Classics as Dailys; Opinions

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Damo generally you post ok but honestly when it comes to old school you have NFI...sorry.

Probably because I was born in 1991 and "old school" to me is the 90s .

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

Only stopped because trying to fit the kids in the back was getting tight as they were getting older.

You should see my Galaxie Coupe, its an aircraft carrier with 2 doors

Real estate is not an issue in this coupe....

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Probably because I was born in 1991 and "old school" to me is the 90s .

Drive a classic Damo. Seriously, youll look at modern cars in a different light.

[Polyal]

Just to add. I have only had my little Alfa for 4 months now. Not on the road yet but I got a temp reg to get soem work done to it.

Anyway, I have not smiled so hard just driving in ages. Everyone gives the thumbs up and you really feel the connection with the car and road.

Its something that modern cars have no clue about, which you can argue is good, but for learners Ill argue that its something you should understand.

"Driving" is just to easy now, hence IMO why we have so many issues.

Damo you need to come to an AFF meet and go cruising. I had an EL Ghia too once, really really nice car but still very modern.

[Spammy]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

all this crapping on and putting them in the too hard basket for dailys is a load of bs...

please hand in your man cards at the door..

once upon a time these things were dailys.. in fact every bloody day cars.......

just like the best washing machine, Tele, fridge from 40 years ago - all crap when compared with modern equipment

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by Spammy

just like the best washing machine, Tele, fridge from 40 years ago - all crap when compared with modern equipment

pffffffft......

i like to drive buddy.. steering wheel attendant not for me......

[Spammy]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

pffffffft......

i like to drive buddy.. steering wheel attendant not for me......

I like to drive too . I've had historic open wheeler race cars, old Fiats, old Alfas etc etc but my best daily was my Range Rover. High seating with front armrests, auto, cruise, sunroof and easy power steering. Even my BMW 3 series convertible was a pain as a daily compared to the Rangie

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Scotty85

Drive a classic Damo. Seriously, youll look at modern cars in a different light.

I must admit the style and look of the 1966 American Fairlane/Galaxie really appeals to me. Same with Chevy Impala of the same year.

I wouldn't mind a classic car, but i'd do it "pro-street" style, old body, modern everything else, digital guages, power steering, 4 wheel power assisted discs, EFI engine etc.

While I'm at it:

http://www.efisupply.com/fast_ez_efi.htm

Has had me interested for a while when I first come across it, would be a good addition to cars with old V8s like Clevos etc, its a basic center point injection style system though.

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I must admit the style and look of the 1966 American Fairlane/Galaxie really appeals to me. Same with Chevy Impala of the same year.

I wouldn't mind a classic car, but i'd do it "pro-street" style, old body, modern everything else, digital guages, power steering, 4 wheel power assisted discs, EFI engine etc.

Dont go & ruin the experience mate.

Analog, carburetted & man-steering. Be the envy of yuppies everywhere

You wont regret it.

[te250]

My daily driver is an xb ute. It has a full GS interior, power steering, 5 speed gearbox and a 250 2V. I drive it anywhere and everywhere. I prefer to drive it than a lot of new cars. For the last fortnight ive had to drive to Toowoomba and back each day for tafe, about 40 kays each way. The fuel economy was actually pretty good. The only things about it which were annoying was the fact that it isnt a auto, which would have been great for heavy traffic, and the exhaust scrapes on speed bumps. Apart from that, its great.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by te250

My daily driver is an xb ute. It has a full GS interior, power steering, 5 speed gearbox and a 250 2V. I drive it anywhere and everywhere. I prefer to drive it than a lot of new cars. For the last fortnight ive had to drive to Toowoomba and back each day for tafe, about 40 kays each way. The fuel economy was actually pretty good. The only things about it which were annoying was the fact that it isnt a auto, which would have been great for heavy traffic, and the exhaust scrapes on speed bumps. Apart from that, its great.

a mate of mine fitted electronic ignition to one of these a few weeks ago and is geting 10l / 100km

[Polyal]

Ok so these are currently in the US but seriously, for the price of a mid sizer you could have...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-...6e8ff6b2#v4-38

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-...#ht_894wt_1064

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PANTH...t_25300wt_1002

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/440-S...#ht_814wt_1064

How much?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-...#ht_758wt_1064

Sure in the cbd maybe not a flash idea. Give a greeny the bird while you cruise past in one of those babies!

