Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Last month,  I experienced an interesting juxtaposition.

This image from Motor Trend is merely representational.
'Though the car in question was almost as nice.

I was approaching Guru Electronics, a stereo store that is located in an industrial area of San Jose. Coming towards me was a '65 Chevy Impala convertible, and it turned left  into the driveway. I also turned into the driveway and came to a stop behind the Chevy, which was a Low Rider. I didn't know if he was stopped airing up his bags to deal with the speed bumps. I waited for a bit then went around him. 

I parked in a space and he continued a bit down the line. 

After I had finished my business I went outside and took a look at his car. It was very nicely finished. Straight body work, smooth dark metallic purple paint, shiny chrome that was set off with what looked like gold plating on the bumper guards and wire wheels. The interior had been redone and it was obviously a show level car. As I circled the car I noted the 396 call outs on the front fenders. Big blocks are rare in Impalas of this period. Being a Low Rider it had the expected small tires and it was either lifted, or more likely the suspension sported air bags. 

I'm familiar with '60's Chevys as well as Low Riders, a good buddy of mine, as well some of my coworkers at GM Fremont were into them back in the mid '70's. 

My older Brother had bought a '64 Impala Super Sport coupe and fixed it up. New paint, new interior, cut springs, but with wide oval tires and Cragars. I had owned a couple of old Cadillacs that I'd put custom wheels on, but always with regular sized tires. 

In fact, I'd had my own '65 Impala SS convertible around this time. It had either a 283 or a 327, I can't properly recall at this time. My plan was to fix it up into a real Low Rider. 

Unfortunately I didn't get too far, I'd replaced the top, but I just couldn't get that emotionally invested in a Chevy, I was a die hard Cadillac guy. I sold it and bought a '70 Coupe de Ville instead.  My intersection with the Low Rider movement faded away, though I still do appreciate low cars, but not on such tiny tires. 

As I was checking out the Chevy I kept glancing over at my Vista blue Mustang, resplendent in the afternoon sun. 

It became apparent to me that I'd turned a corner some time ago. This Chevy is certainly an expensive car, it is worth much more than I would be willing to pay for it. If I had a car like this, I would have lowered the front end and would be running some wide whites on Moon rims or some other type of vintage hub cap. I actually have a set of vintage Buick hub caps squirreled away just in case I buy another old car. 

Not to denigrate this car, but it just doesn't appeal to me any more. A cheap beater that is slammed with wide whites still holds some appeal, but when it comes to spending real money, well, there are other things that I want more. 

If the guy had asked, "Why don't we trade straight across?" I'd have said no, the Mustang is one of the places where I'm at right now, I don't see myself heading in that other direction. It's not because the Mustang is a performance car, I don't really care how fast it is, or how slow it is compared to a new Mustang or Hell Cat.  I find myself quite satisfied by how my '96 runs. It's not about speed.

My old buddy Roger once chided me for never sticking with anything, or holding onto a certain car. In his opinion I was all over the place. To tell the truth, he was right, I am all over the place! 

But that's my Prerogative, isn't it? 

Lately I've attended a few shows, looking for examples of the kind of cars that I might be interested in. Maybe the kind that I'd like to own? 

One of the tenets of my car hobby philosophy is that everyone should participate in this hobby on their own terms. There is no right or wrong way, our individual approaches depend on our individual desires, needs, and predilections. It depends on how far we are along in our personal car hobby journey and the current situations in our lives. 

So why don't I cut myself some slack? I like what I like and that's it. I've had plenty of old cars, and they just don't offer me the satisfaction that I'm looking for.

I'm probably never going to own a really old car again. I can think about it, I can dream about it, but it's not ever going to happen again. The reason? It's because I really don't want to own a really old car again. That's what it all comes down to. I'm not willing, determined, or prepared, to make the sacrifices and to pay the price. I've had many already, and I don't think that I want to go down that path again. 

Does that mean that I'm really not a car guy?

What makes a car guy, a car guy anyway? Liking cars right? Is it specified anywhere what kind of cars they have to be?

My move away from traditional old cars started with my involvement with Datsuns. Then I got detoured to the Euro Car thing and my time with Jaguar. At one time I really thought that I might even buy an older Aston Martin.

Luckily that flame burnt itself out!

I think that I'm just going to do what I've been doing, and enjoy what I currently have.

Where have I heard that before?