What Are Your Reasons For Restoring An Old Car?

[Bingster]

I was looking at my '47 Desoto the other day, full of possibities but with a lot of time & money to go, and I asked myself why I wanted to restore this car.  I do love working on "Carlo".  It's a very calming experience.  And I really love the era.  And even though back then cars all looked similar as they do today, their design was certainly not the rolling boxes we have with us today.  They were streamlined with curves and classic - well now classic anyway - lines.

 

I also thought, "Do I want to show this car off or impress people with it?"  Sure, I have to admit that's part of the reason if I'm honest with myself.

 

But ultimate I also asked myself, "Do I really need this car?"  How important is it in life or to who I am?"

 

I know, maybe a bit too philisophical for an old car.  After all, it's just meant to be fun, and it is.  I guess fun is reason enough in itself.  We all need to relax and have a place where we can go to work on a happy challenge.  And there is definately a good feeling about bringing back to life a part of a time in America that we'll never ever see again.

 

Were times in the thirties and forties really better than they are today?  Yeah, I think so.  Even with Hitler and that terrible war, there seemed to be a spirit and pride in being an American that the culture as a whole has seems to have lost.

 

Maybe a lot of my thoughts have been due to the recent tragedy in Russia.  For those of you who lived through the early sixties - I was just a kid - this is like Krushev all over again. 

 

Oh well, sorry to bend your ear (eyes) here on the Forum, but you guys know better than anybody why you love thes eold cars.

[50desotocoupe]

I think you are right.  I am in my uh huh...mid 40's but really would like to have lived in the 1940's and 1950's.  I seem drawn to that era.  To me, the nation was alot stronger and more proud.  To me, driving an old car seems to "take me back" even though I was never there. 

[Bingster]

Thanks, Desoto Coupe.  Yeah, I think these cars are a symbol of better times, even if those times being better is really an illusion.

[Robert Horne]

I am 66, pretty much in the same train of thoughts for these old cars as you.

My two Uncles traded a 36 Plymouth Coupe back and forth for over 40 years.

They were my heros. I have had my pair of 38 Coupes for 28 years, (nothing

like a pair of 38s), still not beautiful, but driveable. It has always been

my therapy when difficult time came about.

[wdoland]

I've had muscle cars in the past but never really enjoyed anything as much as I do this car. (1946 Chrysler Windsor, 4 door) I don't go to car shows. Never liked sitting all day in a lawn chair hoping someone will say something about my car. I just love driving it. I see more smiles per mile than I ever did in a muscle car. 

I also love working on it. It is built to be worked on by the normal person. Back then, they didn't run down to the shop every time something went wrong. Everything is so simplistic in it's design, doing the same things it takes a computer to do today.

Sometimes I look at it and wonder who owned it before. Did they go for a Sunday ride "into town", how many Christmas trees did it bring home. Love these cars. I'm going to have this one for a long, long time.

Wayne

[james curl]

I have had mine since 85 and sometimes ask myself why?  I do not have a garage to store it in anymore as my neighbor died.  It has sat in the driveway with my 55 Chevy pick up the last 10 years since I retired.  The 48 Plymouth had a lot of Colorado dirt in the rocker boxes and through the years sitting out in the rain rust has gotten the better of them.  They need to be replaced and the interior needs redone and a paint job would not hurt.  If I can accomplish all of this before I die I will be happy, as I will turn 78 in a couple of weeks.  I do not do or go to shows unless it is just to look, I enjoy just driving mine.  Up until a couple of months ago I drove the 48 daily but the transmission is acting up now so I have to do something.  I have the modified bell housing and flywheel to convert to a T-5 which I also have just need to get out in the dirt driveway and do it.  Not as bad as it seems as I have 4 sheets of 3/4" treated plywood that I park the car on all of the time.  The older I get the longer I can look at a project and think I will just do it tomorrow but tomorrow never seems to come very often anymore.

[chopt50wgn]

I like  keeping my mechanical skills up to par. Knowing when there's a problem and also knowing you can probably fix it keeps you happy. You know every nut and bolt on and under the car and when you do find and fix a problem, you have a good feeling of accomplishment.

 I like driving my car and I do go to shows and I go mainly to see my friends and be able to talk and exchange stories of the good old days. I am 64 and it is a special feeling when you can relate stories from days gone by when you used to cruise the town every Fri.and Sat. nite.

 My grandson is 12 yrs old and having him ask me about what I did when I was a teenager just floods my memories back and am more than happy to sit him down and tell him how thing were back in the good ole days.