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Ok so these are currently in the US but seriously, for the price of a mid sizer you could have...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-...6e8ff6b2#v4-38

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-...#ht_894wt_1064

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PANTH...t_25300wt_1002

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/440-S...#ht_814wt_1064

How much?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-...#ht_758wt_1064

Sure in the cbd maybe not a flash idea. Give a greeny the bird while you cruise past in one of those babies!

this has a little merit, and if you pick somthing with loacal type equivilent a right hand drive conversion isnt overly expencive or dificult (Falcon / mustang the gauge cluster left to right steering box drag link & pitman arm and bam your pretty much on your way)

the $$ is still reaonably strong, standard cars arnt overly difficult to get import approval for

and try getting a roughy of this type of stature over here for that sort of money

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

this has a little merit, and if you pick somthing with loacal type equivilent a right hand drive conversion isnt overly expencive or dificult (Falcon / mustang the gauge cluster left to right steering box drag link & pitman arm and bam your pretty much on your way)

the $$ is still reaonably strong, standard cars arnt overly difficult to get import approval for

and try getting a roughy of this type of stature over here for that sort of money

Import approvals isnt an issue... its the cost of shipping which is prohibitive.

[Uncle Tone]

My old Landau used to be a daily. Drove it anywhere and everywhere.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

It's all been discussed here:

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11359779

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

It's all been discussed here:

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11359779

Spoilsport.

[saber]

I'd have no dramas driving an XF as a daily.

My first car was an XF ute on LPG back in 2004. No air con, no rear demister, no power steering, and 3 on the tree!

Served me extremely well for the 4 years and over 100000km of driving I did in here. Yeah the car was using a bit of oil and coolant at the end of my reign of driving here, but so long as I had cash in the pocket to fill her with LPG, and a bottle of water & oil on hand, I'd wouldn't give it a second thought of jumping in her and driving 1000km+, whether it be in the freezing cold or 40c.

Curious fact: I did a quick rego check to see if the old girl is still running, and what do you know, she registered until 2013! I left here with 517000km on the clock back in the end of 08....wonder how many kays she's done now...

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by saber

I'd have no dramas driving an XF as a daily.

My first car was an XF ute on LPG back in 2004. No air con, no rear demister, no power steering, and 3 on the tree!

Served me extremely well for the 4 years and over 100000km of driving I did in here. Yeah the car was using a bit of oil and coolant at the end of my reign of driving here, but so long as I had cash in the pocket to fill her with LPG, and a bottle of water & oil on hand, I'd wouldn't give it a second thought of jumping in her and driving 1000km+, whether it be in the freezing cold or 40c.

Curious fact: I did a quick rego check to see if the old girl is still running, and what do you know, she registered until 2013! I left here with 517000km on the clock back in the end of 08....wonder how many kays she's done now...

I drove my ZL around on a permit & absolutely loved it. It may have been a boring ol' 250 EFI, but still had the "feel" of an oldie. Id happily drive it everyday. In fact, I cant wait to have it down here in April....

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Probably because I was born in 1991 and "old school" to me is the 90s .

awwww ya poor thing... every day get to work car when i was 17 was a V8 LJ... then upgraded Cosmic Blue XA GT.... every day rain or hail.. twas the way we rolled man....

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

this has a little merit, and if you pick somthing with loacal type equivilent a right hand drive conversion isnt overly expencive or dificult (Falcon / mustang the gauge cluster left to right steering box drag link & pitman arm and bam your pretty much on your way)

the $$ is still reaonably strong, standard cars arnt overly difficult to get import approval for

and try getting a roughy of this type of stature over here for that sort of money

Yeap NOTHING like that in AUS for the $$..not even close. You can keep these LHD aswell

And here is the kicker, could you argue by not buying a new car that you are saving the earth materials? One less order? These cars are already here. Recycling maaaaan

Also from a personal POV Id wager you would be making money on these things, not ****ing it into the wind with new car depreciation. (or atleast break even)

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

Import approvals isnt an issue... its the cost of shipping which is prohibitive.

It is really not that bad at all...off the top of my head Ive heard $5k all up

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

awwww ya poor thing... every day get to work car when i was 17 was a V8 LJ... then upgraded Cosmic Blue XA GT.... every day rain or hail.. twas the way we rolled man....

Except I wouldn't be able to drive that because its a V8

[flappist]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

all this crapping on and putting them in the too hard basket for dailys is a load of bs...

please hand in your man cards at the door..

once upon a time these things were dailys.. in fact every bloody day cars.......

Once upon a time mine employees used a pick and shovel, were paid the same as shop or office workers, worked 5.5 days a week and had to find their place to live and transport to work.

