I find it interesting that due to the current event cancellations, people are lamenting the fact that their rods, customs and collector cars are parked in the garage with nowhere to take them.
My question: Why??
So there are no organized car shows. Need to run to the grocery store? Grab your mask, roll that hot rod out of the garage and go. Gas is cheap (relatively speaking!) and the car is ready so why not? There are a growing number of “social distance” cruises being organized around the country and those are great. But why limit your driving to organized events? If you have an errand to run, and your area isn’t under some sort of lock-down, drive your old car.
Okay, maybe you’re worried about wear and tear on your showpiece. But the chances are that iron in your garage has been through some seriously tough stuff long before you got it. Years ago, I personally knew of a ’57 Chevy 2-door sedan in my rural area that was used by a local farmer who ripped out the back seat and used it to haul a pig or two to a local market. Plenty of these old cars were used as field cars. If you’re an urbanite and don’t know what a “field car” is, do some research. They raised plenty of dust trails on rural roads and bounced across countless furrows on the back forty. That, in fact, was the history behind a ’62 Pontiac I revived some years ago. So really, where does the kid glove treatment we give these cars today fit in?
How about helping support area corn farmers and local industry and running some of that ethanol-blend through it? Lots of folks argue against its use and that’s perfectly okay, but in my experience I’ve used ethanol-blended gas in every one of my old cars and given the proper precautions (i.e., the right type of fuel line) I’ve not had a bit of trouble. Maybe that’s just dumb luck. But I’ve never been one to leave my old cars parked for very long. I don’t give the fuel a chance to get old or absorb anything. If my current project wasn’t still a project, it would be out on the road.
Right where it belongs.
I’ll leave you with a little something courtesy of the Roadsters Twin Cities, out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. I think they have the right idea.
Want a few more of my thoughts on driving? Click here: Winding It Down
Or, here: The REAL Reason….
Dig the drive!
Terry's Garage 