What's The Slowest Car You've Owned? Did You Enjoy It?

[plymouthcranbrook]

My first car(a 1954 Plymouth)with a knocking engine would do 58 mph. Again by actual experimentation. 

[dictator27]

When I got my 54 Studebaker Commander it had a rod knock.  Fifty weight oil and STP held it together for 18 months until I got a rebuillt engine for it.  The knock showed up at about 50 mph.

[Dandy Dave]

The slowest in my fleet at the moment is the 1925 White Truck. I only put it in high once and thought the body was going to fall off. I just idle it around in low. These early Whites could be had with, or without, over-drive. My truck has solid rubber tires so it would stand to reason why it has direct drive as from the factory.  Had a Model T once years ago. That thing was slow also. It was happy at 25 to 30 MPH.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Dandy Dave (see edit history)

[ol' yeller]

On 8/22/2021 at 7:42 PM, Erska said:

My slowest car was this 1973 VW Squareback, with a 1600 cc engine rated at 65 horsepower.  It was (and is) solid and reliable.  Bought new in college, driven as first car then backup car for about 25 years (covered about 200,000 miles, but always well maintained), then in "dry, covered" storage for about 20 years.  Refurbishing almost completed.  The paint and interior are mostly original.  Squarebacks (aka Type 3 VWs) once were common (at least here on the west coast) but now are very scarce, and largely forgotten amidst the Beetles (Type 1) and Buses (Type 2).  Looking forward to taking it to a few shows next year!

This is very similar to my slowest car. Mine was a 1971 Squareback with a full automatic and air conditioning. Same color but mine had white walls. I loved how it handled but man was it slow.

[TexRiv_63]

I should mention a car that I thought would be one of the slowest but surprised me. This 34 Chevy Standard 3 window coupe was all an all original true barn find that had been mechanically restored without disturbing any of the patina. With a small displacement straight six I assumed it would be a stone but I was surprised at how torquey it was and fairly quick with 4.11 gears. Past experience with a friend's Model A Ford left me surprised at the Chevy's smoothness and, once I successfully refilled all the hydraulic shock absorbers, how well it rode and handled. Not a top speed contender, 45 mph was about it.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Dad bought a 1934 Chevrolet Sedan in 1945 when he came home from the war.  I do not remember if it was a 2 or 4 door.  Sure could haul a LOT of fire wood with the back seat removed.

  I like the coupe.

 

  Ben

[wws944]

Probably the 2002 Buick Rendezvous that we had until a couple years ago.  The 3.4 liter V6 was kind of underpowered for it.  Especially at highway speeds - where it sometimes had problems maintaining the speed limit..  Though the same 3.4 in my daughters 2004 Olds Alero works fairly well.

[tomcarnut]

1909 Maxwell. 25 mph cruising speed

 

[gossp]

My fathers 2cyl (5x5 with 3speed trans) Maxwell will just barely get you above 30 mph and cruises rather comfortably at 25…. It gets up to that speed in about a city block. Slow, but quick!  
 

The T will outrun it but I very much so prefer driving the Maxwell. 

[Terry Harper]

On 8/25/2021 at 8:46 AM, Dandy Dave said:

The slowest in my fleet at the moment is the 1925 White Truck. I only put it in high once and thought the body was going to fall off. I just idle it around in low. These early Whites could be had with, or without, over-drive. My truck has solid rubber tires so it would stand to reason why it has direct drive as from the factory.  Had a Model T once years ago. That thing was slow also. It was happy at 25 to 30 MPH.

 

 

Absolutely love it!

 

Your description of running in high gear I can totally relate too! Our 1928 Lombard dump truck is geared for 9 MPH in fourth gear. The very few times I have run it in high it has scared the crap out of me. The noise and vibration are horrific making that 9 miles per hour feel like 100. Not to mention the fear of leaving a trail of bits and pieces! It also has four speeds in reverse but.... I can't imagine full speed in reverse!

In the video I have it in 3rd for most of the drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cahartley]

On 8/20/2021 at 11:27 AM, Porsche 68 said:

Azbob can’t argue with you there my dog ran faster then m26 T but it was a real nice car 

 

I'm glad I started reading this thread from the beginning or I'd have missed this!

I have a similar combo as well plus a '59 Chevy for a kicker.

