Driving Your New (Old) Classic/Vintage Vehicle Home Is Always The Best Way To Transport It (If It Will Make The Trip)

[Trulyvintage]

Driving your vehicle is what most 

folks enjoy doing - if you purchase

a vehicle and need to get it home

and if you think it will make the trip …

 

Consider driving it …

 

I am starting this thread in hopes 

that folks who have done that 

successfully can post helpful 

and useful advice for others

to consider …

 

Please post your personal experiences

and firsthand advice to help others

 

This gentleman sums things up nicely:

 

6 hours ago, gwells said:

I purchased a 1930 Model A coupe in Fairfield, CT, on Monday evening, June 26, and drove it home to Atlanta, traversing the almost all of the Blue Ridge Parkway en route and arriving home on July 3.

 

It all depends on the car and your skills. In fall of 2014, I bought a 1930 Model A sedan off eBay in McMinnville, OR, and drove it back to Atlanta, but my older son and I drove out, so I had a chase car behind me with tools and a parts supply on that trip. This time, the car was in such condition that I did the trip solo.

Did I have troubles? Yes, but nothing major and the old car community came out to help me when I needed help.

When I was considering driving the sedan from OR back in 2014, I called my best man, the late Donald R. Peterson (West's father, if you don't know), to ask if that was a good idea.

 

He said, "Do it. You'll learn more about the car in two weeks than you will in ten years of attending local car shows."

 

If you're on Facebook, here's the link to my personal page. Scroll down to see the various episode posts. Still have a couple of episodes to post.

 

https://www.facebook.com/gregory.wells.790

 

[Trulyvintage]

If you cannot personally drive

the vehicle you purchased 

home from where you bought it …

 

Consider a household or

family member or friend 

to drive it home for you.

 

Check with your insurance agent

about a rider naming someone

specific to operate your vehicle

for the trip - the cost in minimal.

 

 

Jim

Edited July 6, 2023 by Trulyvintage (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

(If it will make the trip)

 

And therein lies the rub.

 

There are no guarantees, but with most old cars the odds are against you. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. You won't know until the rain starts and it's 10 PM and you're in the most remote stretch of highway in North America with no cellular service.

 

My response to guys who want to drive their new purchases home: Do you feel lucky?

 

Having had nearly 7000 cars pass through my hands and seeing the wildly varying standards to which their owners maintained them, I think it's foolhardy to try to drive an unknown, untested old car long distances. I haven't somehow managed to find the only 7000 cars with bugs. They ALL have issues, some obvious and some not. You don't find them until you drive it. Personally, I'd rather be near home when I find out rather than three states away.

[Gary_Ash]

If it will make the trip...

 

That's a big if, and how would any of us know.  Back in 1996, I wanted a Studebaker, bought a 1965 Studebaker Wagonaire from a couple near Bangor, Maine based on an ad in the Studebaker Club's "Turning Wheels" magazine.  I had some confidence that I was being dealt with fairly as they were club members of long standing.  Based on some photos they sent me, I mailed them a check for the car, received the title and registration in the mail, and obtained a registration, license plates, and insurance in Massachusetts.  I flew from Boston to Bangor where they picked me up at the airport and drove to  their home.  I put the new plates on the car, waved goodbye to them, and took off down I-95.  Remarkably, I made it home to the Boston area after 300 miles with no problems.  Of course, it transpired that the car needed lots of work and many new parts.  But, here it is 27 years later and I'm still driving the car.  There have been many major projects, like a rebuilt engine, a rebuilt automatic transmission, and significant body and paint work, but we have put 50,000 miles on the car and are willing to drive it anywhere.  It's been to Indiana several times.

 

When we take one of our old cars on the road, we recognize that the day may end differently than we planned.  If the car breaks, we get it it flat-bedded home if we are within 200 miles.  If farther away, we seek help of Studebaker Club members, find a shop to do the repairs, and eventually get home.  The adventure is just part of the hobby.