[Cabbage]

Originally Posted by Scotty85

This was exactly the sort of thing I had in mind. While its not easy to find yourself a "classic" Ford for peanuts (thats roadworthy) these days, I dont think id mind it. For example, a rough-round-the-edges ZH 'lane on gas, or something along those lines.

But this threads purpose was not to help me make my mind up, Id just love hear about other peoples ideas

I drove my grandfathers zh in Sydney for 3 years living in the inner-city. I would say the following.

The zh had been sitting for 10 years but was in good condition. I spent about $5k getting it to a roadworthy condition. Brakes, suspension and powersteering the main things. The things that let me down were things like rubber hoses, brass heater ends, overheating in heavy traffic, trouble restarting it when hot, wiring on the lpg system working it's way loose and the ac not working in summer. Had to be a bit careful when I drove it, had to avoid peak hour where possible. Parking wasn't too bad. Got a lot of comments from people who loved these old cars. On the highway driving from Sydney to melbourne it was a dream and pretty comfortable.

Because I tended to fix things as they went wrong it did feel a bit unreliable. I should have gone right through it from the start, get the mechanicals in tip top shape, replaced things like hoses, and addressed the overheating issue and it would have been right. A lot of the things that went wrong were things that weren't factory on the zh, lpg system, alarm system etc.

Good thing with these classics is you can fix most issue yourself with a decent toolkit. Finding a decent mechanic who can work on them and not charge the earth is an issue in Sydney.

Definitely do it, just do all the preventative maintenance to get it reliable from the start.

Cheers

Clinton

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by flappist

Once upon a time mine employees used a pick and shovel, were paid the same as shop or office workers, worked 5.5 days a week and had to find their place to live and transport to work.

Because working in an office is so physically demanding and dangerous...hardly on topic.

BTW shovels are still used.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

Import approvals isnt an issue... its the cost of shipping which is prohibitive.

no not really, I have several people who do it and do it well

Ron Wicks is good no question but theres cheaper options

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Because working in an office is so physically demanding and dangerous...hardly on topic.

BTW shovels are still used.

How is this on topic?

In reply to PB who, as opposed to some of the dreamers in this thread, actually HAS driven these cars as daily drivers, the world changes and technology advances. I was using a metaphor with which he was familiar.

While classic cars can be fun they are more dangerous to both passengers and other road users use more resourses and are a finite quantity.

[HBWC]

Originally Posted by Spammy

For a few weeks I tried to use a 69 Monaro as a daily in Sydney traffic - no fun at all.

No air, no demister, no power steering and 60's windscreen wipers make a daily 25km commute hell on earth.

soft their the reasons i love to drive my xd fairmont and i i dont watch it mum or my brother have pinched it its just so fun to drive and you realy have to drive it not just sit their and be board
and who needs power steering i dont have it i hate it unless parking and i only steer with 1 hand as the other is working the brakes and accelerator
it just means you got to learn to drive not just screw the steering on the spot like most do

Originally Posted by Polyal

Anyway, I have not smiled so hard just driving in ages. Everyone gives the thumbs up and you really feel the connection with the car and road.

Its something that modern cars have no clue about, which you can argue is good, but for learners Ill argue that its something you should understand.

"Driving" is just to easy now, hence IMO why we have so many issues.

totally agree and i think everyone should learn with no powersteering and a crash box

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by flappist

How is this on topic?

In reply to PB who, as opposed to some of the dreamers in this thread, actually HAS driven these cars as daily drivers, the world changes and technology advances. I was using a metaphor with which he was familiar.

While classic cars can be fun they are more dangerous to both passengers and other road users use more resourses and are a finite quantity.

It could have easily been taken either way.

Dreamers, do you go out of your way to offend people? Many in this thread have and are driving older cars.

More dangerous and use more resources? That sounds like a paragraph Mr Harold Scruby and Sen Bob Green would conger up.

Would the CO2 difference really outweigh the environmental costs of a new car being manufactured? I dont think either of us would know the real answer but the fact that the car was already built, has been used by previous owners etc would surely make up for it.

Classics as dailies can be done, it all depends on the type of commute you have. In saying that up your way I wouldnt be over fond of doing big drives during the wet season, other than that no worries. Would make the Peak Downs hwy alot more enjoyable.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Scotty85

As the title suggests, what is everyones opinion on using a pre-1988 vehicle as a daily driver?

I drive a 1987 German Taxi (Mercedes 230e) as a daily...does that count