I've had Model T's, enjoyed all of them and my '27 Tudor won't be for sale any time soon.

For lazy back road sight seeing it's hard to beat a T.

You won't want to go fast enough to miss things which makes them ideally suited to seeing the countryside....... 

[JamesR]

My slowest car was a 1950 Plymouth P 19 two door. Only 97 hp, but the real reason the car was slow was because there was something wrong with the engine.

 

I bought the car on eBay close to 20 years ago, and the experience was a tutorial on how (or why) NOT to buy a car on eBay. Having said that, I only paid $1600 for it. Seller said it ran, but it didn't. I got it running, but only by turning the distributor timing adjustment way off from what it was supposed to be. I had no idea what the issue was, but maybe a slipped timing chain(?) With all that going on, it could only hit 50 mph, and that was pushing it. I'd guess that normal top speed on a car like that would be 60 - 65.

 

Having said that, Richard Petty's dad, Lee, won a couple of early NASCAR races with a car very similar to mine. And this was back when NASCAR vehicles were essentially unmodified. But he probably took the exhaust off, stripped off some weight and maybe used taller gears and was probably able to do 75 or 80. I've read that the only reason he won races with it was because the little Plymouth got better gas mileage than the big displacement Hudsons and Oldsmobiles, so he needed fewer pit stops. Strategic advantage rather than a fast car.

[mrspeedyt]

On 8/27/2021 at 6:54 AM, Terry Harper said:

 

Absolutely love it!

 

Your description of running in high gear I can totally relate too! Our 1928 Lombard dump truck is geared for 9 MPH in fourth gear. The very few times I have run it in high it has scared the crap out of me. The noise and vibration are horrific making that 9 miles per hour feel like 100. Not to mention the fear of leaving a trail of bits and pieces! It also has four speeds in reverse but.... I can't imagine full speed in reverse!

In the video I have it in 3rd for most of the drive.

 

 

living on the edge…

 

 

 

 

living on the edge…

Edited August 29, 2021 by mrspeedyt (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

20 hours ago, JamesR said:

My slowest car was a 1950 Plymouth P 19 two door. Only 97 hp, but the real reason the car was slow was because there was something wrong with the engine.

 

I bought the car on eBay close to 20 years ago, and the experience was a tutorial on how (or why) NOT to buy a car on eBay. Having said that, I only paid $1600 for it. Seller said it ran, but it didn't. I got it running, but only by turning the distributor timing adjustment way off from what it was supposed to be. I had no idea what the issue was, but maybe a slipped timing chain(?) With all that going on, it could only hit 50 mph, and that was pushing it. I'd guess that normal top speed on a car like that would be 60 - 65.

 

Having said that, Richard Petty's dad, Lee, won a couple of early NASCAR races with a car very similar to mine. And this was back when NASCAR vehicles were essentially unmodified. But he probably took the exhaust off, stripped off some weight and maybe used taller gears and was probably able to do 75 or 80. I've read that the only reason he won races with it was because the little Plymouth got better gas mileage than the big displacement Hudsons and Oldsmobiles, so he needed fewer pit stops. Strategic advantage rather than a fast car.

True top speed when new was about 85 MPH. Lee Petty began racing his Plymouth when he couldn't get a ride in a better car. To his surprise, he ended up finishing in the money in spite of having the slowest car in the race. Many others crashed, blew up, broke springs, blew tires etc but the Plymouth was always game to the end. And he could put up a pretty fair average speed because he did not have to stop for tires and gas. The secret was clicking off lap after lap like clockwork when the hot shots were streaking ahead then blowing up or skidding into the ditch. His little Plymouth was purring like new at the end while some faster cars were limping over the finish line if they were still in the race at all. He ended the season well up in the standings because he finished every race in other words, won on points.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Ed Luddy]

I've had some slow cars over the years. Two that stand out are my 1966 Studebaker Commander with the GM 194 c.i. inline 6 with a Borg-Warner 3 speed bolt action column shift with Overdrive. If you put it in OD it almost stalled out. Probably had low compression, but didn't blow any significant blue smoke.

 Next would be my 72 Karmann Ghia. They truly earned the nickname "World's slowest sports car" It was fun to drive if you weren't in a hurry or heavy traffic. 