 

Our 1965 Studebaker Commander Wagonaire. Built with a GM 283 V8, automatic transmission, power disk brakes.  It did receive new front fenders, new rear quarter panels, new rocker panels, new paint, and a new interior after I bought it. But, how many people drive a car for more than 25 years?

[hidden_hunter]

I know the 22 cad looks a bit like a boat but she probably wouldn’t have made it back from the US to Australia 

[R Walling]

I have several cars and when I first drive them in the spring after a long  winters nap, I only take short trips with my phone besides me.

 Gremlins never sleep when your car is in storage!

 

😝

[Guest]

Im picking up a 1929 Buick and would have considered driving it home after putting the new tires and some form of fuel tank in it BUT. . .

 

I had to get to the location and as my son is only 8 we would have to fly, take a train, or rent a car to get to the location as we would be lacking a second driver.  So a trailer it is.  I did pick up a 66 Bonneville years back and drove it back from Seattle to Boise.

[charlespetty]

I bought a 1953 Cadillac with 38,000 original miles off of Ebay in 2004 that was located in the Oakland California area.  The owner assured me it was in excellent driving condition, so I took a chance on driving it home.  No one was available to go with me and I maybe being foolhardy took the Greyhound bus 230 miles to pick it up.  The Cadillac was as described and I started out for home.  I made it home without any problems except no high beam headlights due to a non-functional Autronic eye.  Not more than a month later I had to replace the water pump and all four brake cylinders.  
The only other car I drove home any distance was my 1937 Lincoln Model K two window Judkins berline.  The Judkins was shipped via a well known auto transport company, but their trucks were too long for a portion of highway 101 that restricted the length of semi - tractor/trailers.  This time my wife came with me and followed me 125 miles home in our modern car.  We made it home alright, but the Judkins didn't have much power up the hills limiting me to about 45mph uphill with my wife following me with her emergency flashers on.  Turned out the fuel pump diaphragm had a few pinholes.  I've never attempted driving an unknown car home a long distance again.  

[TexRiv_63]

I agree with Matt on this. I have owned a lot of cars and I have NEVER bought one that did not have some kind of problem that needed correcting before driving was truly safe. When I bought my 63 Olds Starfire the seller said it was in such good shape he would deliver it to me from Colorado to Texas for the cost of a return ticket. He did so and did make it but miraculously. After checking it out it had oil leaks that coated the entire bottom of the car and dripped off the rear bumper, one of the rear tires had a sidewall cut down to the cord from a misplaced exhaust bracket, the brakes needed pumping up each time you wanted to stop, and the front suspension bushings were so badly worn that it made a loud clunk each time you touched the brakes. 

[plymouthcranbrook]

In 2007 I got the idea of buying a newer Plymouth for many reasons but primarily to have a newer car to drive to POC events that were often 2-3 hours away from me one way. I watched E-Bay and after losingt out on several I saw, bid on, and won a 1980 Volare with supposedly 8500 miles from new. It took about three weeks for me to get organized and I decided to see if I could drive it home.  The current owner had done a small amount of work on it at the local Goodyear shop. Fuel pump, oil change, a couple of other things as well.  It was in Cincinnati and I live north of Chicago near the Wi. Line. This was my second old car purchase and I had the first brought home on a flatbed at a distance if about 60 miles.  I got together a bunch of tools, some oil, coolant, trans fluid, two dogs, one daughter, and a wife. We left late on a Friday night and got to the motel early Saturday morning. Met the owner, inspected the car and got an Ohio drive away plate. We filled up and took off on the expressway.  Figured out right away that mostly sitting for 27 years in a heated garage was good for some things but did the tires no good at all. Terribly out of round all four of them. Limited my top speed to about 55 or so unless I wanted to vibrate off the road. Surprisingly enough that was the only issue I had to deal with. Didn’t use any oil to speak of and no loss of trans fluid or coolant at all.  After I got it home and did a good inspection of it I did find some areas that could have caused a problem but nothing particularly dangerous.  After reading about what others have dealt with I came to the conclusion I was lucky. So it can be done if things go right and you are as prepared as you can be for problems. That said should the unlikely event of me buying another old vehicle ever occur farther away than the other side of the county I will have it delivered.

