Buying a car for roadtrips (long and rambling, possibly pointless)

I do recommend the old car stuff, but if you haven't already done long trips in one (especially the 50s/60s cars you're considering) they are a different experience.  They were built when cars were chunks of iron, had no shoulder belts, and were designed to cruise at 55.  Even if you do a full suspension/bushing/steering rebuild, they require a bit more active input when driving.  My wagon was fortunate to only have about 50k on it, so things were still minty fresh, and GM did a good job sorting out geometry to make it a sensible road warrior.  The 62 Caddy however was a nightmare above 60 because it had (not kidding) 540k miles.  I'm sure it would have been OK with some bushings and steering components, but yikes.  Things were just built with slide rulers and protractors back then instead of gigabyte CAD engineering.

The only other thing about big classic American iron is ergonomics.  Expect to nearly have to remove your seat belt to change the volume on the radio or adjust the climate controls.  Getting something from the glove box?  Good luck.  You know that saying... something about tape a $100 bill to the dash and then have the passenger try to grab it?  No problem in a 64 Impala.  Not because of the power and acceleration, but because getting the $100 bill would require standing up and walking 10 feet to the dashboard.  I kid, but not by much.

Having said that, I'm all for it.  Once I finish the projects, my two road trip vehicles will be a 67 Lemans Convertible and a 66 Bonneville.

Good point... It was 1974 where the national speed limit went to 55. That remained until 1987 when 65 became the new number in some states. 

Just keep in mind that a 3 speed automatic from 1978 might be geared for efficiency at 55 but possibly be screaming pretty hard at today's common 75mph cruising speed. 

Sure, before 1974 there were highways of 70 mph but remember there wasn't nearly as much interstate and travel was still along much more rural roads (at lower speeds.) 

My dream old car for road trips would be a shell of my choice (likely a 64 Olds 98 or other similar D/C/B-body) with a Caddy 500 under the hood, a TH400, and 2.73 gears.

A late friend of mine took his honey moon in a 60's corvette tour of the USA.  This is the way to do, C5's have a small truck like trunk and well within budget.  I like the C6 better but I don't know how big the trunk is.

My other option would be a 1973 Olds 98 coupe or similar. 

Yep, early to late 70s or so Olds (of your choice) with the Olds 350.

I would look for a ZHP, coupe or sedan.  Higher milers are not crazy expensive and it will cruise, not sofa soft, certainly.  You know BMW's and being preemptive on cooling system and maybe suspension will yield a reliable & fun car.

I suspected this would generate a lot of conversation, and I was not disappointed.

I appreciate all of the suggestions, though some of them are going to be non-starters. Let me see if I can at least narrow things down a bit.

- I'm not doing a BMW unless it's one I already own (or the perfect 3.0CSi falls into my lap). I'd take my 128i over a Boxster/Cayman, simply because at the age I'd need to look at to get one of those within budget I'd have the same questions about reliability. The devil you know and all....

- The thought of driving an 80s or 90s anything fills me with existential angst. I lived through those years, survived, got the t-shirt. I do not care to return. I've sat on enough velour for a lifetime.

- I do not have enough chest hair or gold jewelry to drive a Corvette, nor do I plan to acquire either.

- Big Mercs are interesting enough to warrant consideration, but they are an outside shot at best. I've done German for decades.

- Comments on 50s/60s American stuff have largely confirmed my suspicions. Are there any cars of that era that stand out as particularly well-suited, or is it basically just all the same underneath?

To the question overall plans, it would be strictly staying at hotels - no camping. Not looking for the full "Roadkill Experience" package. Just a car that will go where I point it and get me there without crippling pain or the car on a flatbed.

Keep those suggestions coming. I probably won't take them, but then you already knew that.

In reply to 02Pilot :

One question about the road trip I've not seen yet- what's the primary road?

I totally get what you are saying about the BMW on the freeway, as my Miata and my Alfa are the exact same thing at 70- 4k rpm.  Which isn't as bad as it sounds, but still....  

But if you are going to take back roads, where speed limit is 55mph, then the BMW isn't the same bad idea.  And for just driving road trips, I'd rather be on the less traveled roads anyway.  

Some changes that you can make- find a gear box that has a tall 5th gear, and a taller rear rear end.  Like before we go out on the trip, I intend to put in a 4.10 in my car from the original 4.56.  Not a huge drop, but enough to make a difference.

The other thing to think about "where" are mountains.  Like real ones.  And for that, I would very much lean to something with disk brakes- so that the heat can be dealt with.  So for that old American car, say a Falcon, if you can get a disk brake conversion, that would make it a lot more comfortable in high braking areas.  And the Falcon is just a cheap and simple looking Mustang.

alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to 02Pilot :

 

The other thing to think about "where" are mountains.  Like real ones.  And for that, I would very much lean to something with disk brakes- so that the heat can be dealt with.  So for that old American car, say a Falcon, if you can get a disk brake conversion, that would make it a lot more comfortable in high braking areas.  And the Falcon is just a cheap and simple looking Mustang.

Very good point - I had a 71 Cutlass with 4 wheel drum brakes and a lived in an area with a bunch of hills between me and the highway.  Every morning by the time I got to the interstate, the brakes had faded to almost nothing.

The roads are yet to be determined, but likely a mix of interstate and smaller roads. The point about brakes is well-taken - of all the cars I've owned, I've never dealt with four-wheel drums. I'd likely have to look for something with a disc kit already in place, or plan to convert it.

The thought of making major modifications to the 2002 had occurred to me, but parts are quite expensive, and I'm not sure I have it in me at this point to undertake a big project, completion of which would be a pre-condition for leaving on any trip. I think right now I need to focus on getting something that's pretty close to ready to drive.