[Ed Luddy]

Here's the K-G. Cute but slooowww

[Chry54]

1950 dodge meadowbrook with fluid drive. on long island where i lived the parkways were originally 35 MPH. the on ramps were very short, so trying to get on the now 55MPH road was life threatning. however, it was my first car and had a big back seat, if you get my drift. i loved that car and think fondly of it today. it started my love for these early mopars. i now have a 54 windsor with powerflite, and it is much faster than that dodge, but i am glad todays highways have longer on ramps. i can do 65 all day, but i like the back roads for a nice drive. none of these early mopars were noted for speed until the hemi came along in 1951.     dennis

[Ed Luddy]

On 8/31/2021 at 11:26 AM, Chry54 said:

1950 dodge meadowbrook with fluid drive. on long island where i lived the parkways were originally 35 MPH. the on ramps were very short, so trying to get on the now 55MPH road was life threatning. however, it was my first car and had a big back seat, if you get my drift. i loved that car and think fondly of it today. it started my love for these early mopars. i now have a 54 windsor with powerflite, and it is much faster than that dodge, but i am glad todays highways have longer on ramps. i can do 65 all day, but i like the back roads for a nice drive. none of these early mopars were noted for speed until the hemi came along in 1951.     dennis

My Dad's 1953 New Yorker with the 331 Hemi was a fairly quick car for the Mid-50's. Considering the size of the car and the less than slippery, total upright K.T. Kellar love of the high greenhouse body style. 

[jrbartlett]

Slowest old car -- not mine but I had to drive it across town for the owner -- was a 1922 Star touring. The engine was screaming at 30 MPH so just to be safe I slowed down to 22-25. An elderly friend recalled that "Stars really climbed hills good." I think the rear end ratio was something like 5 1/2 to 1.

 

Slowest modern car was a '66 Volkswagon Beatle. It would run 72 wide open, not optimum living in Texas with a 70 MPH statewide speed limit. If you came to a steep hill you'd better get as far right as possible to let everyone else pass. Also, a good gust of wind would blow the car sideways a half-lane-width, which made for a lot of white-knuckle driving. Hated that car with a passion. It was totally worn out and falling apart at 50,000 miles, despite regular maintenance. Non-favorite features -- having to manually adjust the brakes as well as the valves every 3,000 miles, plus a heater that could not be regulated between the choices of freezing or alternatively burning all the skin off your ankles..

[m-mman]

1960 Mercury Comet with an actual original 144 engine with automatic. (most 144s were long ago swapped for a 170 or 200) 

 

Had a friend who lived at the top of a hill. if you didn't get a running start, it would slow to a stop and then wide open throttle in gear, the torque converter would spin but couldn't move the car any further.  Had to back down and try again. But the engine never stopped. Very reliable. 

[Fossil]

29 minutes ago, m-mman said:

But the engine never stopped. Very reliable. 

Sounds like it didn't have enough power to damage itself. Not a bad thing. 

 

 

 

[58L-Y8]

8 hours ago, m-mman said:

1960 Mercury Comet with an actual original 144 engine with automatic. (most 144s were long ago swapped for a 170 or 200) 

 

Had a friend who lived at the top of a hill. if you didn't get a running start, it would slow to a stop and then wide open throttle in gear, the torque converter would spin but couldn't move the car any further.  Had to back down and try again. But the engine never stopped. Very reliable. 

The Falcon/Comet 144 six was a real 'flat-lander' engine, great out on the plains, not so much in hilly country.  More than one person who bought one in our hilly area found out quickly it was a 'gutless wonder!'  Even a manual shift didn't help much.

[JamesR]

On 8/31/2021 at 10:26 AM, Chry54 said:

none of these early mopars were noted for speed....

 

Yes, several early fifties Mopars have ended up on this slowest car thread, including my '50 Plymouth and your Dodge. Rusty said my car would do 85 mph when new, and I trust Rusty's knowledge, but I'd have to actually see that before I'd believe it. My 1954 overhead valve V-8 Ford's top speed with overdrive was listed at not much more than that. The Ford isn't remotely fast, but it has more than 30 hp more than the Plymouth did (and overdrive.)

[edinmass]

I never buy slow cars......adjusting for the era........slow is boring. 

