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

First car was a 51 Ford, but I had a 58 Ford Fairlane convertible too. Black and red. Now I have a 62 Ford Sunliner convertible. Most fun car was a 59 Plymouth 2 door hardtop that I put the 383 and 4 speed in out of a wrecked new 68 Superbee. My 69 442 was a good car. Man, I’ve had a [bleep] ton of cars in my life.

And it only took 2000 hours to earn that $2000. Or no, was that 2000 days.

I had uncles who talked about when they worked for "dollar a day and found".

When you see that on a car, it’s groid owned and operated.

Curb whiskers, static straps, diamond in de back, sunroof top

My first was a 52 chev. Up graded to a 55 with a 3 speed , on the tree. 24 mpg on the highway. Next was a new Nash rambler 3 speed station wagon. It was a great car for a

family. It lasted longer than the chevys. The heater in the Nash was far better than most. Good gas mileage.

Had a 59 Chevy Bel-Air in the early 60’s. 283 2barrel carb. Hurst shifter convert 3 speed. Dummy spots, tube grill, fake lakes pipes, practically all the junk that JC Whitney sold. Heated the front springs to lower the front end.
A rolling death trap. Fun times.

Oh yeah, they could be fun. One time, I was responding to a fire call, when suddenly the truck did a 360 right in the middle of the street. That was exciting, especially with no seatbelts! The problem was a bent tie rod.

Too bad, you’ll have to toggle to know how Curtis Mayfield spells it all out.

Those Buick Roadhogs were quite the collections of steel; I always thought that they should mount a 16-inch gun.

"When better cars are built, Buick will build them."

I had a 55 Chevy just like that. Upgraded it to a souped up 327. It was fun, but like you said, a beast to slow down.

Nah, nowadays the Groids got the 22” spinner wheels on their low rider 90’s Model Cadillac.
Funny how they all set real low in the seat when their driving, You can barely see their head sticking up.
Buddy of mine, a big ole Redneck LEO from Augusta, Georgia, told me that was so they could easily duck when you throw rocks at their dumbasses. 🤠

1963 Ford Galaxie 500. Navy blue, 352 (IIRC) two-barrel. Go like hell. About 8-10 mpg, but who cared with 29-cent a gallon gas. Power bench front seat. When you turn off the lights and engine and hit the seat switch, that seat glided back about a foot. It's like sending a telegram to your date that says, "Hang on. It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

I had a Chevy SS Super Sport. 250 horse 327. Three on the tree, 11/1 compression. 19 MPG with my foot in the carburetor on a trip.

First car was a two-tone Green / white '55 Chevy 2dr hardtop 235ci 6cyl and Powerglide trans.

I owned bunch during those years. That I can recall --- two more Chevys, both '58s, one a 348 w/ Turbohydromatic and the other a 283 Powerpack w/ 3 speed manual Foxcraft floor shift. Three Fords - two late '50s and one '63. Three Pontiacs, a '56, '63 and '65 Pontiac Tempest w/326. A '56 Dodge and '63 Plymouth. A '47 Willys Overland. '62 Buick Skylark W/ 215ci V8 3 speed on column.

Yes, the good old push button AM radios.

Hoe about a 56 chebby hardtop with 81k original miles?

Cool!

How about a 57 with 60k original miles?

Or the shaggin wagon?

And the more horsepower you put under the hood, the shorter the lifespan of the rear-end ! DAMHIKT

If, and I mean IF, I were going to toy with a 50s/60s car today, the first thing I'd do is look to Summit Auto, or some place else and see if I could find a disc-brake conversion kit for both the front and back.

'57 Olds 88 with that 371 V8... Good thing gas was about .25/gallon..

There are anomalies, one co-worker had a 1968 Plymouth with 157 000 miles on the engine, it was such a rarity , I still remember it, transmission lasted less than the first year though.

