"Classics" as daily drivers. Truly realistic?

[jonny69]

I think if you're worried about safety, then a classic daily isn't for you.

[Angrydicky]

A mate of mine uses a Ford Consul for his main car, however, he also has a Ford Ka which cost him £300 as back up for when he needs to maintain the Consul or can't afford the petrol! Consul Toy that is a tool - Ka - tool

 

That's actually an excellent idea. If I could afford to, I'd have something like that for emergencies, when I need to do a long motorway trip and to keep the winter salt off the old cars.

[RobT]

A mate of mine uses a Ford Consul for his main car, however, he also has a Ford Ka which cost him £300 as back up for when he needs to maintain the Consul or can't afford the petrol! Consul Toy that is a tool - Ka - tool

 

That's actually an excellent idea. If I could afford to, I'd have something like that for emergencies, when I need to do a long motorway trip and to keep the winter salt off the old cars.

 

Get yourself another Maestro Dicky, perhaps a VDP for a bit of extra comfort on long trips Old enough to be interesting, but if not your first love then you won't worry about it like the proper oldies.

[sierraman]

My car is a mere 17 years old, so im probably not qualified to harp on about running a 'classic' as opposed to a new car. However what really grinds my gears is when in literally any change of circumstances such as an addition to the family/new job etc.. people say 'So i suppose you'll be getting a new car then'. Like a 6 year finance deal on some painfully dreary Kia is what I want. Every time i am on the motorway I see 'reliable' new cars expelling steam on the hard shoulder... Thats completely defeats the object in my view.

[Ben_L]

I've just upgraded* from a Cavalier 1.6 to a Fiesta 1.3 (1998) and can honestly say that it still has the charm and ease of use as the Cavalier. No PAS, no ABS, no ESP/BAS/TC/DSC bollocks, just proper motoring. It's genuinely charming to drive and feels almost like the Cavalier (Albeit, less wallowy and more nimble!). I wont call it a classic as it's merely 15 years old, but the 60 year old engine and boggo spec (Encore) means I am actually more in touch with the road than driving a Ghia X with PAS and ABS etc etc.

Best motor I had which was similar was a K10 Micra, which let you know every wrinkle in the road which gave you the feed back required to make the right choices.

I regularly drive Mum's Megane and it feels dead. The steering is vague and lacks feel, the ABS cuts in far too soon and removes the feel you need to judge when to relieve pressure and so on.

 

I'd say running a well maintained classic is viable, as long as you keep it in fine fettle and realise that you're not going to keep up with BMW 316 driving yuppies who insist on revving the tits off their tortured lease car. It's far more relaxed driving an older car, even something with a Ford Kent engine such as a Fiesta, as you know it's got the capability to get you there, albeit, a little slower.

[vulgalour]

Well, my current circumstance is pertinent to this I suppose because I'll be pressing the Princess into daily service. Okay, so it's a 1980 model, but it's still fundamentally a 70s car. My worries are restricted to fuel costs and wear and tear on the bodywork and very little else. Like any car, I'll keep on top of the servicing she needs and just be sure to regularly check fluid levels and any untoward noises I might hear.

 

Actually, I'm looking forward to it. It's the sort of car that people seem to notice and that usually affords me better road presence than in the Maestro which just sort of blends in. She's not that much of a slouch if I really make her work though I'm no traffic light warrior thanks to that lazy gearbox. I can keep up with modern traffic because it was designed with that in mind and I feel fairly safe if for no other reason than the distance between me and the outside of the car.

 

The Princess is probably an ideal daily classic because it's just old enough to tick all the style and visibility boxes but new enough to have luxuries like a heater, a radio and the ability to run on unleaded fuel. My only real worry with her is the scarcity of some body parts, but thanks to the BL tradition of the parts bin just about everything mechanical is easy to obtain at any motorfactors. Before my bump I enjoyed a thousand miles of driving with only minor problems that were caused more by previous owner bodges and some issues with a fuel pump that I fitted rather than any inherent fault in the car itself. In fact, the issues I faced are the sorts of things I'd expect of any £450 car, the fact that this one is a classic is really neither here nor there.

[freebird]

I think we worry to much.

Pretty much most cars built from the late 50s onwards were seen as capable of trundling up and down the new fangled motorways and doing good mileages.

Reps havent just been invented, im pretty sure some 60s cars and newer did bloody high mileages and most stuff was built to cope with that.

I know early 80s stuff was certainly designed to do intergalactic mileages, we used to look after a few MK2 Cavaliers that were clocking up nearly 50 thousand miles a year, all with basic servicing.

That Princess will do the daily drive no problem and it will be done in a bit of style, eh?

Some of us ( me) have gone a bit soft and have got used to not worrying whether you would get from A to B or not.

Sod that, live life on the edge!