Geezers: New cars then vs now

[G8orFord]

Y'all do realize one of the biggest reasons 60's & 70's cars didn't seem to last a long as newer vehicles is the overdrive transmissions that weren't available back then, right?

There's only so many revolutions in any internal combustion engine before failure. Reducing that number by nearly 33% makes 'em last a bit longer. Reducing the rpm at cruising speed also adds life. Of course we do have better alloys and lubricants along with other advances, but the overdrive transmission is the major reason in my opinion.

FWIW, I'll take a post 2000 car/truck any day over an older one for everyday use. I like "most" of the newer electronic capabilities. Love cruise control. Not a huge fan of lane keep assist, but lane departure warning I have no problem with.

I'm not saying I don't like older muscle cars or 1978 F-150's, etc., but as a daily, I'd rather have the modern conveniences.

 

[racsan]

I was a real leadfoot when I started driving in ‘86. No matter what I was in, it was to the floor. Before my first car I was driving dads ‘74 2wd F250 (300/creeper 1st 4 speed, 3.73’s) needless to say it was good for about 70 mph, just wouldnt go any faster. My first car was a ‘79 amc concord with a 232 I-6, auto & idk what rear gears. 80 downhill on a good day at best. I prefer the styling of the older stuff (just look at what I did with my ‘94 ranger) Im not a fan of all the new bells & whistles, I hate the knob for a gearshift everyone seems to be going to. My better half (whos 3 years older than me) actually loves all the technology crap and would love a new car with all that. Our “newest” car is a 2011 escape awd V6. I do like it but Id prefer a 78/79 bronco myself. I am considering a new maverick, It would be “her” commuter, and Id drive it on weekends. (kind of how the escape is now) My job is too dirty for a nice car, Lately Ive been driving the ‘06 HHR just because it gets better fuel milage than my ranger, usually the HHR is my winter beater, and the ranger is kept out of the salt and only daily driven during the non-salted highway months. My favorite vehicle Ive ever owned was my green 93 4.0 4wd supercab ranger. Had that truck over 10 years, (would do 90 btw, handling is awful at that speed, dont recommend) lol. The one I hated the most?- ‘85 jeep CJ7. cold in winter, horrible milage, noisy inside and always needed something. It was a unreliable money pit, was nice in the summer with the hardtop off.

 

[rumblecloud]

Growing up in the 60s, I was too young to drive, but my dad had a thing for hot cars - 57 Studebaker Hawk. My favorite was a 63 Impala SS 409 black convertible - dual quads, four speed, bench seat gorgeous car. Then a 66 Chevelle SS 396.

My first hot raod was a 65 burgundy GTO, trips, white interior with a "reverb" unit - factory.
God I miss those days.

 

[bilbo]

i grew up on carbs and stuff like that and i graduated high school in 94. first car was a 76 buick regal with a v6. great car but somehow a hole rusted through the side of the block after i had it about 3 months. and we lived up in east texas near a lake so the previous owners must have been really running bad water through it.

second car was a 79 honda accord with the cvcc engine and a five speed. that was an awesome car, cruise control, ac, sunroof, everything you could want to feel fancy back in 92/93ish. but the car had a three barrel carb that started flooding out and it turned out the brass floats had holes in them. it cost as much to fix the carb as it did to replace the car so i got rid if it. it was a fun car for high school though

would i want some of the older cars i had, now? i would want my 65 mustang and my 70 karmann ghia. not because they were safe or reliable ( i replaced the ghia engine three times in two years) but because they were just fun cars to me. i know, realistically, they would both probably suck to have now because they had nothing but engines and transmissions. no power steering, no power brakes, no ac, barely had radios.

i would love to have my 85 f150 extended cab. it would still be a useful comfortable truck because it was a lariat so it had velour interior, power everything, and deal tanks.

another fun car that my wife hated so we didn't have it long was a geo metro hatch back with the 3 cylinder motor. it got 55mpg on the highway and the five speed made it a blast to drive. you would rev it to something like 9 or 10k. it had ac and radio but that was it.

i have a new truck and it snice but i am not looking forward to when the warranty goes out and i have to work on it. its a 2017 nissan titan and is only missing the sunroof and locking rear end. its got everything else. its a nice truck but i drive the ranger way more because the ranger is a great size for the city

I had a 97 Metro. Unfortunately it was the auto. They added a cylinder to compensate but it wasn’t enough, it was pretty unremarkable. I remember having to shut the ac off if I had to go uphill to get on the freeway, especially when I had passengers. That said it did get good fuel economy and I’d love to have it back these days. Back when I was young and thought I was the smartest guy in the world I sold it to get a clapped out S10 Blazer.

 

[sgtsandman]

There are some things better about older vehicles compared to new ones and vice versa.

Older vehicles were certainly simpler in a lot of ways and most things were designed and built to be worked on without a bunch of special tools and equipment.

Conversely, corrosion resistance and lubrication/lubrication systems have improved greatly. I won’t say that 10,000 mile oil change intervals or 100,000 transmission fluid change intervals are necessarily a great thing but it is nice that you don’t have to do preventive maintenance every time you turn around like one was recommended to with older vehicles. Especially things from say the mid 70’s and back.

One thing I definitely don’t like is all the integrated electronics that cost at least $1,000 if something breaks. I’m sure it’s cheaper for the manufacturer to make them like that than separate, replaceable modules.

I’m happy with the level the 2011 is at with electronics to the most part. The 2019 is too much and I didn’t even get all the bells and whistles. So much so that if I buy another vehicle in the future, it’s going to be an older, used one without all the integrated junk.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

In CA everything made after 1974 needs a SMOG check. Diesels were exempt too. For V8 swaps and whatnot, we would buy pre'74. A lot of guys would buy the diesel Chevy Blazers and swap big blocks in em.

