a question for Dave

   Data Plate Decoder
   Tech Articles
   Websites links

[kermit]

What is your daily driver?

I'm not talking here about the car you take out on a Sunday afternoon for a show, I mean your real daily driver?

[dbdee]

Kermit old chap,thanks for asking.............The old yellow machine was out last year almost every day when it wasn't raining........so lets clear up the Sunday show bit.......we don't have them up here.

Next is my 'daily'.........low mileage Rover 75 2L. turbo diesel (BMWengined)...one of the very last off the production line...........superb car . Ask any owner. I bought it for long distance 45 mpg commuting and its my 3rd '75'.  I'd buy another new one if I could.

Dave   

[kermit]

Interesting choice of car, I would have thought you were driving a classic car every day, very surprised there.
You see I only have one car (oh and a couple of buses....  ), and I'm trying to improve a few things on that engine/car.
Sure I haven't always made the right decisions, but that's life you know. You have to fall to rise again 

[dbdee]

Thats true.

Classics can't do 100-mile daily commutes.(or shouldn't be forced to)

My mate tried the same journey with his Sunbeam Tiger one day......fell asleep at the wheel,hit the centre barrier and wrote it off !

Dave   

[kermit]

That's were you're wrong Dave I believe.
Let's go back in time, 1966... You just bought a brand new Mustang with the GT package.
You're going to drive it, as it's your daily driver back then.

Now fast forward to 2010, and you still have that nice Mustang GT, fully restored.
What's the difference then between 1966 and today in terms of driving it?  none.

There's nothing wrong in driving a restored/improved classic car.

Classics can't do 100-mile daily commutes.(or shouldn't be forced to)

[dbdee]

Kermit,you are takin' the pis+ aren't you ?

Petrol in the 70's was what..............?

Petrol now is what..........................?

I agree with your sentiments but be practical........traffic,weather etc,etc.

D   

[MUSTANG-BOSS-302]

quote kermit There's nothing wrong in driving a restored/improved classic car.

I like this game a lot...

Sorry Dave, no answer to that one.

Steph 2..Dave 0......Come on Dave..hit him with the 70's are better than 65's..

[Dag A]

Kermit,you are takin' the pis+ aren't you ?

Petrol in the 70's was what..............?

Petrol now is what..........................?

I agree with your sentiments but be practical........traffic,weather etc,etc.

D   

Dave, if you compare gas prices now and then to what you get paied, gas is cheaper today!!
At least over here!!

[kermit]

I'm not taking the piss Dave, not at all.
I'm just saying that unless I drive some very specific modern cars, a "normal" modern car has no appeal to me.
I got a classic car that can drive better than in 65, why buy a modern car.

You have this Lotus, I would take it of your hands if I had the money and drive it every day to go to work.

[Sandy]

I have to disagree.

There is no comparison between my company daily, a Vauxhall Astra diesel estate, and (almost) any classic American or Australian car I have driven. With the exception of straightline acceleration, the Astra is in a different league and is vastly better in every way.
The American cars of the sixties really were shockers, badly built, badly designed, badly engineered. They were as good as profits allowed them to be for the time, but that was 40 years ago, and for vastly different roads and road systems than here in the UK.
Let's explode the myth of these things being reliable wonderous creations. They weren't. Ever wonder why most American musclecars are so low mileage? Because nobody in their right mind would want to drive them very far in the first place. Back in the sixties, the Yanks wouldn't need to anyway. Everything, including the work place, was close by. You wouldn't drive a Boss429 or hemi Charger from coast to coast. It wouldn't make it out of state without needing a retune or you a set of ear defenders and a tub of Excedrin.

[kermit]

Talking about reliability, Toyota is recalling quite a few cars... 
September 2007, US: 55,000 Camry and Lexus cars in floormat recall
October 2009, US: 3.8m Toyota and Lexus vehicles recalled due to floormat problem
November 2009, US: floormat recall increased to 4.2m vehicles
January 2010, US: 2.3m Toyota vehicles recalled due to accelerator pedal problems (of those, 2.1m already involved in floormat recall)
January 2010, US: 1.1m Toyotas in floormat recall
February 2010, Europe: 1.8m Toyota's in pedal recall
February 2010, Japan, US: 200 reports of brake faults in new Prius. Cars recalled
February 2010, worldwide: 436,000 hybrid vehicles in brake recall. Also, 7,300 Camry vehicles recalled in the US over potential brake tube problems

[dbdee]

Kermit,I don't think there is any argument here !
Sandy has the nail squarely on the head.You are really stretching your luck to trust your classic to take you to work..........I just wouldn't want to risk my job !
If I even had only short distances to commute I still wouldn't use ANY classic car unless I really had to.

Go on,prove us wrong.
Be the first to use his Mustang on a daily commute !

Dave   

[MUSTANG-BOSS-302]

I also hear the 2005 mustangs and the GM's have loads of electrical problems. Never had any probs electric or other with my 69 Boss. in fact I drove it for 18 months on a daily basis..and that was on the i.o.w hills everywhere, and renowned for the worst roads in the country. I run a vectra estate now on a daily basis, bloody thing clunks everywhere and the coilpacks keep f*&ing up go figure, wish my Boss was back on the road now, I have a 250 mile run to do this weekend and I know the Boss would get me there! I also ran a 65 289 coupe for 2 years and drove it all around France..Italy..through germany and back home to Birmingham. only problem was I got sand in the carb, 1/2 hour later it was cleaned and ran great the hole trip. If we are talking Boss 429 and Hemi cudas, these cars were never built as daily drivers more publicity vehicles and mine is bigger than yours fluff up of feathers by the major car manufacturers in the states. Any car (classic) is only as reliable as the parts and mechanic that fitted them. I'm proud to say every classic car I have had has given me miles of regular use, my 10 bobs worth.

[dbdee]

Yep,so have mine but if I had the choice of sitting in hours of traffic........no contest ,sorry.

Dave 

[kermit]

I've wasted enough time with EFI and sh1t, back to carb and off I go

Go on,prove us wrong.
Be the first to use his Mustang on a daily commute !

[kermit]

and I thought you were a real hardcore classic car guy.
I'm truly disappointed.
 

Yep,so have mine but if I had the choice of sitting in hours of traffic........no contest ,sorry.

Dave 

[dbdee]

Not me ,Kermit,whatever gave you that idea !

I even bought an automatic for the commute Glasgow to Edinburgh airport.......the M8.....the worst for holdups in the UK apparently. Don't know how many clutches I would have burned out with a manual.

The other reason for non-classic commuting is having to leave your precious machine in a public car park all day.....NO WAY !

Dave