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Any One Driving Their Car Today?


TAKerry

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Going on ancient memories floating around in an ancient mind : Back when 91 octane was 80-90 cents/ gal. maybe 20-25 years ago in L.A. you could get 100 or 110 octane if you knew where it was. Had to pump it into a container first, unless you were on very friendly terms with the “pump”. I treated my 10.0:1 compression ratio ‘70 CDV to a tankful, it was $5.00/gal for 100 back then, but that old Cad had never run so well. If you were one of the most fortunate car guys with a fortune and car collection to reflect that , you could get up to 127 octane gasoline for your 13.0:1 Ferrari. I just can’t remember what 127 cost, I never bought any, nor, unfortunately, did I have a car which needed it. Maybe it was $10-20/gal at the time, anyone remember ? You can be sure the billionaires who own the right cars are not banging around So. Cal. running on 91. TTR, if you are reading this, you probably know what these high octane fuels are going for these days. I would love to find some 45 octane for my mid-‘20s Cadillacs.  Not going to happen any more.    -    Carl

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Took the '49 Cadillac out for a spin today, top down of course.  Pretty day, sunny and mid-60s.  Feeling optimistic about the spring and summer. 

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@C Carl The older V12 Italian Stallions I’m involved with are road (touring) cars mostly from late ‘60s & early ‘70s with compression ratios around 9-10:1 range and fully operable with (unleaded) 91 pump fuel, which in my area is available around $4.- per gallon.

 

I filled my “appliance” with 20+ gallons of 87 yesterday for $3.79 per each (can be bought even cheaper at some “thrift” station, but as you likely know, that concept is not part of my ideological “fabric”).


I don’t have recent experiences with vehicles requiring higher octanes, so no idea on current pricing of such.
 

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Yep, drove mine to the car club breakfast this morning.... time for a "nature-wash", ha !  On the way home I came back down by the ocean and it was raining so hard the road was puddling badly in places, so it got an underneath nature-wash too !.  

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Wanted to take the GT Hawk for a spin, but no brake or signal lights! Got to get that fixed this week. Did get to take the Electra 225 out early in the week. Wasn't sure the top would go back up, so no open air cruising.

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Took the 35 Buick out today for a funeral of an old cars friends wife.  200 people all with masks and

4 antique cars leading the way to the cemetery.   Got our second Covid shots 3 weeks ago, but still 

in danger.   Got a little rain in the way home, bit it was good to be out.

 

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Edited by Paul Dobbin
added picture (see edit history)
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43 minutes ago, mikewest said:

Amazing how the gas has gone up since the new administration....

 

I filled up the old car today for the first time in a long while and was a bit shocked about how much it cost.

 

Some of that is conditioned by the fact that in hybrid mode my modern PHEV “daily driver” gets 60 MPG while my old car gets 14 MPG. And in EV mode, which my daily driver uses first, are half the cost of gasoline miles. Most of my driving is within local EV driving range so I seldom buy gas.

 

I found this to be an interesting read: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/business/energy-environment/oil-prices-opec-shale.html

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Took my 1929 Studebaker Dictator cabriolet to a local charity car show today - it is 5 pm Sunday as I type this - run by a local Rotary chapter. 

 

Several hundred cars, anything from late model supercars (McLarens, Lambos etc) to a range of small and basic transport, but maybe only 20 or so pre WW2, and only one other Studebaker, a Hawk. 

 

We only got the cabriolet running yesterday, after some delays. Didn't miss a beat on the run across town and back including a parade through some of the river side suburbs.

 

The yellow car is a Mercer Series 6.

 

 

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On 3/12/2021 at 4:20 PM, BobinVirginia said:

Ouch! I’d hate to know what Cam2 is there!!! 



Or C-9!

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Yes this weekend the weather has been fine. Sunny and mild. Spring has arrived. I took my ‘53 Chrysler out and about today running errands. I think felt a little change in my attitude  yesterday. I drive my old cars at any opportunity. They aren’t show cars. They are mainly my regular drivers. I do avoid foul weather and they are parked in my garage. 
 

I have completely lost any interest in modern cars. Ugly. Boring. Plastic. Computers on wheels. A great day includes dwell meter and a vacuum gauge followed by a drive. 
 

 

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21 hours ago, Jack Bennett said:

Here in Washington state, the weather is finally getting good enough to allow me to take my 27 Willys out for a drive nearly every day. It likes the coastal highway, and cemetery lanes where we can just loaf along and listen to its sleeve valve engine purr.

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Looks like that trip was full circle!  

 

Sorry, couldnt resist.

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Today’s drive along the Atlantic, 78 degrees at 730 am. Breakfast in Delray Beach. Phantom Two Henley Roadster drove great.

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57 minutes ago, keithb7 said:

Yes this weekend the weather has been fine. Sunny and mild. Spring has arrived. I took my ‘53 Chrysler out and about today running errands. I think felt a little change in my attitude  yesterday. I drive my old cars at any opportunity. They aren’t show cars. They are mainly my regular drivers. I do avoid foul weather and they are parked in my garage. 
 

I have completely lost any interest in modern cars. Ugly. Boring. Plastic. Computers on wheels. A great day includes dwell meter and a vacuum gauge followed by a drive. 
 

 

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I have a similar philosophy. I know it's been said many times but modern cars all look the same to me. I drive my Rambler year round. (They did it in 1963, I can do it today!). Luckily they don't use salt here so I don't have to worry about that. Nothing beats cruising around in an old car with the windows down listening to the engine and some music!

Edited by AL1630 (see edit history)
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Top O’ the morning, Jack ! 
Seek shelter, here comes the almost eternal rain. I have been in Ellensburg for a month, and now temporarily on the West side in Seattle. Got the J&J virus shot at U.W. Med. yesterday 😊. Your spectacular example of the   Nickel Era cars should never end up on it’s side or top !    -   Carl 

 

 

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18 hours ago, mikewest said:

Amazing how the gas has gone up since the new administration....

..., but apparently not enough yet.

 

I for one wouldn’t mind if it was double or triple the current pricing, as it would (hopefully) result to less traffic congestion, less inept drivers to encounter every time I need or want to be on the roads, lower insurance premiums, etc...

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
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1 hour ago, Jack Bennett said:

Hi TAKerry. I have been chairman for our local Masonic Cemetery here for many years. My Willys loves the slow, sedate and solemn drives through cemeteries. She also likes historical places where a lot of interesting spirits frequent. So, it’s only natural that I take her when I visit the cemetery.

Jack

May sound a bit morbid but I too had frequented historical cemeteries to lean about people and their contributions to our world.  Up near Pine Grove PA is a cemetery and church named for a soldier from the US Revolutionary Army.  Nearby is another cemetery with a freed slave who lived in the area after the Civil War and ran a charcoal making operation to feed the local iron furnace industry.  One time I discovered the final resting place of a Titanic survivor.  So for me your your visits are quite normal.

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We have much smaller cemeteries near me so most of my exploration was done by motorcycle.  I used the state historical markers as reference to find many of these places and learn about the people who are remembered there. The artist Ben Austrian who did the Bon Ami chicks was one of my discoveries, he is in northern Berks County PA.  Great combo, history and motoring in your favorite form of transportation.

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