Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Maybe I'm not really a Car Guy. Part Three?

I knew that I'd have to confront the issue someday.

But, I was hoping that someday would be a bit later!

Or maybe I've just realized that in a few days, I'm going to be a septuagenarian with a stable of older cars and a busted garage door!

Or, maybe I'm just not the kind of guy that loves any particular car.

Actually, I'm trying to find out where I am currently in the hobby car thing, and where do I see myself going?

I've written on this subject over the years.

Many enthusiasts have very strong connections with a particular model car. This can be built from real, lived experiences with that certain car. They grew up with it as the family car, it may have been a car that belonged to them at a certain period of their life, and they eventually sold the car and moved on. But they never forgot it.

Or, it was something that they lusted after for years. They might have been just a young kid and unable to buy any car for themselves, or they might have been a young adult without the means to purchase a special car. Or it wouldn't fit into their current life requirements. You can't get by with an Austin Healey if you've got three kids. Either way, it was something that they wanted to own quite badly, at least at the time. 

Many of these enthusiasts harbor that desire for many, many, years. Usually until the time is right for them to acquire that car. They are now in a place in their lives when they can afford to indulge themselves and buy THAT car. 

This type of relationship always makes for a nice ownership story. I have never been the kind of guy that obsessed about a particular model car. 

I just have never had strong emotional ties to any car. There were never strong familial bonds forged with a particular car through family relationships or experiences. I was also never going to inherit a cherished family car.

Thomas Murray has his viewpoint.

I'm not a car fan in the Thomas Murray kind of way. I don't use them to try to relive the past. 

Murray saw old cars as a way to connect to, and make the past real. He wrote that he could see the faces of friends and relatives from the past, reflected in the shine of the paint and chrome. Driving down a lonely stretch of road, he could imagine himself being transported back to the special times in his past.

Egan's outlook is closer to mine.

I'm more of the Peter Egan type. He's kind of a serial car owner. He gets very interested in a particular car, and learns all he can about it. He puts a lot of work into his cars restoring them, but he doesn't mind moving on. He realizes that he has to sell his cars to acquire new and different ones. 

I've been involved with cars for quite a long time, I've been driving for almost 55 years. I have been interested in cars and motorcycles since I was a kid, but lately something has kinda faded out.

I keep asking myself, "Is there some particular car that I really wanted to own, one that I have dreamed about owning for years?" Maybe the time has come.

That's a hard question for me to answer.

I've had a wide variety of cars over the years. At first they were used for regular transportation, they were just my car.

Later I started to buy "hobby cars" just for the experience of owning them. Those have numbered up to twenty vehicles so far.

Maybe part of my problem is that I was willing to settle for something that was close enough to what I wanted, something that was currently attainable. You know, the "low hanging fruit."

There's a lot to be said for this approach. At least you currently have something that more or less satisfies you. You are also "doing" instead of "dreaming."  

You might not have exactly what you think that you want, but at least you've got "something."

For example, I wanted a Big Twin Harley Davidson since I was in high school. Realistically they were out of reach for me at the time. But I was able to buy several big Japanese motorcycles that satisfied my craving, and provided me with years of motorcycling experiences. And sure enough, the time finally arrived when I could afford to buy a Big Twin. Though I found that the Sportster model better fit my preferences, so I took that route. 

Wouldn't you know it, when I finally did buy that Big Twin, I found that it wasn't that impressive, and I actually didn't like it that much. I ended up selling it, and keeping my Sportster! 

I met an old guy at a Car show last Summer, who was displaying an immaculate '55 Chevy hardtop coupe. I was admiring the car and asked him how long he had owned it. I expected the usual response, that he'd owned it for years. Struggled to hold onto it, then finally had the money to really cherry it out. He surprised me by saying that he had owned it less than a year! I asked if he had owned other vintage cars and he said no, he hadn't ever owned an older car until this one. Which he purchased at the age of 80!