 

[sgtsandman]

I’m not sure what the cut off here is since everything I’ve had was from 1979 and up but every vehicle I’ve owned has had to get emissions testing every year. Now if I lived one more county north of here or south of Allegheny county, I wouldn’t have to get emissions testing. Just the annual safety inspection.

 

[Chapap]

I’m not sure what the cut off here is since everything I’ve had was from 1979 and up but every vehicle I’ve owned has had to get emissions testing every year. Now if I lived one more county north of here or south of Allegheny county, I wouldn’t have to get emissions testing. Just the annual safety inspection.

That’s why I like Florida. When you register a vehicle, they check the vin. They never look at the vehicle again. They’ve never even looked at any trailers I’ve registered.

 

[oldgeek]

Many moons ago, in Kansas (I think), there would be an 'inspection' by a trooper when one would get their car registered. One of the requirements was that the vehicle have windshield wipers. However, there wasn't a requirement for an actual windshield.

 

[superj]

that is actually how lots of safety inspections are in states. requires wipers but no actually windows.

and the catalytic convert requirement is federal from 74, if i remember right. it applies to all states but a bunch don't look at that stuff. they look where i live but that's the extent, look to see if one is there. no cat, no pass. cat look-a-like present, good to go

 

[Eddo Rogue]

That’s why I like Florida. When you register a vehicle, they check the vin. They never look at the vehicle again. They’ve never even looked at any trailers I’ve registered.

Wow. Here we gotta renew tags every year. It's anywhere from less than $100 to $500+ depending on how fancy/new your vehicle is.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

that is actually how lots of safety inspections are in states. requires wipers but no actually windows.

and the catalytic convert requirement is federal from 74, if i remember right. it applies to all states but a bunch don't look at that stuff. they look where i live but that's the extent, look to see if one is there. no cat, no pass. cat look-a-like present, good to go

Here all they care about is the emissions. Nothing cosmetic or otherwise functional matters. It's quite flawed. The CEL is the only dash light that matter.

 

[racsan]

glad we dont have that crap in ohio with inspections or emissions. (at least not where Im at) VIN? no ine ever looks at those. licence renewal is yearly but you can get multiple years at once, The biggest ouch Ive seen is (1) hybrid/electric get a high surcharge each year (200/300?) and any truck over 3/4 ton is a commercial tag. If I had the want/need for a dually I would just get a 3/4 ton & roll a dually axle under the butt and slap a dually bed on.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I don't want all the fancy dodads, some would be nice but reliability and fuel mileage were key, plus I wanted TIB front suspension and leg room so that narrowed down the search for my current '97 Ranger daily driver... it fits the bill, power windows and cruise control would be nice but not the most used since there's too much shifting with the 2.3L and manal... I used cruise control on my manual trans diesel F350 all the time when the speedo works, it has torque to pull through stuff...

I just can't take the price of new stuff, I don't like payments and around here older vehicles last just fine so I have choices... my '97 Ranger has almost no rust (absolutely no rust compared to any pics I've seen of rust belt rigs...). With older stuff you get breaks for stuff, all my stuff is labeled as less than 19mpg for registration purposes which is the cheapest since it's all old, we get 2 year tags on older stuff, new cars can get 4 year tags. No inspections unless you are transferring a vehicle from out of state then you get to go to the DMV and get a $30 VIN check. Only a handful of counties in Oregon have emissions but it's pretty simple, just a OBD II scan if equipped or a tailpipe sniff if not equipped...

I wouldn't mind some gizmos but everything is to the point of dumb anymore, give me power windows, cruise control, power locks, reasonable stereo (with bluetooth and such, no satalite radio or 87" screen), a climate control with A/C, a hot/cold slider with zone slider and a fan knob and knock it off with this thermostat junk, rubber floor, bucket seats... I like manual transmissions but more modern transmissions are more efficient than the '90's stuff...

 

[Chapap]

I don't want all the fancy dodads, some would be nice but reliability and fuel mileage were key, plus I wanted TIB front suspension and leg room so that narrowed down the search for my current '97 Ranger daily driver... it fits the bill, power windows and cruise control would be nice but not the most used since there's too much shifting with the 2.3L and manal... I used cruise control on my manual trans diesel F350 all the time when the speedo works, it has torque to pull through stuff...

I just can't take the price of new stuff, I don't like payments and around here older vehicles last just fine so I have choices... my '97 Ranger has almost no rust (absolutely no rust compared to any pics I've seen of rust belt rigs...). With older stuff you get breaks for stuff, all my stuff is labeled as less than 19mpg for registration purposes which is the cheapest since it's all old, we get 2 year tags on older stuff, new cars can get 4 year tags. No inspections unless you are transferring a vehicle from out of state then you get to go to the DMV and get a $30 VIN check. Only a handful of counties in Oregon have emissions but it's pretty simple, just a OBD II scan if equipped or a tailpipe sniff if not equipped...

I wouldn't mind some gizmos but everything is to the point of dumb anymore, give me power windows, cruise control, power locks, reasonable stereo (with bluetooth and such, no satalite radio or 87" screen), a climate control with A/C, a hot/cold slider with zone slider and a fan knob and knock it off with this thermostat junk, rubber floor, bucket seats... I like manual transmissions but more modern transmissions are more efficient than the '90's stuff...

Wait… hybrids and electric cost more? Low mpg cost less? What’s the idea behind that?