Another poster mentioned the Ford 352 V8, talking junk that one got full marks, oil burning, base compression, oil leaking and I did not know of one that didn't have a cracked exhaust manifold. And ya , 13 mpg as long as it was running. Flooding carburetors washing the oil off the cylinders.

My second last F-150, 1998 model had the original exhaust system on it when sold in 2014, before that everything from the cat back about every 3 years.

My first car was a 40 Ford Coupe.Jump seats in the back.48 Merc Flat head with 3 deuces 3/4 race cam ,straight pipes LaSale three on the floor synchro tranny ,Louvered hood ,Hydraulic brakes, Mickey Thompson street slicks with a ridiculous rake.Paint was black primer.Not the fastest but looked and sounded bad ass.Great cruising car,got lots of looks.

I once had a 1964 Impala SS with a 350 LT-1 Corvette engine. 375 HP ---it was my family car and I got 21 miles per gallon.

Man, do I miss it! I sold it to buy gunsmithing tools.

Lest we forget the glass packs! Steel packs before that. They talked about filling the steels with oil, they'd burn out fast.

Far out - I use to roll gangsta lean - I had phly-ass red velvet brim - damn those were good times . My two two five had a 3quarter cam - just saying .

57 Chevy
55 Chevy 2 door wagon
58 Chevy Apache pickup
55 Ford 2 door wagon
64 LeMans
65 Chevelle Malibu SS
69 Chevelle

except for one Dodge Cornet in the early 70s and a 1965 FJ40 its been pickups ever since.
I think the Dodge is the only automatic I ever had

My first car was a 1955 Buick Century. That thing didn't start running until 65, and would make 130mph. At least thats what the ticket said. First wife wrecked it in Boise! After a few others i picked up a 1957 Pontiac, 347 tri power. Ate chevys all day and night. Got my first new car in 1968 a mustang , blue with stripe, yep a Shelby 350, piece of crap. Traded it in on a Buick Wildcat. I had many cars I wish I would have kept! The only one I still have is a 1952 Ford Mainline coupe. Still running a flatty V8. Oh ya I liked cars when I was young. As far as driving they are a different world! Every old chevy l owned or drove handled like a shopping cart. But most handled that way. Always wanted a gull wing Mercedes, just didn't get around buying one! Thats enough wind today! Off to the shop, have harpoon heads ordered, I need to make!

The old portawalls, you had to break the bead to mount them. Then the narrow black portawalls, to make the wide whitewalls look like the newer narrow white sidewalls.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/1965_Oldsmobile_442_%2820030832281%29.jpg
This was mine! 4-4-2 Olds convertable.
Bought her new. 4 floor, 400CI, Dual exhaust, glass packs behind custom headers, Isky cam and solid lifters, tuned Holley. She would run!

My first car - https://www.allcollectorcars.com/for-sale/1954-CHEVROLET-BEL-AIR-LUXURY-SEDAN/2210422/
"54 Chev Bel Air. Power Glide 2 speed trans (auto) Bought in 1958, had 4200 miles on it. Tools needed to work on it. 1/2", 9/16", 5/8", tire wrench, flat blade screwdriver, ball pein hammer.

Was thinking the early Ford Galaxy's the ones with the 406, and 428's were the first true factory muscle cars in the boat category. Guess I was wrong with it being considered now as the '55 Chrysler C-300. All my older first cars were boats, hell even had an old 55 Buick 4 Dr. One of my favorites though was the '59 DeSoto Fireflight.

Phil

Had a 57 Fleetwood Caddy Limo, that was ordered new by the State Dept....

Heaviest car ever built in the USA... 3 doors on each side...

Shiny as a new penny....$250.00...1969...

Air Cleaner over the engine for the 2 4 barrel carbs, was so big you could barely see the huge V 8 engine under it...

gas mileage sucked... but car was cool for a high school kid...looked like a big mafia rig... it even had some bullet holes in the back fender...

low mileage car also....

it was fun for the 6 months I had it...

my favorite cars from the early 50s.... 48 to 56 Caddys and 48 to 57 Buicks..

especially love the old Buick Roadmasters....

