Yes, I guess I am really getting old

[Guest JDHolmes]

Reading the post about shifting a standard 3 on the tree, I'm sitting here thinking, "Wow, I must be getting old." I don't really feel "old" (except in the morning when my back is sore and creaking). My youngest kid is in college though...hmmm. Old? maybe.

A 64 Chevy 3 on the tree was my first car. Everyone knew how to drive a stick on the tree in those days...we all had standards it seemed.

So, I'm thinking...for us late 40 somethings...what else do I remember that makes me "seem to be old?"

I remember gas at 32 cents a gallon and not thinking twice about pulling into the station for 50 cents worth to make the end of the week.

What about you?

(this is also more a post to add some flavor or discussion here than anything else)

[R Walling]

Your not old unless you remember using "Tire Liners"!

[kuhner]

Truck I learned to drive on was 3 on the tree.

Does anyone remember the mid-60s Ford automatics, that once they were older the driver had to sort of loop their left arm over the steering wheel and hold up the selector to get get it to start. The safety switch got a little sloppy and would not make contact. I had one.

greg

[Carbuff2]

I Guess I qualify for ancient ..... I remember having a 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Business Coupe .... very nice car with of course 3 speed standard transmission on the tree .... the really cool deal at that time was to disconnect the shifting rods on the underside by the transmission, swinging the shift lever from the right side of the steering column to the left side, reconnect the rods and you could shift with your left hand .... WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT YOU ASK? .... so that when you went out with your special girl your right hand could be around her as she sat next to you .... Seat Belts were not invented (I guess) as I don't know of any car that had them ..... Does anyone out there remember this or am I the oldest? Paul

[Shop Rat]

I remember when there wasn't such thing as a seatbelt, or car seats for kids. Well unless you count the one my mom and dad got for me. It was made of thin wood and had two metal hooks that slipped over the back of the front seat. It allowed me to see out of the windshield. Coolest feature....the little white steering wheel attached to it with the red horn button that went "beep", kind of like the sound a dog toy makes, each time I pushed it. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Peter Gariepy]

I learned how to drive in a 51 Chevy pickup... in the desert no less. 3 on the tree, and bad clutch to boot! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My 17 yo daughter learned how to drive in both modern cars (air conditioning, automatic trans, etc.) AND a beat up 1963 Volkswagen with 4 on the floor and a "touchy" clutch. I tell you what... she REALLY appreciates her cushy 1998 Chrysler daily driver!

My daily driver as a teen was the best of both worlds... a 1948 New Yorker with a Fluid Drive transmission. Best of both worlds means that i still had a clutch... but i could ignore it if i wanted to drive like a grandmother of 98years old! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My daily driver now is a 1978 Datsun 280z with a STICK! Woohoo! I still enjoying shifting myself. Damn the automatic! (But sure would be nice to drive a Ferrari with those new steering wheel "paddles") <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Peter

P.S. My 17yo daughter just got her first speeding ticket. 41 in a 30. Gonna cost her $151 dollars and a day in traffic survival school. My wife said - "so what should her consequences be for getting a ticket?"... my response... "$151 dollars and a day in traffic survival school." <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[The Old Guy]

I learned to drive on a 29 Buick! Mechanical brakes and a floor shifted 3 speed that had bad syncros. I did not have a Ford that could have the shifter switched, but I had a 40 Chev , and the shifter was held at the top with a pin. I got an extra shift lever and welded it to the original and reinstalled it, That gave me a left hand lever for dating, and a 2 handed set up for overcoming the slow vacuum when you were racing.

[Guest windjamer]

With one exception so far your all youngsters. I first drove a ford with pedels, dont have any idea what year it was. The first car I ever bought was a 42 ford. Paid 60 dollers for it and fixed flats at 35 cents each to pay for it. I mean take em off brake em down take em apart patch em put them back togather and put them back on the car. You learned not to pinch the tube real quick. At 14 yo took me one whole year to pay for it befor i got to drive it. How many kids you know would do it today?? Gas at the station was 13 cents a gal. (gulftain) and i drove all over town on cardboard lic. plates. Believe it or not, wish i could go back. Those where good days. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />Dick

[Dave@Moon]

I remember when if a company had major layoffs it's stock price went <span style="text-decoration: underline">down</span>.

