What would be a good one for daily driver? ;-)

[Mika Jaakkola]

OK, this may sound a little strange.. I think I will need a daily driver (never had one).. But I don't want any "normal" one.. So I have enough time to look around. I'll have to get one at the end of this year. My new job forces me to have one.

Actually, they offered me a 2001 VW Polo for free, but I din't want that one. I had a good excuse.. It doesn't burn enough gas Yes, I guess my boss didn't understand what I was after..

No, I have never owned a car newer that '64 And I'm really considering one from ..let's say.. '46-'55?

What would be the best option?! I had a '49-'50 Ford on my mind, though I'm more a MoPar guy.

V8, easy to fix, cheap to maintain, looks nice, 4 doors , lot's of repro parts available.

Any ideas?

[Bob Kinker]

These are out of your age parameters, but your Imperial would fill the bill, including the gas consumption. A mid 60's Dodge or Plymouth would be good also. I have a 64 Plymouth belvedere 4 door, V-8 auto. dependable & easy to drive!

i have pics of it in the Plymouth photos section of this web site!

Bob

[Guest Moepar]

I'd say probably something with a 318 would be a good option as for a small block, 383 & 440 for a big block. One advantage of having a big block or a truck with a V* of any size is that you automatically get the 727 trans if you're looking for an automatic (more heavy duty than the 904 small block/slant 6 auto trans). Otherwise, if your looking for a manual (I'm not as familiar with mopar manual trans) get a later 60's early 70's. I understand from a club member who used to work at Chrysler in the early 60's & a former member of the ram chargers team, that the early 60's manual trans were a bit weak (under hard use like racing), & tended to break their pin gears with hard use.

The 318's & 360's were built up til recently (last 4/5 years or so, & the 440s were discounted a little earlier than that for truck & motorhome use.

In any case, good luck in your search. As far as a good riding type of car, I like the full size C bodies '71 & earlier. '72 & later I don't think are as reliable as Chrysler started having quality issues then & the full size cars (with the platform change in '72) were the first to see problems. A bodies were pretty good through about 75/76 models when they had their platform change.

[Uncle Remus!]

SAAB 92 or 93

[wldavis]

Mika,

Well, considering the year range you desire and you being a Mopar

guy, there is only one Plymouth that would be "V-8, easy to fix,

cheap to maintain, looks nice and 4 door". But, you couldn't say

"lots of repro parts available" for a '55 Plymouth, or any Mopar of

that era. An early '50's Chrysler would be nice, with the small

hemi, if you could find such. There is (I think) just not a lot

of parts available for these cars (new or reproduction). So, seems

to me that your only choice is a Ford.

[Mika Jaakkola]

Thanks for you replies guys -

Of course, all those parameters weren't so accurate.

I guess I could manage without V8 ;-) or "lot's ofr repro parts available"

I guess '46-'51 MoPars would be a cheap cars to get.. atleast as a 4 door?

What comes to old Saab.. I wouldn't touch them even with a long stick! Nor other european/japanese cars. I have only had USA cars in my life, and let's keep it that way

[Guest De Soto Frank]

Mike,

The MoPars probably have a lower initial purchase-price, and most if not all mechanicals are readily available.

If you get one that's complete and in good shape (so that you don't have to hunt for missing parts or fix lots of body rot), it should serve you well.

For best economy/easy of parts and greatest possibility of repro items, I would suggest a Plymouth: '46-'48 P-15, and the other Plymouth sixes (except '54-'55 models with Hy-Drive - maintenance nightmare).

Chevy sixes of the same vintage are farily common, and parts/repro avail is good. Expect to pay more for the vehicle than a comparable MoPar.

If your habit includes high-speed driving (50 MPH and up), better find something with a V-8; the old straight sixes aren't happy beyond 50-55 MPH. (Sorry- you'll have to do your own kph convert...I'm not that smart! )

I'm amused by your response to the idea of an old Saab...I've sort of had a hankerin' for an old slab-sided two-stroke Saab...I guess part of it is the "weirdness" quotient...

There's actually one running around the Wilkes-Barre area - I believe it belongs to a college professor !

Good Hunting !

[Guest AlK]

Mika:

Try this one. I have a 62 Dodge Dart 440 with a push button 225 Slant-6

for sale. You can view the car at this site:

http://community.webtv.net/lordladymopak/THEKAHLS. Unfortunatly you will have to wade thru the other pictures to get to it, but look at the car called the ROOTBEER FLOAT. If you have any questions, you can email me at:

lordladymopak@webtv.net. The white 64 Dart covertible is also for sale, it has the 170 C.I slant six with push button drive.

[Guest Moepar]

Don't blame you on not doing the Saab thing. My dad had one & he referred to that as his "saab (sob) story"