Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 I'm currently finding myself in kind of a funk, thinking about cars in general.

Too much thought, and not enough action!
Rodan's famous sculpture.

I know, I know, that's what I get for thinking!

But this time it's due to a somewhat different situation.

I now find myself with newer cars that fulfill the functions that I had once wanted to fill with more vintage vehicles. 

The best points of a '65 Riviera,

combined with a '70 Mach One. Satisfied by one vehicle,
 my '06 Mustang GT.

The '06 Mustang fulfills my desire for a personal luxury car like an early Riviera. It's retro styling also satisfies my desire for a vintage model like a classic Mustang. It also satisfies my desire to have a high performance sporty car. It does all this while being new enough, with low enough mileage, that should hopefully keep it trouble free for many years. 

Cadillac, always a road car.
 I've always loved these big fat beasts.

My '05 Navigator fulfills my desire for a special car, similar to my Jaguar XJ6. I wanted a car with a really nice interior. It also fulfills my desire for a big, '50's type, American luxury car. The Navigator is definitely large and in charge, and it has even lower mileage than my Mustang.

Both are in good original condition, and only need a little fussing with, to improve their condition. That's  what I was looking for, something that I could drive, and dote on, maintain, and improve. 

So now I have pretty much what I wanted, so what's to be dissatisfied about? Nothing. Maybe that's the problem! As a car guy I'm always restless, on the hunt, looking for the next thing. 

I subscribe to a Canadian website entitled, My Star Collector Car. The latest post was about the editor's need to downsize his project car herd. The need for this, besides his Wife's subtle hints, (which never gained much traction with him!) was that he had reached the conclusion that he was never going to get started on most of these projects. Normally, we will kid ourselves about this, and push that fact out of our mind. Until something happens, in this case, he was going to lose most of his car storage. This situation had to be addressed and he started to sell off his collection.

I went through a similar personal Epiphany last year. I realized that I wasn't going to get motivated enough to finish up the XJS let alone the '51 Jag, so I got rid of them all including the XJ6. 

At least I got to really experience the XJ6, I really drove that car all over during the time that I owned it. So I got to experience the Jaguar mystique. I even drove it on a Summer vacation up to Washington state. Ultimately I was trying to simplify my life and move forward. 

All of my newer hobby cars are now from the new Millennium, and I would imagine that any other cars that might follow might be even newer. I've even toyed with the idea of buying a brand new 2024 Mustang! That would definitely carry me through to the end. Does this mean that I'll never have a really old car again? Maybe. What's wrong with just enjoying what I've got? I've got a newer family car as well as my truck. I think that I've got all the bases covered. 

The fact that a car is lower in mileage isn't a guarantee that it won't have any problems, both of these cars are over fifteen years old. But they won't be worn out for a very long time. I just don't put down that daily mileage, though we do take a lot of weekend road trips. 

Honestly, I'm very proud of both my '06 Mustang and my Navigator, and look forward to enjoying them in the years to come. I'm also proud of my '96 Mustang, though things are a bit problematic on that front, at the moment.

I know that I sound like a broken record, but I'm not getting any younger. I should just maximize my enjoyment of my cars by driving them as much as I can. 

I suppose that the question could be asked, "Exactly what do I want any car for?"

I'm not planning on displaying it at events or shows, or in joining an active car club. 

First of all, and most important, is to drive them and to go places in them.

Second, is to dote and fuss with them to keep them looking and running sharp. 

Can't I do that with the cars that I've got? 

Why not skip directly over to the enjoyment phase of the hobby? No need for refurbishing, rebuilding, or restoring some old car.

Am I allowed to do that?

Why do I want to make things more complicated than they have to be? 

I suppose that I don't want to just come out and say that I'm satisfied with what I've got, at least not out loud! Then "people" might ask, "Why keep looking on CraigsList, or reading car magazines, or going to car events? You're not looking for something else, are you?"

No, But...

Sometimes it seems that I lose sight of what the ultimate goal is, just having fun with cars. I've made some strides in that direction. I should try to avoid backsliding.

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Back in October of 2020 I wrote a post suggesting that perhaps newer cars are better for an older car guy. 

The "older" in that statement refers to the age of the car guy, not the car. At the time I wrote that, I wasn't quite that convinced, Now I'm seeing the wisdom behind that position. 

There are still a few newer cars that I'm curious about. I've never had a four wheel, or all wheel drive vehicle. I'm into kind of a Lincoln thing right now, perhaps a mid size cross over model, like an MKX or Nautilus, with all wheel drive. Even though Lincoln cars are no longer in production, they are still fairly new. My Dad had a '63, and '69 Lincoln Continental, I had a '66 sedan. I'm not going to run out and spend 30K plus to buy one of these old '60's models, but the MKS sedan has a nice interior, and is fuel efficient to boot. All Lincoln models are depreciating down to an attainable level, and they can be found with low mileage. Even the latest Continental will be accessible in a few more years. This car has been growing on me over the last year.

Perhaps I'd like to try a Corvette before I cash in my chips. Maybe something like a C5 or newer. I've never had a Corvette, and as a '60's kid, I've always sort of wanted one. How about a Cadillac XLR?

You might have noticed that I haven't mentioned any European cars. Yeah, I'm not going down that rabbit hole again. I think that I can live without a Mercedes or another Jag. 

As I've written, I think that the idea of having a bunch of old cars has lost it's appeal. Besides the storage situation, I'm finding myself with less opportunities, or even excuses, to drive my cars. When I was still working I could drive a different car to work each week, to keep them in use. Now, they can  end up sitting for a long time. I hadn't wanted to take out my '06 Mustang due to all the rain we've been having, I didn't want to get it dirty. That has gone on for months!

I've been thinking that I will eventually get down to just two hobby cars, which regardless of age, will definitely not be project cars. If I were to buy another old car, it would have to be in pretty good shape. I think I learned my lesson with the '51 Jag. I also don't have to think that each of my choices needs to be considered a "lifetime car," I should just buy them and enjoy them, until I don't. 

My current "lifetime car,"  the '96 Mustang, has passed it's smog test. I put nearly 400 miles on it during the process, running it through a rain storm, on the last day, which I had been trying to avoid. It's since been washed and shined as is sitting under it's cover safe in my garage. 

The status quo has been restored.