I remember when car models came in more than one body style.

I remember car models (different kind made of plastic) in the five and ten cent store.

I remember the five and ten cent store.

I remember when aftermarket stereos were a bargain compared to the "factory radio".

I remember having to be told where the ignition switch was when getting in a car for the first time.

I remember that whistling noise that vent windows made after a few years.

I remember that in my 1976 suburban high school graduating class of 803 not one kid owned or drove a truck or 4WD.

I remember feeling sorry for Harley-Davidson buyers in the AMF years.

I remember when gas stations changed names but not trademarks when you crossed state lines.

I remember being a little scared that there'd be an unaware cop around the first time I made a right turn on red.

I remember wondering what you're supposed to do when <span style="text-decoration: underline">yellow</span> lights started flashing on a school bus.

I remeber when $100 was a good car that'd pass (PA) inspection, and $50 was a rough car that'd probably get through with some work.

I remeber when I used to be bored by lists like this.

[1937hd45]

I really miss driving around in late fall/winter and spoting 1930-31 Fords in the woods with their stainless steel headlights and radiator shells revealing their location. I'm sad that new members of the hobby will never see Pre War cars outside waiting to be found. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[RocketDude]

I well remember moving the column shifters from the right to the left side of the column. We called 'em "Lover's Shifters" for obvious reasons. As long as it took to maneuver your right hand into just that perfect position, you didn't want to remove it every time you had to shift..!

[kuhner]

Manual Chokes

greg

[Jim Bollman]

The thing I remember about 3 on the tree is that several of the ones I had over the years were worn enough that they would get stuck in second gear. The only fix was to shut off the engine open the hood and realign the linkage. Worse time that happened was when I was in college with my 62 Metropolitan. Was going in to Chicago for some long forgotten reason. I was on a major road, multiple lanes wide, that goes under a building (those familiar with Chicago probably know where I'm talking about, memory says it was the post office) with a stop light roughly where you come out from under the building. Yep stuck in 2nd when I tried to down shift at the light, and a Metro doesn't really have a lot of extra power to start in 2nd. Was like a Chinese fire drill getting it fixed before to many drivers lost their temper. Luckily tempers seem to take longer to over heat back then.

[Tom M]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">(those familiar with Chicago probably know where I'm talking about, memory says it was the post office) </div></div>You got it right it was the Post Office.

[CarlLaFong]

Having to be told where the gas filler is. Rear window wipers (got one on my Scion X box), Venetian blinds in the rear window, Smokey the Bear ashtrays stuck on the dash, also fans, compasses, signal finders. Static straps hanging from the rear bumper. Also, nobody drove pickups, except workmen

[Rusty_OToole]

Anybody remember sandblasting their spark plugs? This was a standard part of a tuneup when I started in the garage business.

Anybody remember tuneups? How about washing your air filter?

Also pushing a button on the dash to start the engine instead of turning a key. Or pushing the gas pedal to the floor, or the clutch pedal, to start the engine.

How about spark intensifiers that went on your coil?

Pumping up your tires every week because the natural rubber tubes were porous and never sealed completely?

Oil change and grease job every 1000 miles, tuneup every 5000, motor job every 20,000 or 30,000?

Weren't the good old days peachy? Don't think I could stand to live like that again. But it's fun to visit.

[Guest rbl2]

Pushing a button on the dash to start your car. WOW, when did they think of that? I have to push a button on the floor to start my Chevy.

I have to wash out the oil filter in it every 10k. I'm not worried about it though, it'll be a real long time before I get 10 k on that engine.

I remember all that stuff you mentioned. I lived it. Didn't think anything of it at the time.

