Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cars in the early sixties?

What did you have? Moon hubcaps, spinner hubcaps, cruiser fender skirts, lowering blocks, any?

58 Ford two door hardtop here.

I once had a '52 Chevy Powerglide Deluxe - with visor and fender skirts.
Sometimes I wished I still had it - then I come to my senses!
I doubt there is a mechanic still alive, who could pour the babbit bearings in that old 235!

I asked a friend if he every had a convertible, he said yes, a 57 Chevy.

I asked if wished he still had it. he said, worse than that. It shelled out, and they had a cleanup day on the farm, and crushed, and burryed it.

60 Ford Sunliner was one I wish I still had, that and a 66 Goat...

Phil

I have no wish to go back to the 'good old days'.

Early nineteen sixty cars and before were in constant maintenance , in 10 000 miles expect, points, condenser, rotor button, distributor, brake adjustment seem to be at every oil change, vacuum wipers in some (the faster you went the slower they went),.

At 20 000 miles expect tire replacement, sparkplugs, adjust or replace brake 'linings', check or replace spark plug wires, you are on your 7 or 8th oil change as well, if you want to get more than 50 000 miles out of the engine, if you do then a valve job around 70-80 000 miles.

Any kind of pot hole hit would require a front end alignment.

18 mpg was considered good mileage in most vehicles.

Anything past 50 000 miles then the transmission was pretty well used up.

Pre PVC valve with only 'road draft crankcase ventilation' left the car interior smelling of motor oil.

Fan belts, and lots of them.

Power steering pumps leaking and squealing, engine oil oozing out of the seals (crankcase, valve covers , manifolds etc.)

Replacing generator brushes considered routine maintenance.

The old vehicles were not safe, not even close to today's vehicles, poor performing brakes, suspension (re-handling), steering, no head restraints, poor lighting, seat belts a $10 option, many did not spend the money for this and rust depending on where the vehicle was operated.

Safety, fuel efficiency, low maintenance over the vehicles life, and cost are light years ahead of what could be had 60 years ago.

M. Haggard lamented in song, that a car should last 10 years. If that is all then it is junk in todays world.

I appreciate the work of folks who resurrect the old vehicles for the work and talent they put into them , but wishing they would make vehicles the same today ....no thanks.

Being just a youngster, my first car was a '64 Malibu. I loved that car - had the "keyless" ignition and you could haul cattle to market in the trunk if you so desired.

I've heard old-timers say the same thing Axtell is saying. We're now disappointed if a car has to be retired before 200k miles with much more than routine maintenance. A 4-5 year old Japanese auto with 80k on it is still thought of as "fairly new". You pay for it, but I think these are the golden days for vehicles. The 60's did turn out some beautiful and legendary cars, but today's stuff is far superior in every measurable performance metric.

They were lumberwagons for sure.

I bought a 1964 Corvette in 1985, a 327/365 car, and drove it daily for years. Wish I still had it.

New 1966 Buick Riviera in 1966. That thing would run.

'55 Chev, 210, 2dr with the Power Pac 265 and 3 on the tree was my first car. Upgrade the motor and trans several times. Later moved to a '63 Chev Impala SS w/327 and 4 speed. One thing I can say about both - you could make them run like a scalded dog, but slowing them down was never fun.

Jay Leno spoke to this comparison a few years back.

He was asked about the wonders of the super cars in his collection from the 60s.

"Are they not a lot of fun to take for a drive on the twisty canyon roads?"

"Yes, yes they are. But you have to realize that a Dodge Neon is even more fun. It handles much better in the curves than any super car of the 60s, regardless of price."

And the Neon gets better fuel economy, spends less time at the mechanic, and is far safer in a collision.

1953 Chevy Bel Air two door hardtop, three speed, moons, skirts, bloomers ,split manifold, but no damn fuzzy dice.

I had a 62 Impala SS which I traded for my 69 Dart.

That sounds like a guy with an ugly wife, bragging about her cooking.

My first vehicle was a '56 Ford pickup, given to me by a generous great-uncle when he bought a new one.
I loved the simplicity of it - under the hood was like a huge cavern, lots of room to work, and uncomplicated.
But, at that point (1974), it was 18 years old and a complete rust bucket, even around the headlight bezels. You just don't see that much rot on 18 year old vehicles now. I had a 21 year old Jeep Cherokee that had one small area of rust-through just behind the rt. front wheel well.

BTW, after Uncle Norman passed, I bought that 'new' 1975 F-100 from his estate.

1958 ford fairlane 500 convertible, 352 FE, auto, teal green & white was my first car.

My boys have a nice rebuilt 56 ford f100 that is the best looking, worst driving pickup ever made! All the weight of the motor is directly over the front axles and it corners like a walrus. Fun truck to drive slow through town!

Put it another way, how many has paid less than 2k for a new car off the show room floor?


Phil

And yet, I had a 1952 Buick Roadmaster which had 106,000 miles on it when I sold it. I did the brakes, replaced a belt, replaced the muffler and tailpipe, and did oil changes for the 70,000 miles I drove it.
I have to say though, my first NEW car, a 1971 Subaru, showed me a new level of reliability and longevity. Mind you, it was still kind of old tech, just done better. An economy car which stayed economical for 150,000 miles and five years when I sold it. A 1976 Subaru was, comparatively, a POS and turned me off the brand. GD