Trading classic cars for something modern?

Stating to think classic cars are unusable in modern traffic. Thinking about giving up. Almost got killed today when a brodozer cut off my Cadillac in freeway traffic and stood on the brakes. If it had been the semi modern truck I have it would have been fine, on the bias-plys that I use to show I would have been dead. Luckily on the radials as things are out for chrome.

Its taking me 45 minutes in San Diego to go 8 miles to work and then another 45 to get home. Cannot get out of the city comfortably with the car to go for a actual drive. One of them has no synco's so when you merge into me unexpected while I am shifting and have not forward power. E36 M3ty California gas with ETOH is always causing issues with the carbs and fuel lines.

Are people just that stupid, I mean how hard is it not to cut someone off, to use your turn signals and merge safely. Anybody else just give up on the classics and just go all modern. Seriously this just sucks, still kind of shaking.

Even good people tend to turn into blithering idiots when faced with the task of driving a car.

I think the problem may be that you are in a big city - if I were in the city, I would certainly tend to drive something more modern that I didn't care about as much. Not sure I'll ever completely give up on old cars though.

Fools and rude people have always existed. Doubt there's any more today, or any less. None the less, the modern cars are indeed safer, and if you're going to have to crash, it's nicer to do it in a car that you're less likely to get hurt in.

I do not think that I would daily an antique vehicle. I might drive it to work every now and then. Close calls happen, and they aren't any fun, but they're nerve-wracking no matter what you're driving.

wearymicrobe wrote: Its taking me 45 minutes in San Diego to go 8 miles to work and then another 45 to get home.

There is nothing on 4 wheels that will be enjoyable for this commute.

45 minutes to go 8 miles? On a regular basis? I could not endure that every day. You could probably come close to covering that distance quicker riding a bike? If you can't move or take the bus, maybe pick up a modern "beater" for cheap?

drainoil wrote: 45 minutes to go 8 miles? On a regular basis? I could not endure that every day. You could probably come close to covering that distance quicker riding a bike? If you can't move or take the bus, maybe pick up a modern "beater" for cheap?

You can definitely cover that distance faster on a bike. My 10 mile commute takes me 42 minutes on my bicycle. And its a hell of a lot more fun than 45 mins of sitting in traffic. Plus the added benefit of exercise.

Move?

I've had the same feeling and that has a lot to do with why I got rid of my '65 Mustang. The oldest thing that I own now is my '87 911. I think that it's one of the few older vehicles that's capable in modern traffic.

You'll either need to update the braking on any classic vehicle to be somewhere in the same ballpark as a modern car, or give yourself plenty of room in front at all time like you're driving a loaded 18-wheeler.

Luckily upgrading the brakes is easy since most modern vehicles are on skinny no-season tires, so you can add grip to make up for the lack of ABS & EBD.

ProDarwin wrote:

drainoil wrote: 45 minutes to go 8 miles? On a regular basis? I could not endure that every day. You could probably come close to covering that distance quicker riding a bike? If you can't move or take the bus, maybe pick up a modern "beater" for cheap?

You can *definitely* cover that distance faster on a bike. My 10 mile commute takes me 42 minutes on my bicycle. And its a hell of a lot more fun than 45 mins of sitting in traffic. Plus the added benefit of exercise.

Its 10 minutes on the Harley when I have one. Split lanes mmmm.

I can get there on the road bike in about an hour as I need to ride up the coast as our city decided years ago that bikes are terrible and did not put streets that connect between off-ranps on the freeway. They put bike lanes on the 5 freeway in some places with 65 mph traffic with no barrier.

Looks like I bruised or broke my foot slamming on the brakes. I have a bruise on the ball on my foot the size on a tennis ball. Going to the doc tonight for a checkup. Really thinking about that F430 now, actually have a appointment to look at one this weekend and its a F1.

Moving is out of the question as I am under contract for the next 5 years, but yeah I need to get out of California.

what kind of a "Cadillac" are you driving?

novaderrik wrote: what kind of a "Cadillac" are you driving?

Some ancient land-yacht with drum brakes all-around, don't remember which year.

In reply to novaderrik:

1957 Coupe De Ville. 100% stock except for the tires.

Do you still have a compliance appliance for commuting, or did you get rid of your EV?

