Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site usceast.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!ncsu!ncrcae!usceast!wilhite From: wilhite@usceast.UUCP (Robert Wilhite) Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: Any OLD car lovers out there? Message-ID: <2134@usceast.UUCP> Date: Wed, 28-Nov-84 03:34:40 EST Article-I.D.: usceast.2134 Posted: Wed Nov 28 03:34:40 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 30-Nov-84 08:34:07 EST References: <2613@ihldt.UUCP>, <1475@drutx.UUCP> Organization: Csci Dept, U of S. Carolina, Columbia Lines: 49 [ACK!] Just the article I was waiting for! I enjoy reading about the new machinery, but my heart was captured by an "older woman".. (Hmmm.. perhaps we should find some empirical definition of OLD?) I have a '68 Jaguar XKE.. bought from a friend in Birmingham. (Alas, I'm not the original owner, but at age 8 I was in no condition to drive.) I'm not sure what aspect of the car caught my interest, but I've come to appreciate many things about older cars.. * Metal. Look under the hood of the new cars these days.. LOTS of plastic -- and on the bumpers, too. >yuk< On the older cars it's all metal. I realize that plastic's much lighter & helps the ol' MPG, but I like a car that's built to last. (Which leads to..) * Reliability. Older cars, with reasonable care, will out-do the new ones. Certainly there are exceptions (the new Mercedes, Volvo, and just-about-anything-Japanese seem to have a good rep.), but old cars are easier to keep running. I do my own mechanical work on the Jag -- something I don't think I could manage on one of the new "hi-tech, ultra-compact" jobs. * Resale. I bought my Jag knowing that at any point in the future I could (can) sell it and recover the full amount. Probably more. The same goes for the Shelby's, 'Vette's, Healy's, and other collectibles, but even the not-so-collectible oldies have done all the depreciating they'll do. * Turning radius? Make that head-turning radius. A new car has a head-turning radius of about ten feet, and that's mostly people reading the sticker to see "how much it hurt". On the other hand, nearly every time I stop somewhere, people will ask me about my car, share anecdotes, etc. (This I find to be most rewarding.) [Hmm.. You s'pose this "old-car-syndrome" is hereditary? My father has a ] ['66 Chevy Impala (original owner), going on 300K miles! (The CAR, not him)] Yes, I have an "old" car. REAL metal, REAL chrome, REAL spokes and spin-offs, REAL low gas-mileage, etc. It won't "blow the doors" off of the others, but it's no slouch. Wouldn't trade it for the world. I have many tales to tell (most of which belong in net.singles ;-) but I've rambled enough.... --------- Robert Wilhite @ USC - East (the one with the football team) ^^^^ ..akgua!usceast!wilhite