I also remember never locking my doors at night, sometimes we slept with the door open. Leaving the key in the ignition so we wouldn't lose it, stopping for strangers broke down alongside the road or people hitch hiking. We ALWAYS stopped for a soldier or a sailor who was hitch hiking. Hell, we'd stop if they weren't hitch hiking. I remember being spanked by the neighbors for messing up and being spanked again when I got home. Same thing with school, the teacher was always right and if she said we deserved it, we deserved it, no questions asked. I remember bringing rifles to school because I either had just been deer hunting or was going again after school. Sex was in the bedroom or the back seat of the car, not on tv. Yes, car seats were big enough to stretch out in. I also remember music you could not only sing along with, you could dance to.

One thing that really hurts in the overall view of things is the memories I have of strangers patting us on the head, buying us an ice cream or a coke. Where's the pain in that? Try that today and you might end up in jail. One of my more fond memories of being in Kosovo and Iraq is being able to be nice to the kids and people thinking we were being just that, nice, and not a pervert.

I remember those days, yes. I remember them well. Certainly society has improved in many ways, but at what cost?

[Guest windjamer]

Post deleted by Peter Gariepy

[Guest rbl2]

Post deleted by Peter Gariepy

[TG57Roadmaster]

An old lady friend of mine told me that she'd had to go pick up her 2 grandkids from school the other day in her S-10 Chevy truck. On the way home, one of 'em said, "Granny, put my window down, it's hot in here", to which she replied, "Roll it down yourself if you're so warm."

The boy looked around on the door, then quizzically back at her, and asked, "Where's the button?"

Laughing, she replied, "See that handle with the circle and a knob on it? It's call a window crank."

TG <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

[Guest rbl2]

A year or so back I seen a teenager who couldn't work a dial type phone.

Another good one is to have a young person look at a regular watch/clock and ask them what time it is.

Or... tell one it's 10 til, or 20 til, something like that, as opposed to x50 or x40. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Dosmo]

Born in 1953, I?ll be 54 later this year. Old enough to remember that some car-related things about the good old days were indeed really good, while other things definitely weren?t that good. Some of the good; nice, wide bench seats of a 60 Pontiac ? wide enough to be able to lay completely down comfortably and stare up at the stars with favorite babe; my Dad teaching me to put a car into a controlled slide on a gravel road, and the looks on my buddies faces the first time I did it with them in the car; the stunned look on the face of the guy I took $20 from after outrunning his 1970 Chevy Pickup w/six banger with my 55 Dodge Pickup w/V8. Some of the not-so-good; a 59 Ford w/223 6-cyl 3 on tree worn completely out with less than 45,000 miles, driven by my mother ? what a cheap, cheap, cheesy car, I hated that thing; the gas pedal linkage on a 60 Stude Lark falling completely through the floorboard after foolishly flooring the car nearly every time I got the chance ? it wasn?t easy to fish that thing back up through the hole and straighten out the little rod that inserted into the back of the pedal, especially at night; the weak rear axles on that Lark, one of which snapped unexpectedly after I slung the car around a curve ? the look on the guy?s face walking down the shoulder of the road as he realized the broken-off wheel of the Lark was about to run him down from behind was priceless. Yes, most of the things I?ve talked about here were a result of my own behavior - I do think that the cars of yesterday had more personality and character, but I actually feel better that my kids are growing up driving cars from today?s era. I think they are safer and better-engineered

[wldavis]

J.D. and the others,

I was born in '46, but there are many times when I think I really missed

out not being able to drive 20's and 30's cars when they were new or just

a little old. I got my driver's license driving a '54 Ford two door V8

with a three speed manual. One semi-funny story -- while still in high

school, my Dad let me convert it to a floor shift. A buddy of mind had a

real nice '55 Chevrolet, 6 cyl, 3 speed, and he begged his Dad to let him

do the same conversion to a floor shift. His Dad told him (in my presence)

that the auto companies had spent millions of dollars moving the gear shift

lever from the floor to the steering column, and there was no way that he

was going to spend more money to put the shifter back on the floor.