[Dan Cluley]

You just never know. 

I flew from Michigan to Alabama to buy my '04 LeSabre and drive it 1000 miles home.  A reasonably modern car, only 15 years old, and inspected.  Still had a couple of minor issues on the trip.

 

Drove my '65 Chrysler 50-60 miles the first day I had it because I wasn't knowledgeable enough to worry about it.  Other than a quick temporary fix to get the rear lights working had no problems.   I suspect that one would have been just fine for a couple hundred mile trip.

 

On the other hand the '74 Dart needed a battery & a gas can to get it moved across the street, 4 tires before I'd leave the block, a month's work before I would trust it more than 20 minutes from home and at least a year before I had all the quirks figured out.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Dan Cluley (see edit history)

[Soupiov]

Back in 1964 I was working for a doctor who collected cars.  He bought a 1924 Cadillac touring from a man in Maryland and sent me down by train to drive it back.  I was nervous but the Cadillac made it back to Long Island New York without missing a beat.  A year later he had me deliver a 1936 Rolls  from Long Island to Buffalo.  Again the car never missed a beat.  Don't think I would do anything like that these days!

[critterpainter]

About 15 years ago a friend of mine drove 35 miles to pick up the 1939 Buick Special he just bought.   The transport driver said it ran well when he loaded it on the transport.  It started right up! That was a good thing because the battery was almost dead.  Transport driver didn't mention that he snagged the exhaust and ripped it loose.  Made the car sound powerful!   Got on the freeway and managed to wind it up to about 40MPH before it topped out.   Managed to make it to the first gas station without running out of gas.  Bob drove all the backroads all the way home.  The next day I replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, and ignition points.   While I was at it I cleaned the advance mechanism and replaced the vacuum advance.   I did a valve adjustment with the engine at idle and could hear the idle smooth out as I progressed through the adjustment.  Next day the exhaust system got replaced.  Bob drove it back from the muffler shop and said it was a totally different car!

[Trulyvintage]

I am in the Tacoma, Washington area

thru the end of the week - one of the

places I will visit is The LeMay 

Family Collection At Marymount.

 

I was fortunate enough to interview

of of the students who attended the

Marymount Military Academy before

it closed in 1975 - he showed me his

certificate of graduation.

 

There are looped video kiosks 

throughout the museum - one

has interviews of the Ladies that

Harold LeMay would send out to

pick up cars he bought around the

area and drive them back to Marymount.

 

It was always quite the adventure …

 

 

Jim

 

 

 

[Rivguy]

I have driven two old car purchases home from quite a distance. The first was my '71 Riviera that i bought in Bakersfield. The car was 20 years old but looked to be in very good shape. I drove down with a buddy in my two year old '90 Honda Civic. He followed me back to San Jose, about 350 miles. No problems with the Riv, but later, when an oil leak in the timing case was repaired I found it had a worn timing chain and sprocket.

The second was my '97 Jaguar XJ6, in 2015. The car had been owned by a mechanic. I had checked out the car while in LA on other business. I gave the seller a deposit and returned with a rented car that I returned to the Enterprise office near the sellers shop. My Wife and I drove back to San Jose. No problems at all. I drove that car fearlessly for two years. If I was going to own a Jag, I was going to drive a Jag!

However I wouldn't drive an untried vintage car that distance, I'd rather do a thorough inspection and shakedown runs closer to my own neighborhood. Luckily I have a truck and have rented trailers to bring two other cars home from the LA area. 

[TexRiv_63]

I would not do it today but back when I lived in Illinois I bought and flipped or parted MANY cars. I always drove them home because I did not have the money to do anything else. The only exception was a '70 Eldorado that had a locked up front wheel. I did have some adventures as a lot of these cars were real junkers but I always had someone in a backup vehicle and - I was young.