Four years ago, I took a bunch of Scouts from Baltimore-ish to northern Minnesota.  I did most of the driving.  We had one of these: 

This thing was absolutely flawless on flat, straight, mid-western super-slabs.  Quiet, comfortable, plenty of space, good visibility, and tracked beautifully.  It was kind of annoying around town, but we're talking highway cruiser, right? 

I have had the hots for an Ecoboost, Ford Flex. While no longer made they offer AWD, six passenger seating, unique style, handy size and are pretty damned fast.

I've thought a lot about the responses and suggestions here, and why so many of them, while entirely reasonable, did not resonate with me. I think it's because I've framed this in my mind as an adventure, and I feel the car should fit that sense of occasion. It's irrational to be sure, but I suppose that's some of the appeal.

In reply to 02Pilot :

I wonder if it might be time to find a few of the given options for sale and go test drive a few?  Maybe that'll help narrow the options down a bit. 

Yeah, I'm going to try to get to a Mazda dealer in the next week or so to investigate the ND and see if there are any deal-breaking aspects to it. Finding the older stuff locally is trickier, so I'm going to try to rule the ND in or out first.

Is the vacation "the drive" or the destination ?

how far away from  home  are you planning on going ?  It may not be the same answer if you are going to head out Saturday morning , drive a couple hundred miles to the resort/hotel and then head back home , 

And no one mentioned Good Lights , older cars are just so so for headlights .

have Fun :)

Agree with ^.

An adventure is taking a car that you're unsure will get you to your destination, but oh, the stories.

Regarding headlights... yeah, about that. I got to drive a 1935 Nash one time, and the headlights were about 5 candlepower. Really, really bad. Other than that, though, I thought it would be an awesome car for a cross country trip.

californiamilleghia said:

And no one mentioned Good Lights , older cars are just so so for headlights .

But older cars are often easier to upgrade the headlights on, so I'd consider that a wash. 

I'd do the 128i over a Miata, but I'm tall and I hate being cramped.   The E82 chassis is a good one too, one of those cars that you look down and you're going 90 without meaning to.  In a similar vein to one of the other posters, 25k is a lot of money that could be spent on making something you already have better, or perhaps replacing every single berkeleying driveline component on the car to fix the vibration.  

As for most comfortable, I borrowed a newish 3.5L F150 to do some work on my rental property that's ~250 miles away.  Talk about an awesome highway vehicle.  I don't think it went over 2000 rpm, and just kinda wooshed down the highway.  I hated driving it in town and on the twisty mountain roads to get to my house, but man, that F150 did sooo good on the highway.  Again, it was another one of those vehicles where you look down and do an "oh E36 M3" because you're doing 90-95 MPH without realizing.  

Local long weekends involving going 300+ miles from home are pretty standard stuff. This would be for a full week or longer, with intermediate stops, likely 1000+ miles from home. It's about the whole journey, not just hammering to get somewhere.

The 128i is great, and I've already poured several thousand into replacing driveline consumables (all of them). All that's left original is the transmission, the driveshaft, and the diff. But it feels very familiar, and I think I'm looking for a new experience here.

It's funny, I was thinking only of what kind of sedan would work, and completely overlooked what I already own. I have a 2013 Ford F-150 EcoBoost, and driving from San Diego to Virginia City, NV was very pleasant . No need to stop due to discomfort. If you put a shell on it, you've got tons of space for luggage or what not.

Oh, and there's the added benefit of riding high, so you can see over traffic for any hazards coming up.

There is a difference between my comfort tolerance now in my 50's than when I was in my 20's and 30's.  I will NOT do a highway drive longer than a few hours in a car without cruise control.  It bothers me to get out of the driver's seat limping. 

+1 on a Grand Caravan being quite good at gobbling up highway miles without tiring the driver.  I've spent more hours than I care to admit in my '08 and '17 versions.  My old 1990 E150 conversion van was also a great long distance touring vehicle - that is pretty much what they were designed to do.  It felt like driving my living room. When the CC worked - once it stopped working driving became a chore.

My dream cross-country vehicle is my Volvo 1800ES with some modern updates (good HVAC, stereo and cruise control; probably P/S as well).  Having done long trips in my -ex's stock car, they were far a better "GT" than any pretense at being a "sports car."

I have delusions about doing cross-country drives with my GT6, but I don't see each driving day lasting more than 4-6 hrs between hotel rooms. I've done long days in it (and my Spitfire) and while tolerable for a day or two, any more than that would just end up making me exhausted. 

For me a road trip car has to not kill my back. Currently I own a 2003 MINI Cooper S, a 1999 Miata and a 2019 GMC Canyon crew cab, and that's the same order as I would take them on road trips. MINI is comfortable to do 1000 mile days, the Miata less than half that, and the truck gave me numb-bum and a sore hip in 90 miles yesterday. Forget perceptions about various cars and find one to at least test the seating.

I just had a thought.  With your price range, I bet you could find a late 30's-early 50's hot rod that has a semi-modern drivetrain (350/700R4), front disc brakes, A/C, and a reasonably comfortable suspension and interior.  You'd want to buy it with enough lead time to shake it down, and maybe add cruise if it doesn't have it.  How cool would it be to look back at a bunch of pictures of a trip in a 39 Ford with a 90's paint job and billet wheels?  
 

Edit:  a bunch of the fat fendered hot rods out there are on S10 chassis, so a lot of mechanical parts are easy to come by

Over in this thread, we may soon find out from Wally if the answer to epic cross country trip vehicle is the 1995 Chariot Resort Runner GT.

I think this will be the answer that you had not considered!