In that sort of traffic it's just a matter of time before your car gets crunched. For a daily slog I can't understand not getting something comfortable and safe. Automatic, nice climate control, big stereo, just a living room on wheels with a steel cage around you. Honestly the lack of safety features in the antiques is a ticking time bomb, not that you will do anything wrong but the million other drivers who are asleep at the wheel. Get something nice and arrive refreshed and relaxed, not shaken and bruised.

Save the nice/cool/antique/special cars for special occasions and weekends.

I daily drove my impala for about a year after moving here (1966). Same exact issues. The last straw was when a lady turned left into a gas station across my lane RIGHT in front of me (maybe one and a half car lengths?). I was in it to win it with the brakes. I had those tires BEGGING for mercy and I thought for sure that little Subaru she was driving was about to become a parts donor but at the last second she stood on the gas.

My new daily is still 30-years old, but man what a difference it makes. It was a hard pill to swallow but when push comes to shove I can stop, turn, and start quicker in my 30-year-old pickup than I can in my 50-year-old sedan (plus the truck is a lot uglier so I don't mind offering to trade paint with people who get a little too aggressive with their merging habits). and the gas mileage is better...

nderwater wrote: Do you still have a compliance appliance for commuting, or did you get rid of your EV?

I still have the i3 but it is freaking out right now. I actually had it for lack of a better term "reboot" while driving down the freeway a few days ago and its going to the dealer on a flatbed in the next couple days. Its been in the shop three times in the last two months. Getting ~35-41 miles to the charge instead of the 85 I was getting in the beginning.

I just think I am going through a cursed time right now.

I've thought about it often, but then the difference in insurance costs sways me. $250/yr for three cars vs. hundreds for one. Plus, one more car to deal with yearly registration and inspections.

Fortunately, I'm in a situation where if I leave early my drive into work is pretty drama-free and takes about an hour or so to go ~50 miles. Going home, I either leave early or late to avoid the bulk of rush-hour traffic.

Now that I'm in Portsmouth, NH for the next year or so, I'm not sure how much use my classics will get, although the drive from my apt to the office is nice and short, although there is no garage at either location. I just mapped it out and an "avoid highways" route between my house and here is 414 miles and will take about 9 hrs. Might bring the Spitfire up here for British Car Week unless I can get the Mini fixed by then.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

I feel your pain. I love old cars, but even my '79 528i feels like a death trap when the trunk lid of the new Taurus is the same height as my roof.

AngryCorvair wrote: In reply to wearymicrobe: I feel your pain. I love old cars, but even my '79 528i feels like a death trap when the trunk lid of the new Taurus is the same height as my roof.

Ha! Try driving a Spitfire. I spend my time staring at door sills.

Guy in my car club sold all his old stuff, Morgans (3 and 4 wheeled), TVR's, etc. and bought a DB7.

Having had my Elise totaled by a kid in a Jeep ("I was sleepy") with crappy insurance, probably thumbing his berkeleying phone, I am almost at the point of just get an appliance for driving outside of the occasional car club or track event. Anything nice and some shiny happy person will destroy it for you.

Gave up on the MGB GT as any form of transportation because it no longer fits in with today's traffic demographics. It is an adventure to drive the thing anymore than around the block, and if there is one thing I want less of in my life, its adventure.

Since I did buy the damn thing primarily for looks, it still serves a function as a nice looking sculpture, so it stays in the family. Also much cheaper to own now that it does not get driven

Yikes, I would not want to commute in that car in that place. I think you need to match the car to the environment a little better. I.E. my commute is 10 miles of twisty back roads so I commute in a Miata. I wouldn't commute in a cadillac. And if I had a 40 minute interstate commute into new jersey I wouldn't have the Miata. I'd have the cadillac. And if the commute was entirely stop and go I'd probably still have the old '95 Escort. Starts and stops quickly, is pretty nimble, and 100% disposable.

If that's your daily drive, buy a beater pickup, retired P71, or something else that's comfortable, excels in winning low speed crashes, strikes fear into the average suburbanite, and is cheap enough you can trade paint in it without cringing. Make that inevitable fender bender entertaining. Keep the classics for weekends.