[John Kelso]

1899 Crouch, steam power. slow but not boring

[Rusty_OToole]

14 hours ago, JamesR said:

 

Yes, several early fifties Mopars have ended up on this slowest car thread, including my '50 Plymouth and your Dodge. Rusty said my car would do 85 mph when new, and I trust Rusty's knowledge, but I'd have to actually see that before I'd believe it. My 1954 overhead valve V-8 Ford's top speed with overdrive was listed at not much more than that. The Ford isn't remotely fast, but it has more than 30 hp more than the Plymouth did (and overdrive.)

I was quoting a Mechanix Illustrated road test of a new 1953 or 54 Plymouth, that was the closest contemporary test I could find. He timed his at 86 or 87 MPH. In an article on Lee Petty's 49 Plymouth coupe, he said it would do 92 MPH which seems possible with a careful blueprinting and tuneup on a broken in motor. Petty's car had Chrysler springs wheels and tires and possibly other mods that were allowed as "stock factory accessories" at the time.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

This is from a P15 D24 post -

 

There's been some questions about wheels and tires lately and because of my activities with brakes I've had to study up.

I knew I had read about Lee Petty and his 49 Business Coupe and for the longest time I couldn't find it again.

I found it last night and had to read pages of Petty Enterprises history....fascinating!

He talked about using Chrysler Imperial springs (front and rear) shocks and wheels.

Surprisingly he used 4.78 final drive gears! He said the little Plymouth would only go 92 mph!

Now I maybe wrong but I had to calculate it out.

C64 Imperial wheels are 15x6 with 8.20x15 tires

C66 Crown Imperial Wheels are 15x6 1/2 with 8.90x15 tires

Using the Crown 8.90x15 tires (31 inches tall) with a 4.78 final drive means the little Plymouth was wound up to 5,000 rpm at 92 mph!

If that doesn't get your attention he said because the car was so light he never took his foot off the throttle.

The Oldsmobiles had to slow down for the corner then try to accelerate out but because he never did slow down he had the edge on them.

Imagine lap after lap at 5,000 rpm for 500 miles....in a flathead Plymouth!?!?

We know he did it and so did others.

So I don't think we can call B.S. on that.

He said the car handled better than the big engine V8s, didn't use tires and was easy on fuel, so he made fewer pit stops and had fewer accidents because of blown tires.

He just motored around lap after lap his objective was finishing in the top 5 where he could make money racing.

This is what I am talking about!

This is what gives me satisfaction with these old things!

There's a story, a history and we can actually drive one.

[Rusty_OToole]

Those old flathead Chrysler products are foolers. They will continue to run without knocks or bangs in an advanced state of wear and decay, they just get harder to start, slower, and burn more oil and gas.

 

I know people who had their engines rebuilt and were surprised at how well they performed. Not race car stuff but plenty of pep to keep up with traffic. They knew their engine was worn but had no idea they were running on about half the original horsepower.

[JamesR]

I know this: I owned my '50 Plymouth not long after I bought my '54 Ford, and there was no comparison between the two in handling. The Plymouth's handling was nothing short of impressive for a low priced American car from the early fifties. The Ford had nowhere near the Plymouth's cornering abilities or "tautness" as they say. I'm sure Petty took advantage of this, as well. If Mopar could've put a 140 hp V-8 in that car, or done a Hudson Hornet type flathead six, that car might've been a real competitor. With the "fastback" the P-19 looked really cool, too.

[Rusty_OToole]

4 hours ago, JamesR said:

I know this: I owned my '50 Plymouth not long after I bought my '54 Ford, and there was no comparison between the two in handling. The Plymouth's handling was nothing short of impressive for a low priced American car from the early fifties. The Ford had nowhere near the Plymouth's cornering abilities or "tautness" as they say. I'm sure Petty took advantage of this, as well. If Mopar could've put a 140 hp V-8 in that car, or done a Hudson Hornet type flathead six, that car might've been a real competitor. With the "fastback" the P-19 looked really cool, too.

Funny you should say that. Dodge did offer a 140HP V8 from 1953 on. The Dodge hardtop coupe was the same wheelbase, basically the same chassis as the Plymouth.  Tom McCahill predicted it would make a good showing in stock car racing, whether it did I don't know.

[Richard1]

On 8/20/2021 at 9:15 PM, intimeold said:

Renault Dauphine, not even close to anything else. If it did get up to 45 mph downhill, it was unsafe, as it would not handle safely.

The key to stability, as in all cars with a severe weight bias to the rear, is very low air pressure up front

I use this, although the US manual shows 14 up front.