[nonstop]

I am not restoring mine so much as keeping it in a suspended state. Upgraded the brakes and did a fender, but that is pretty much all I want to do, save for a little touch up to some spots. I have gone through phases with muscle cars and trucks, and this car has been more fulfilling. I have all the documentation for this car and can trace its roots very easily. A lot of the dings or stains even, are each marks of another story or adventure for this car! I feel a connection with this car. Granted there are amenities that would be nice (power steering) but I am okay without them too. I look at the new cars and realize nothing really appeals to me. Sure they are quick (speed limit is still 65), sure they have amenities (the touch screen stuff is too confusing and more distracting than a cell phone), but they do not do much to discern themselves from one another.

I then get into my piece of Americana and drive. I am not the fastest one there. I do not have AC and am hotter when I get there. I also have made some sort of connection with times gone by which many of us long for for ourselves and our children. I am one of the happiest drivers on the road when I am in my Dodge.

[TodFitch]

I've been fascinated by old mechanical things for as long as I can remember. How they look, how they operate, how they feel, sound and smell as they operate. Having an old car that is in original condition caters to that fascination. I guess that also explains why I'm not really into updating the car to "improve it".

[Niel Hoback]

You really got me thinking. I kind of feel like the old car is alive and useful because I keep it running. We are just the caretakers for these cars since they will probably outlast us anyway. Funny, but it's the exact same thing with my cuckoo clocks. I guess I just like to hear things run by themselves. It helps to think that these things are still useful because of me and my attention to them. A good description of therapy.

[scotty t]

i wouldn't call what i'm doing "restoring" an old car, but i am resurecting an old car. like Niel said we are just the current care takers of these things, and i'd like to leave my mark on the history of this one.

Edited July 22, 2014 by scotty t

[Don Coatney]

We are just the caretakers for these cars since they will probably outlast us anyway.

I think you have that backwards. These cars are the caretakers of us. Think of the trouble we could get into if these cars did not keep us in line.

[Mark D]

I am simply of steward of my Plymouth a car which is 16 years old that I. This era and especically the mopars connect me with generations of my family that are no longer living and I like to beleive that I am seeing through their eyes when I am behind the wheel. Working on the car also gives me the tactile sense of completion that my professional life does not.  Like you Bing, I do find it theraputic work and even my wife says that I am calmer and happier when I come home from the garage.  Shutting out the world is almost impossible today.  Replacing my time in front of the TV with time in the garage has done wonders for my sense of wellbeing.

[mattimuss]

For me working on old cars has always been therapy.

 

I guess there are a couple reasons:

 

1.  I usually work on them by myself, so it's time by myself with no one bothering me.  Time to clear the head of "life's" BS.

 

2.  It is always a challenge.  No matter how simple I think the task is going to be it seldom works out that way.  I often find myself having to figure out a way to fix something out-of-the-ordinary.

Especially with old Plymouths.  It's not like we can run down to the local auto parts store and find parts laying on the shelf.

 

3.  It's in my genes.  My gramps, dad, stepfather, uncles and a few aunts have all wrenched on cars.  Several have old cars they work on...none are restored, but they all run.

 

4.  With my '41 it's just to keep it in the family, a tribute to my gramps.  I am absolutely sure he is the one who planted the "wrenching gene" when I was a youngster.

 

And finally there are no computers!  I'm a geek by trade working on computers all day long so it's very nice to do something entirely different when I go home...

[Bingster]

I take my hat off to you guys who strip the car down to its frame and rebuild it.  If I would try and rebuild my own engine, I'd be so afraid that I left a wrench in it or something.  As it is, I got too gung ho when I got the car and started taking stuff off.  Some parts I marked and some I didn't.  I can do the metal restoring and simpler things like the brakes (I think) but engine work eludes me.  It depends on if I have themoney at the time, but I'd like to have a go at painting it myself.  I haver painted trucks and railroads cars in the past, but not with this basecoat clear coat stuff.

[jsturner]

To me, old cars are cheaper and more fun than any of today's silver jellybeans on wheels. Even having developed some of those jellybeans, I'd never buy one new. I can't believe how much they cost, even the cheap ones.

 

Also:

- Old cars are unique and stand out

- They make people smile

- They make me go the speed limit, so I enjoy the trip and don't stress.

- They make me avoid major highways, so I get to explore cool backroads and see new things.

- I enjoy watching the guy in the new BMW behind me have a temper tantrum because I'm going the speed limit.

