I had at least 5 reasons to buy my classic car.
There are some of people that will work until they can’t imagine a way to be productive anymore.
Most of my family is like that, including my wife and I am now on my third career, not counting what I considered obligatory military service.
After retiring from my last career I realized I needed to get out of my wife’s way, She had been dropping me off daily and the new career was twice as far away as the old career. I had to get my own car, it had to be cheap cause I needed to keep insurance costs down. I budgeted myself $20,000.00 and started looking. After considering my life experiences with cars, I decided to get a 1968 Ford Thunderbird, here are the reasons why.
TRANSPORTATION
The First reason to buy my classic car is i needed a car. The car I picked is good for transportation it is one of the first of Detroit’s Sport Luxury cars. Built in the Wixom assembly plant in 1968 the Ford Thunderbird had many advanced features including it’s in dash 8-track tape player. The one I bought has power windows and headlight covers but alas no air conditioning. Our Michigan roads have a lot of pot holes, we have a lot of roads and are famous for their poor condition. The best way to get around this is with the old Ford suspension that takes the driver and passengers away from the road conditions unlike the performance oriented suspension of todays vehicles. There was once an advertisement of cutting a diamond while riding in the back seat of a 1972 Mercury. There is a YouTube post on this. The Thunderbird glides over the road, I am use to riding in SUVs now so the comfort and ease of driving the Thunderbird is a welcoming feeling that I haven’t experienced in 40 years. My choice vehicle also has a “429 Thunderjet” motor which provides a lot of pickup and agility to is 2 plus Tons of weight, its a classic that doesn’t look like a muscle car and doesn’t have that reputation but it can perform. It has a platform that provides a foundation to build a monster of power on. I haven’t decided how much I’m going to work on that feature but we will cover it here.
THERAPY
The second reason to buy my classic car will probably be more obvious as you read the text, I need therapy. For me owning a Classic car is therapeutic. I remember my first car and how as a teenager I used to Fix Or Repair Daily or it was Found On the Roadside Dead. There is a comfort in visiting the perspective I had in the past keeping my car on the road as a link to my possible future. The availability of personal transportation in the past was one of my first introductions to self actualized freedom intrinsic to my citizenship, my literal pursuit of happiness. It came with an obligation, I had to buy Gas, oil, antifreeze, windshield wiper fluid and compressed air from time to time, then I had to work to keep it running. adjusting the idle, checking the belts, changing light bulbs and adjusting headlights. these things flooded back tome with the purchase of this car, like muscle memory the car didn’t turn over in park so I found myself lifting up on the steering mounted shifter in the park position until the starter relay picked up realizing I did it after the fact. My reward was a comfort level that “Yeah, been there, done that”. The process of enjoying this car is reconnecting me with my past allowing me to see the adventure of my life and comparing the beginning of the journey to the present,(I almost said the end). Maintaining the vehicle is relaxing and comforting. I appreciate my tools more and have to organize my garage differently now. I get to escape into an imagined symbiotic relationship that is absolutely what I make it.
SELF RELIANCE
The third reason to buy my classic car is self reliance, This technology I can handle. This Classic car doesn’t have one chip on it. The Pandemic, supply chain problems, trade embargoes have no affect. The simplicity of the engineering is wonderful with methodologies for maintenance today. in the 40 years since I owned my first one I have become proficient at machining and mechanical repair and electronics so the whole gambit of repair on this user friendly well engineered personal transportation system is a breeze to care for and easy to understand. At 10 miles a gallon when driven moderately I have a range of near 200 miles with my 18 gallon tank with the possibility of some coasting. But there’s no shortage of gas stations and I don’t go far now of days. It is a perfect commuter an I drive it just enough to stay in touch with any issues that might develop so I can jump on a problem that will turn it into 2 tons of scrap metal. It is built like a tank if I get hit by another car I expect the other car will do very poorly in comparison. There isn’t much ground clearance sometimes the vehicle bottoms out while navigating the pot holes and even recessed man hole covers and drains but that was factored into the design too. i still have to avoid these scenarios and not take the engineering for granted to reduce my maintenance. It doesn’t steer itself to park or brake when Im too close to anything and the headlights are not automatic nor morning startups. The steering wheel doesn’t lock, there is no FOB recognition. Its a step up from a riding lawn mower in simplicity and it’s all on me, but within my reach.
COST
The Fourth reason to buy my classic car is it was cheap and is expected to be a little rough to start. My car cost me a little over $10,000.00, when new, it was a little over $5,000.00 so it has retained it’s value. I’m probably going to put it on consignment for the cost plus as I make improvements so it will be as liquid as possible of an investment, but I can’t really imagine selling it. It will be a successful endeavor if it keeps me smiling but it will never take away from my family. With gas at $5.00 a gallon, it cost me $0.50 a mile roughly, and I only travel far enough to keep the car healthy. It’s available for more and a joy to drive. I need to get a fully restorative paint job on it and got an estimate at around $30,000.00. If I go for it, I’ll document the journey here it will be another fun trip to take. If I do this, I will still not have paid for a New car today and will be able to recoup my investment when the economy returns. We have to manage our costs and utilizing a manufacturing process from the past. It provides me with a secure platform that at this time lowers my cost by eliminating the loss of time waiting for supply chain issues, inflated costs from low supply and artificial demand. This is an opportunity for me to make use of this new experiment in economics and has so far been nice. I hope others are cognizant of the repercussions of these high level decisions and arable to navigate them safely. Americans deserve the best and the information is out there if we don’t settle for what we are being told, and go get it. All that being said the present economy and supply shortages make this an affordable option with the chances of value retention being greater the expected. This is of course my opinion and I am not an economist just an old grease monkey.
LEGACY
The Fifth reason to buy my classic car is to make Dad and Grandpa popular. The I have a number of children and grand children and I would be happy to show them the magic of early century mechanical engineering and if it sticks with any of them I might consider transferring the car down the line but I will definitely make sure the memory of the car has a nice place with them. Maybe Woodward cruises which are popular in Michigan. However, that being said, the one thing I know about expectations placed on the youth is that they don’t work, unless there are behavioral controls in place that are strengthened by consistent indoctrination and that is not the way to grow a leader nor an American Citizen. What a miserable thing to imagine for a loved child. It is better to encourage and enable a child to find their own preferred path and assist them in finding the truth so good decisions can be made by them not say ” If you don’t want my car, You don’t belong!”. It’s possible the shared love in the transfer of experiences with the old engineering will bond with someone but the most treasurable return will be the love itself which is freely given and unconditional. It will be my responsibility to my family to allow an environment of learning to exist without the burden of “proof of allegiance” to a perspective that can not possible be passed on. The reality is more like Sting’s song “Dead man’s Boots”. Yes it’s true you can’t take it with you and no-one is guaranteed to want it when you’re gone so enjoy it while you can and if there are no takers hand it to someone who appreciates it.
