No lie, I would daily either or both of the following if it weren't for the salt and brine they dump on the roads here. Just about every part is available and the stuff that keeps them running and stopping is a day at most from my local NAPA.
No lie, I would daily either or both of the following if it weren't for the salt and brine they dump on the roads here. Just about every part is available and the stuff that keeps them running and stopping is a day at most from my local NAPA.
The British stuff does not make the grade in my world because they are all a bit too much "Hair Shirt" experience. They are just a bit over the line on the NVH and heat soak experience to make you want to pick them out of the herd every morning.
While Brit cars seem to trundle on just fine, I can honestly say that I have never heard any production British car make noises like it is enjoying its job. They are all kinda like Marvin The Robot in demeanor. Do not let it go unnoticed that Marvin is in fact a British creation.
I seem to be able to overlook most of the above for style; some awesome looking cars came out of the Island.
The cars themselves are perfectly capable of doing the job if you are willing to stay on top of the maintenance, and parts are no harder to get than they would be for the FRS.
80's G body. Sure hard parts are easy, but interior bits are long gone and expensive. Tough to get 25-30 mpg out of one as well.
mad_machine (Forum Supporter) said:Appleseed said:a 1978 BRAT.
Imagine how much fun a Brat would be equipped with a modern Subaru drivetrain?
I always thought a Suby XT would be a fun daily, but I already daily a Disco..
FIL has a brat he already told me I can have at a good family discount. Even toyed with the idea of making that my challenge car and cramming a v8 in there. After working on my brothers 2012 Impreza I'd very much like to jam a modern subie power train in and party so hard.
Keith Tanner said:wspohn said:Lots of cars. I drove 20-40 year old MGs and TRs as my only cars for decades.
I agree that it is a different game today when the obsolescence of a high tech part can make it completely uneconomic with certain cars. Would like to own a BMW 850 CSI (well, I would have when they bottomed, before they started up again) but the electronics that could fail - the ECMs (yes, two of them) were in the multi thousand dollar range and then became unavailable.
But parts availability for those MGs and TRs is also difficult these days. If I need parts for my classic Mini or my MG, I have to mail order it. And that's going to take the car down for a couple of days which isn't suitable for a daily driver. So the question isn't so much about cars that are at risk of a single part parking the car for good, but cars that aren't practical for DD use because they're not easily fixed with a quick turnaround. I have my choice of suppliers for a wheel cylinder for my '67 Land Rover, but if I lose a wheel cylinder I can't drive the thing until someone ships me one from the other side of the country.
Keith.
The wonderful things about British cars is how predictable they are. You can tell when things like a wheel cylinder are going to fail. Or ignition parts. Besides they are so small and cheap you can just carry a spare and the handful of tools needed to replace it.
No it doesn't have the plug in and replace slot so many mechanics need to tell them their fuel pump is bad. It has an audible warning. No thunk thunk thunk at start up?, you have a bad fuel pump--- clean the points.
Points are so simple to check. A coil is what,? 5 minutes to change?
richen or lean the carbs with a simple turn of the nut or screw?
ddavidv said:No lie, I would daily either or both of the following if it weren't for the salt and brine they dump on the roads here. Just about every part is available and the stuff that keeps them running and stopping is a day at most from my local NAPA.
Same. I'd love to daily my Mustang like I did in high school. All the parts are easily available, but I'm not as willing to ride around in 50+ year old tech with no AC in Tampa.
Maybe one day when I move back to Tallahassee and traffic isn't as stupid.
Obviously you have not witnessed Tallahassee traffic recently. 
In reply to Mr_Asa :
To be fair I would never subject a vintage car to daily drive in Minnesota during the winter. Road salt, brutally cold weather, high accident rates.
Too much risk for little return.
Nor would I on the handful of hot days we get in the summer. Even though things are always cooler by the lake and Minnesota has 15,000 lakes plus the headwaters of the Mississippi The red river going to Hudson's bay and the Great Lakes along with all the feeder rivers and streams.
Nor would I load up my vintage car with lumber or heavy stone. Or tow my boats, race car I have a pickup for those cases.
Easy. Small bumper, Digifant 8v Golf.
I'd love to import Peugeot 205 GTI but I can only image how hard parts would be to get.
Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:Obviously you have not witnessed Tallahassee traffic recently.
I'll admit, its been a while since I've actually been in Tallahassee proper, I think it was before Gaines St was closed down to a two lane instead of the four lane it was (such a stupid idea.) Sister lives just outside Crawfordville, best friend lives out in the Natl Forest past the airport, and Dad lives off of 157 and 12 in Gadsden county.
Wife's people aren't much better, her mom moved to California, but she's got a friend that has moved in off of Meridian Rd and Timberlake.
Still, a lot better than Tampa
frenchyd said:Keith.
The wonderful things about British cars is how predictable they are. You can tell when things like a wheel cylinder are going to fail. Or ignition parts. Besides they are so small and cheap you can just carry a spare and the handful of tools needed to replace it.
No it doesn't have the plug in and replace slot so many mechanics need to tell them their fuel pump is bad. It has an audible warning. No thunk thunk thunk at start up?, you have a bad fuel pump--- clean the points.
Points are so simple to check. A coil is what,? 5 minutes to change?
richen or lean the carbs with a simple turn of the nut or screw?
