What's the oldest car ...

[wdfifteen]

What's the oldest car that you can recall being used as a normal, disposable, daily driver (ie not a collector car)? I was talking to an 85 year old friend who said he drove a 1937 Ford until it wouldn't make it past the junkyard anymore, then scrapped it. Any '37 Ford would be a collector car these days. I drove my '56 Porsche as a DD for a year, but it was always considered a collector car.
The oldest disposable DD I can remember is my uncle's 1950 Dodge business coupe in about 1970. Again, any 1950 car has potential as a collector car now. The oldest car I ever drove as a regular DD was a 1960 VW in 1968-70. Wish I had kept it.

[oldE]

One neighbor had a '49 Mercury in beautiful shape. He bought it new as a 'retirement car and it went to one of his sons upon his death.
Another neighbor had a Thirty-something Model A with a drop top and rumble seat. You couldn't actually call it a 'daily driver' as he was in his eighties and was almost blind. He did get my dad to take it out from time to time and I remember one beautiful summer evening, riding in the rumble seat with my sister. That would have been in early sixties. The car was not restored, just maintained.

Nice memories.
Thanks for bringing it up.
Les

[recycled sixtie]

When I was 18 yo in the 1960's I drove a 1935 Morris 8 Tourer as a dd. Don't forget that in 1965 that car was only 30 years old. 3 speed trans and about 918 cc. Lots of fun . Guy.

[masraum]

When I was in HS in 1986 I used a '65 Impala as my daily driver, to and from school, work and everyplace else. Granted, it's not the same as using something like that as a daily driver now in my 40s. I would use a 60s or 70s car as a daily driver now if it had working AC and decent suspension and brakes. At least, I think I would.

[GH85Carrera]

When we lived in Hawaii in 1969 my dad drove a 1939 Mercury 8. He sold it when the clutch started slipping. He bought a 1959 VW bug to replace it.

[porwolf]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

What's the oldest car that you can recall being used as a normal, disposable, daily driver (ie not a collector car)? I was talking to an 85 year old friend who said he drove a 1937 Ford until it wouldn't make it past the junkyard anymore, then scrapped it. Any '37 Ford would be a collector car these days. I drove my '56 Porsche as a DD for a year, but it was always considered a collector car.
The oldest disposable DD I can remember is my uncle's 1950 Dodge business coupe in about 1970. Again, any 1950 car has potential as a collector car now. The oldest car I ever drove as a regular DD was a 1960 VW in 1968-70. Wish I had kept it.

All cars that I ever owned and most cars I saw, and still see, on the road are disposable daily drivers. Including my 1956 VW convertible, '68 356, 1965 912, 1968 911T, 1972T. I Only consider my present 1979 SC Targa a "collectible". But it did not start out that way. Maybe I should consider my 1982 FJ60 a collectible also though it still is my daily driver.

[Les Paul]

convertible, '68 356, 1965

Well if you had that 68 356 you would have a real collector car

[masraum]

I think that at some point, the different between an old car and a new car was bigger than others. Like the different between something from the 30s and 50s (I'm guessing) wasn't that huge. It's not like you went from points to electronic ignition or carbs to FI, fancy radios, electronics, etc... What about the 50s to 70s. Did most cars in the 50s have AC? What about in the 70s? When did AC become de rigueur, 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s. I can't imagine a new car that doesn't have AC, or is that just regional?

So, in what 20 year period did we see the biggest change in the technology (convenience, comfort, reliability) in cars, 50s-70s or 60s-80s or 70s-90s?

[herr_oberst]

DD's I've owned that are now more valuable than when I sold them:

'55 F100 with a 289 engine swap
'62 TR4
'63 Skylark 2dr HT
'64 VW Bus
'65 VW Bug
'65 TR250

All of them were just old cars that I could afford on a grocery baggers income.


(Patrick - I was driven home from the hospital in a '50 or '51 Dodge 4 door that was dad's DD till I was about 4 or 5, then he "traded up" ha ha to a 1955 Pontiac 4 door - this would have been in about 1964)

[masraum]

In the mid 90s, I drove a '70 Buick Skylark. I guess most of my older cars have been in the range of 20-25 years old. I think the newest I've ever driven was 3-5 years old, and most have been 5-15 yo.