It was Jay Leno talking.

I think he was saying the hot looking wife expected him to cook and made him sleep in a different room.

The ugly 2'nd wife not only cooks good, but puts out every morning before getting out of bed, again at noon, and has to have a screw before going to sleep at night.

My neighbor, a mid-life... in his mid 50's just came home with a cream colored 1965 Chevy El Comino yesterday. I hadn't seen one of them in years. He's got a hot wife too, but who's looking.


Phil

A mid life crisis is when you cannot afford the car you want. I’ve had a lot of cars and still enjoy them but they have to haul ass. No duds wanted. Edk

Timely thread.
Have a free month of HBO and was looking at which movies to watch last night. Rediscovered the movie "American Graffiti." Hadn't seen it in years, wife had never seen it.

Movie set in 1962, filmed in 1972. Loved seeing all the late 50 and early 60 cars. Read up on it, said they paid 20 dollars a day plus meals for the background Extras and their cars.

I do understand this post - lot of truth in there - but maybe Axtell owned all Fords. Modern vehicles still present some of the same problems, but they are more expensive to fix - although I agree on their longer miles with less trouble - and the improved road handling characteristics.
I had several 60s cars in the 60s and 70s, and they were good. The 62 Chev Impala was quite dependable, very quick and fun. The 55 Chrysler was rock solid, comfortable (with the AC handler in the trunk) and very little fixing needed. The 64 Sedan de Ville - bought it used in 69 - was a luxury for my wife and kids and only replaced one non-wear part in the 80k miles we drove it - the radiator. The 60 Triumph TR3 was simple, economical and a bunch of fun - get my wife and all 4 daughters in it (really - with one on her lap) and run up Mt. Lemmon for the day. Someone gave me a Judson supercharger for that TR3 - all mounts included - and with that running and a big Solex, the local Porsches were in trouble. But, very hard on the valve train. Had two 65 Corvairs as well. Fabulous engine - very good car. Then, there is the 67 Corvette Sting Ray - still have that one. Yes, I had to learn to do the work on them. Across the board, today's vehicles are better product - but I like the old/solid stuff.

Great Movie Soundtrack too!!!

Ford vs Ferrari has been showing a lot lately. I new C Shelby, moved his machinery for him. He had some nice cars in the lobby.

Phil

My great great aunt gave me the 1956 Ford Fairlane she’d bought brand new. I was 15 and she was 97 and had recently turned in her DL. It was a slick looking blue and white two tone with matching interior. 223 six 3sp manual. She’d driven it to North Dakota in 1990 when she moved up there and drove it back in 95 when she came home.
I was super excited and couldn’t wait to get home to tell my dad so we could take the car hauler up and get it. It needed new tires, a battery, and probably a carb kit since it had sat for 5 years or so. I told dad and he put the brakes on that deal, thought family would accuse me of swindling here out of it. I had to sign it back over to her and leave it there. A year later she passed and her strung out granddaughter and her boyfriend rolled it across the scales for scrap to finance their next hit.
I still remind my old man of that on occasion.

My first car was a 55 Merc, V8, three on the tree. Took forever to start with it's 6 volt electrical system.

Next was my 1960 Ford Sunliner, 352 Police Interceptor automatic, great car to have in college

The most recent summer fun car I bought was this past October, my "old man moment of madness"
Has the most HP of any car I've owned (385) 2010 Jaguar XK. This is a fun car !!

My HS car was a '63 Impala SS 425HP 409 dual 4 barrel carbs etc. Wish I still had it now.. Many others as well. GTO's 64,65,67. 2 Olds 442's '68 one was a Hurst Olds with the 455. '69 Chevelle 350HP 396. All were 4 speeds. Good old days. Only one old one left now, a '70 MGB.

I bought a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle new off the floor for $1965
only option was a Blaupunkt AM radio @ $49. .06 miles
on the odometer.