Front 13

Rear 23

[intimeold]

4 hours ago, Richard1 said:

The key to stability, as in all cars with a severe weight bias to the rear, is very low air pressure up front

I use this, although the US manual shows 14 up front.

Front 13

Rear 23

OK, Sure

 

But on the Renault Dauphine; you certainly cannot look past the absolutely terrible rear suspension; that tended to fold under the car at any corner. 

 

Sure you have to maximize front grip; the rear suspension has to be in sync with the car. The Dauphine was a cheap throw-away car; not intended to be driven spiritly.  

[John Byrd]

4 hours ago, intimeold said:

OK, Sure

 

But on the Renault Dauphine; you certainly cannot look past the absolutely terrible rear suspension; that tended to fold under the car at any corner. 

 

Sure you have to maximize front grip; the rear suspension has to be in sync with the car. The Dauphine was a cheap throw-away car; not intended to be driven spiritly.  

intimeold, I think your sentence may be too long. According to the two Dauphines in my old home town, they must have been intended to not drive at all, as I never seen either one of them get all the way out of their driveways, ha ha ! I'm almost embarrassed to say it, but I still really like the looks of them tho'....

[edinmass]

 

 

As far as "slow" cars are concerned. Back in the 30's and 40's most VMCCA and AACA meets had the slowest car contest to cross the field.......sometimes passengers would hold a tray with champigne while the cars were driven over sand bags......all while going at less than a walking pace. Car events sure have changed. We won't mention the balance table.........

[Zimm63]

I didn't own it, but married into it.  1978 Monza with the iron duke 4 cylinder.  Auto trans and air conditioning.  I could out run the stinking thing on foot, especially up hill.   Pretty sure it had less horsepower than I got fingers and toes.  Add in late 70s emission controls, and you get the picture.  

 

What a terrible POS that car was.  We got 100K out of it, mostly due to me being stubborn and fixing all the stuff that went wrong with it along the way.  Could not keep front tires on it.  Best alignment guy around told me those cars simply didn't have the structure in the front end to stay in alignment.  

 

Still got the wife, but glad that car has been gone for about 40 years.  

Edited December 14, 2021 by Zimm63 (see edit history)

[Porsche 68]

Early Volkswagen Rabbit diesels had 4 of them loved every single one 52 miles to the gallon no matter how you drove it It would be screaming at 75 mph and it would take forever to get there 

[trini]

A 1986 Volaray  6 cylinder . Bought it used from a lady school teacher who drove it not more than 30 MPH, 15 miles a day to school, from new ,for a few years. I tried to drive it on the freeway . With the pedal to the metal it will not go more than 55 MPH. Very dangerous on the freeway. Sold it after a couple months.  

[oldcarfudd]

My wife had a diesel Rabbit.  She had a 60-mile one-way commute to graduate school.  Our other car was a full size Ford van to haul kids, bikes, skis, - - - .  The rule was, load permitting, whoever was going  further took the Rabbit.  We flew gliders in those days.  Once, the two of us hauled a little Schweizer 1-26 glider and two bicycles on an open trailer to Vermont behind the Rabbit.  We climbed the pass east of Rutland in second gear at 22 mph, lowing smoke like a tramp steamer.  Fun times.  Good car.

[trini]

Drove a 12 mile return trip to work with a Rabbit diesel. About 9 miles of that trip was freeway driving. Before changing lanes I had to make sure the intended lane was a 1/4  mile clear behind. Now I shudder to think the chances I took with my life. 

[SC38dls]

9 hours ago, edinmass said:

 

 

As far as "slow" cars are concerned. Back in the 30's and 40's most VMCCA and AACA meets had the slowest car contest to cross the field.......sometimes passengers would hold a tray with champigne while the cars were driven over sand bags......all while going at less than a walking pace. Car events sure have changed. We won't mention the balance table.........

Ed, all those cars ended up in South Dakota where they had a 5 mph speed limit. My dad got pulled over in a small town in SD for doing 7 mph in a 5 mph zone. We were coming back to Chicago from MT Rushmore in a 49 Plymouth 2 door that had been put together from two cars. The cop let him off when he saw three kids and a dog in the back seat. He did tell dad to never bring that car back to his town. Dad talked about that speed trap all the time. 
dave s