My theory of British car parts is that the car can somehow sense what spares you are carrying I therefor carry the usual bits - a full ignition complement as well as a set of belts and hoses plus a small set of tools (those of us with MGs, which originally had twin 6V batteries, often convert to a single 12V and use the space left on the other side as a tool and spare repository)
I offer as evidence that I had a water pump go out on my 62 MGA Mk 2 Deluxe (started leaking past the seal which is usually a sign of failing bearings in the pump) on a trip to California. It started leaking in Crescent City and because I run a 3 main bearing MGB engine in it (made 1963/4 only) and the pump is different, I couldn't get another one until I made it (more slowly than usual) to Portland.
I followed up by buying spare water pump for the parts cache and have never needed it since then (that was in 1984......). I am pretty sure that if I took it out and went on a trip, the car would sense that and make sure that I regretted it!
wspohn said:My theory of British car parts is that the car can somehow sense what spares you are carrying I therefor carry the usual bits - a full ignition complement as well as a set of belts and hoses plus a small set of tools (those of us with MGs, which originally had twin 6V batteries, often convert to a single 12V and use the space left on the other side as a tool and spare repository)
I offer as evidence that I had a water pump go out on my 62 MGA Mk 2 Deluxe (started leaking past the seal which is usually a sign of failing bearings in the pump) on a trip to California. It started leaking in Crescent City and because I run a 3 main bearing MGB engine in it (made 1963/4 only) and the pump is different, I couldn't get another one until I made it (more slowly than usual) to Portland.
I followed up by buying spare water pump for the parts cache and have never needed it since then (that was in 1984......). I am pretty sure that if I took it out and went on a trip, the car would sense that and make sure that I regretted it!
I wonder how far away it's awareness extends. Do you think that if a car following you had one, it would act up?
In reply to NOHOME :
True... while there are many cool old cars I think would be fun to DD, I'm not sure I'd want to subject them to the risks involved with being a DD in a major metro area.
When I drove out to Carlisle last weekend for the import show, part of me was wishing I had my Spitfire or GT6. But with the posted speed limit on the PATP being 70 MPH and the general flow of traffic moving at 80+, I was happy to be in my 2006 MINI that is better suited to those kind of cruising speeds.
barefootskater said:mad_machine (Forum Supporter) said:Appleseed said:a 1978 BRAT.
Imagine how much fun a Brat would be equipped with a modern Subaru drivetrain?
I always thought a Suby XT would be a fun daily, but I already daily a Disco..
FIL has a brat he already told me I can have at a good family discount. Even toyed with the idea of making that my challenge car and cramming a v8 in there. After working on my brothers 2012 Impreza I'd very much like to jam a modern subie power train in and party so hard.
A FB friend built one for Rally/Rallycross. He painted it like an Adidas sneaker. It's awesome.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101924330338630&type=3
not sure if you can see it or not.
Heres a link to his racing "team" page: https://www.facebook.com/DPRK369/
I would DD a BMW 2002 if they weren't so prone to rust and hard to find in decent condition.
In reply to Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) :
I'd love to DD my Monte again.
I saw this again today and it's really fitting for this topic, for years I've seen this lurking around lower Manhattan waiting to pick someone up:
I wanted to ask him about it today but I assume he thought I was going to ask him to leave the bus stop and he motored away.
Take nearly any malaise era RWD V8, swap on decent heads and a cam, and drive it.
I daily'ed a 73 Impala wagon, a 74 Maverick 302, 87 Cutlass, 73 AMC Hornet, 85 El Camino, 87 El Camino.... I'm probably forgetting some, but in some of those examples I just did a head, cam, and exhaust swap. Some of them I just left alone. The Impala (454) just got a cam and the stock 049 heads got some work done to them. With cheap/DIY stuff I was making 400hp. The Maverick was frighteningly torquey as-is. For cripes sake, the thing weighed less than a WRX. The Cutlass was hideously gutless, but a gear swap helped.
Not old enough for a lot of you guys but I do daily it all summer. Have to take care of the NLA brake components and my wife isn't amused that the engine swap increased in car heat 3x but I love the thing and deal with all its quirks
the non existent rear sheet metal scares me more then anything. Sentimental value means buying a new body will likely not interest me if this one gets hit
If they were not unobtanium now I would daily a nice one of these.
But since they are no longer affordable I plan to buy a slightly newer one in two years when my youngest graduates. (Cutting my driving/ fuel burn dramatically)
I tried DD'ing an Audi urs6 back in college. It was a great car, but I couldn't keep up with the maintenance that it and all German cars require on my broke college kid budget.
I sold it a few years ago to a guy who runs a specialty shop and he was able to bring it back from the brink, thankfully. It's the only car I really miss.
Mr_Asa said:I wonder how far away it's awareness extends. Do you think that if a car following you had one, it would act up?
We used to go on car club runs or drive to national meets etc. in groups. As long as someone in the group had a spare part in their car, no one else seemed to need it. Maybe there is something to the herd instinct theory of British cars!
maybe that's why I keep clicking on that blue Manhattan.
The blue Manhattan I'm thinking you're talking about?
Ive driven it 500 miles. I wouldn't daily it. The lights suck. 6v means I'm always worried the starter won't. Single circuit brakes. Steering is "vague" at best.
It's cool, but every time I drive it, (usually just around the neighborhood) I remember why I haven't bought it. Cool, stylish, interesting, but not great for driving
I would 1000% buy another GTV6 and drive it every day. Man I miss that car.
1978 Impala Coupe. 4-spd
1995 Legend Coupe 6-spd
1992 B4C L98/auto
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