "antique" car...what was a "vintage" car,  what was a "classic" car - at some point someone came up with the term "collector car" for later used cars.  

 

So what ?      Each year there are fewer and fewer people who have any recollection or conception of those days - and those who are left rarely drive their cars very far from their transporters to a position on show-grass.  That is, if they drive the car at all - in more and more cases they have "assistants" who do that.

 

Bottom line -  today is here. The past is past.  It isn't coming back.      Enjoy the present and don't let something you read in some out-of-date car publication bother you  and your enjoyment of your Trans Am !

[poci1957]

Thanks for your support Saddlerider, but just to clarify I may be coming from a different direction than you think.  I am certainly happy with my 1979 Trans Am, not ashamed to drive and show it and fully support the inclusion of 1970s and 1980s cars in the hobby generally and AACA in particular.  My mention of the tours is just out of respect for the old-time hobbyists who might think a 1979 out of place at a tour designed to show off motoring in older old cars. 

 

My point of course was to illustrate the march of time and perception--I suppose my 1979 is as old fashioned to a 20 year old today as my 1957 was when I was 20.  Likewise in the early 1980s when I came around a 50 year old thought a Model A was a car old enough to be interesting but a 1950s car recent in his memory was not.  And so on..... 

 

Thanks for coming to my defense though, Todd C

 

[caddyshack]

One of my first cars was a 1904 Cadillac that I bought in 1973. I was 26 yrs old and knew nothing about the car. I still have it, and it is now 113 yrs old. When I was 32, I purchased a 1912 Brush, now is 105 yrs. old. I just turned 70, and thanks to AACA, HCCA, and fellow members, the experience has given me a greater appreciation of the early days of the auto industry. 

 

Thanks for all the help.