[Les Paul]

I drive my 63 daily. It will never be a show car but it sure is fun as it is now. I've held off on a great paint job because when I do get it I'm a lot less likely to think I can drive it anywhere anytime. When it does get the paint job this summer the 930 becomes the DD

[Scott Douglas]

I can remember Mom driving a '54 Plymouth Savoy 4-dr sedan in the mid-60's.
The folks kept the only new car they ever bought, a '59 Pontiac Catalina wagon (w/389 tri-pwr & air ride suspension), well into the '70's.

[id10t]

Used my 65 356 as a daily driver from 2001 thru 2005

[widebody911]

In the mid 90's I was daily-driving a 1956 VW bus

[GH85Carrera]

My brother is driving a 1954 VW bug as his daily driver right now. He has been driving it since 1978. His "modern" car is a 1974 VW cammper he bought in 1976. The van is his hunting car. He figures it has had about 100 deer on the roof.

[sammyg2]

My grandfather on my father's side was contracted to deliver bulk mail from town to town in New Mexico in the 30's. Close to 300 miles a day 6 days a week. Los Alamos and Alamogordo were on that route.

When WWII hit, his job was deemed critical and he was discouraged from joining the military.
At that time his ole flatbed also had about half a million miles on it and there were no parts available. No tires, no engine parts, he got special ration cards for gas but that was it.

My father told me stories of how the old man made new bearings out of pieces of leather belt. He cut them to size, hammered them to the right thickness, and soaked them in oil and grease.
He'd get anywhere from 3 to 6 days out of a set of leather bearings and had to work under that truck almost every night.

He bought up all the used tires within driving distance because almost no one else could use them, no gas.
When the tires ran out he actually used rubber soles from shoes on his tires to replace the tread. Grandma sewed together long strips and he's figure out how to fasten them to the tire carcasses.
Top speed was prolly 25 mph but that was better than zero. he made that 300 mile trip more than once on rims because that's all he had left.
Almost every week he had to walk a while alongside the road, picking up scraps of wire of nails, or whatever he could find to mickey-mouse something back together on the truck to finish his route.

By the time the war was over he had right at a million miles on that ole truck and when he could actually buy a new one it was one of the happiest days in his life.

Until I get to that point, until I gotta scrounge junk off the side of the road to be able to get home day after day, I ain't got it so bad.


Near as I can tell, his truck looked kinda like the ones below. Can you imagine keeping one of those running 300 miles a day for a million miles with no parts?

[Deschodt]

I've also done the 356 for a year thing, I would not say it's truly good for DD... The oldest I can think of that would actually honestly work for me is my bmw 2002. It's a 73 but even an older one would work.

[Evans, Marv]

The oldest DD car I can remember anybody driving was an early Model T pick up. This was in around 1954. There was an old Mexican guy who would drive through the alley ways of the little old town I lived in then. He had a wooden peg leg, wore overalls, a big hat, & had a classic mustache. He'd drive though daily and rummage through the trash and take things he could sell or use. He would just putt along in that thing & leave it idling when he was rummaging. Everybody liked the old guy, and my dad said somebody offered to trade him a new car for his old Model T but the guy wasn't interested.

[yetibone]

My Beetle is a daily driver when the temp is above 45 deg. F, and the one I drive the most out of any vehicle. The 928 is a daily driver for a couple of months during winter, unless the weather is really bad, at which point, the Toyota rolls...

41, 31, and 32 years old, respectively.

Oh, yeah, I ride the motorcycle some during the summer.



I guess I don't have a daily driver, or a beater, since I rotate vehicles so often.

[Laneco]

I've used many old vehicles as DD's. My rule is simple. Your azz will run or I will send you to the crusher. I'll assign the age of the vehicle as based on when I drove it:

1970 Datsun 1200 (when it was 18 years old). I only mention this one because I paid $50 for it at a yard sale, the owner couldn't get it to start. Drove it for years.

1960 Ford 1/2 Truck (when it was 25 years old)

1976 Jaguar XJ-6L w/SBC (when it was about 28 years old)

1965 Corvair Corsa Coupe - Steve's car (when it was 27 to about 35 years old or so)

What do all of these have in common? Paid almost nothing for them, drove the wheels off of them for YEARS, and none of the four EVER rode on/behind a tow truck. Not even once.

angela (collector of beater cars)