 

I wasn't around then but I don't think things were unequivocally better in the mid-20th century. There were far fewer people in the world and people lived slower, simpler lives, so maybe we weren't as stressed and crowded and competitive with each other as we are now. But materialism and consumerism was rampant. Look at mid-fifties cars and magazine ads from the time; it was all about flashy chrome, outdoing the neighbors, and buying the latest appliances. People bought a new car every two years, which is nice for us old car enthusaists today but kind of disgusting really. I think that era started the notion that there is no success without perpetual growth. We still seem to think that if the economy isn't growing, if the population isn't growing, something is wrong. And that's going to bite us in the butt eventually, because perpetual growth isn't sustainable.

 

Sorry for the rant

[meadowbrook]

As far as my thoughts, I don't intend to fully restore my 50 Meadowbrook, it is in some ways a survivor, though not completely. I focus on maintaining it reliable and as safe as practical. But I don't intend on repainting its rather poorly done respray. I basically enjoy it for what it is and as a window into a past I did not live through but appreciate (I am 46).

 

My dad repaired the AM radio and added an Ipod input. So I still enjoy music as is was heard back then. I am keeping it points and oil bath air cleaner, pos gnd 6V, generator, vaccum wipers, original bullseye sealed beams, etc, It's just cool that it's so 'old school'.

 

But I am not entirely consistent as I did upgrade to radials and a dual circuit brake system.

 

Plus, not painting it or making the body perfect allows me not to worry about avery little nick and ding and makes the car more approachable on shows.

 

Plus I have made real use of it but picking up a family from the airport, carrying a lawn mower in the trunk to a friend.

[48mirage]

The question asked and more than 1 answer hinted at can be found in the book, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".  It's not so much about the car (or motorcycle) as it is  being part of the machine.

[BobT-47P15]

I mainly got the car to drive and "have fun" with......as I really liked the convertible style.  I have never been much of a

"real" mechanic like rebuilding an engine or transmission......I have always had that type work done by professionals.

I didn't feel I had a good place to work on the car and didn't own the necessary tools for the job.  I think my self

confidence for such things is lacking.  So............

 

I have "tinkered" with wiring, re-doing the interior once, finding parts for the car and other sorts of "peripheral"

things.  That, and just having the car,  has given me enjoyment since 1973.    I admire the work others have done

on their old cars and the extent to which they have gone to rejuvenate them.  

 

I guess you could say that whatever part of owning/fixing an old car you like............it's all good.     

[51cambridge]

I think you have that backwards. These cars are the caretakers of us. Think of the trouble we could get into if these cars did not keep us in line.

Reminds me of what a wife of a car guy told her daughters. Marry a car guy, he will be only in the garage, or if hes out late you can guarantee hes working on cars. The dirty hands are proof.

[JerseyHarold]

Interesting topic.  Nostalgia and, in some ways, trying to relive the past, are a big part of my ownership experience.  My '52 Cambridge is a near-twin to my father's car (a mere 1200 VIN's separate them).  My '51 Concord business coupe is like the one owned by a local dairy in the small town where I spent summers in the 1950's-'60's.   My '66 Sport Fury was a terrific deal when I got it in 1985.  I like its rarity and the fact that it's a red convertible. All three of them are pretty ratty to a greater or lesser degree.  For me, it feels good to know they are in the garage. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

mother to daughter...marry a mechanic...he is known for tearing it up on the first go around..but..he will continue to work on till he dies (whatever that means)

[Eneto-55]

I bought my 46 in 80, while I was still (a bit) in debt with my 72 Coronet.  My thought was to rebuild the 46 so that I could get out from under the 72.  But the car I bought was a basket case, because that was all I could afford.  The front clip was off, and the body had already been off, so it was just sitting on the frame.  The engine (not the original) was in the trunk.  I am a perfectionist, and I soon got carried away with what was supposed to have been a quickie.  Part of that was also because when I began cleaning up the floor, holes started appearing that weren't there before - the sheet metal was just very thin.  So it needed a lot more work than I thought at first.  Then life happened, I got married, and moved out of the States for 18 years.

 

I really want to get back to this project, and get it finished.  One thing I'd like to do that I think will be more fun than going to a car show will be to go to the retirement homes around here, and offer rides to the old guys there.  I just think they might really enjoy that.  

[1950 Special Deluxe]

Family

My car was my wife's Great Grandmother's car.

I didn't pick it, it picked me.

[bones44]

I have really enjoyed reading the forum since I joined and have gained a lot of information from it. Anyway back to the subject at hand, What Are Your Reasons for Restoring an Old Car? I purchased my first car when I was 17 from my

neighbor’s grandmother a 1937 Dodge D5 Biz coupe for $100 it had 55000 miles on it and ran like a top. I dated my wife of 45+years in this car and have many fond memories of that time.

The car has not run since 1971 so it is time to uncover an get it running and go back to those good old days. There is a new drive in theater set to open this fall just up the road. Oh how that will bring back memories.