That's a long time to wait.

At least he was smart enough to buy a nice one.

I keep asking myself these questions.  

I think that part of it is just my age. I've reached an age where I don't really want anything that much.

I don't really need anything that much. I don't care about anything that much. I should clarify by saying that I'm talking about things, material objects. I do care very strongly about certain things in my personal life, but stuff, nah, not that important. 

Honestly, I'm lucky enough to have what I need, and that includes reliable running vehicles that serve as transportation.

I still enjoy driving and taking trips in a car. I still amuse myself by looking at cars online. I still own a bunch of hobby cars. I'm still active on a couple of forums, and still producing this blog.

About a year ago, I started going to local C&Cs and small shows, but I'm starting to lose interest.

My Wife once asked me why I thought that I needed to own a vintage car, couldn't I just go to shows and events and enjoy other people's cars? Why did I have to have one of my own?

Leave it to a woman to ask a sensible, honest question! 

I told her that I really do have an actual interest in owning an old car, but I also want to attend these events as a participant. Going to these events in my own hobby car makes me a part of the action. It doesn't matter if my car is something that the other guys would think is that special or desirable. It is special and desirable to me. I've found that the interests of the show attendees are actually pretty varied, they aren't just interested in '57 Chevys, Camaros, or early Mustangs.

Is part of the attractions of owning a hobby car sharing it with others at shows? Is that one of the main reasons? I have an older friend who bought a Model A hot rod when he was in his mid 70's. He's regularly at numerous local C&Cs and shows. It's one way to get out and socialize and interact with other people. 

I've met a lot of guys that have put years of work and effort in their cars, and they are enthusiastic about talking about them.

While I appreciate that, and respect their efforts, I'm just not that guy. 

What I've been trying to do is to evaluate where 'I" currently stand in the car hobby. "Where am I now?"

What do I want, where do I go from here? I've still got some energy and gumption left. But realistically, at my age, I'm not that enthused about getting my hands dirty.

After all, I did crawl around under my Mustang to replace the oxygen sensors. But, I don't want to be having to do that all the time.  

I'm going to turn 70 in a few days. How much time do I have left as an active "hands on" car guy?

How much do I want to remain as an active DIY car guy? If there is something that I want, newer or older, maybe I should really think about getting it, I've only got a limited time left. 

I also don't want to leave my Wife with a mess of old cars to dispose of. 

Which of the cars that I own today, do I see holding onto into the future?

What do I think that I would "want " to have, and why. 

Am I still having fun, and if not, why? 

That's probably the most important question.

As I mentioned, I've touched on these subjects lately.

Who are we keeping our cars for? I don't own anything that is valuable, or is likely to become valuable in the foreseeable future. Realistically, my kids aren't going to want any of my vehicles. Well, my Son might want my truck.

Do I have some kind of Holy Grail car that I've dreamed of owning?

Is there some kind of late model car that I want?

Would I really want another project car?

Shouldn't I streamline my hobby car affairs and simplify my life?

I have had some health issues and luckily I've been able to work through them, and am currently feeling pretty good. But how long will that last?

I'm far from an affluent guy, but I have a reasonable amount of funds available to dabble around with my lower level hobby cars.

So, where do I go from here? 

I apologize that this is going to be all about me. There will be a lot of sentences that will start with the letter "I."

My hope will be that there will also be other enthusiasts that are going through a similar period of soul searching, and they can benefit from this period of introspection. It's going to be a prolonged period of thinking out loud. 

I'm going to run this series along with my day to day car stuff to keep things from getting too boring!

Oh, that broken garage door leaves me with two of my cars trapped inside. My '06 Mustang and Riviera. I still need to change out the water pump in the Riv. Luckily I had positioned the Riv, just right, to provide me with enough room to work on it. 

I'll do that first, then deal with the garage door later, probably after Christmas. 

I guess that I'll be getting a new sectional garage door as a late Christmas present.

It is always something!