Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 More thoughts on driving and...

He's still got the enthusiasm!

Freiburger.

Car Craft; Do it Yourself performance.

Dave Freiburger became the editor of Car Craft magazine, and under his direction, the magazine enjoyed a golden age. His emphasis was on getting a car that you wanted, then fixing it up and driving it. He was not fixated on the cosmetics and one upping your contemporaries. It was about the wrenching and the driving.

A poor quality image of a high quality
magazine issue, sorry.

He was later elevated to the position of editor at Hot Rod magazine. Again, his tenure lead to a Renaissance, and a revitalization of the magazine.

There's no doubt that he's a real hot rodder.

As time moved on, he was "promoted" to the video division of the Petersen magazine empire. The "powers that be" realized that online video content would be the new frontier that they would have to conquer. 

Really? A blown Chevy in a Jaguar XJ6?

They launched a series of video programs under the Motor Trend channel on YouTube. Most notably RoadKill. As well as several other like Engine Masters, which centered on high performance engine modifications.

He just can't stay away from junk.

As the saying goes; all good things must come to an end, and the entire series of programs were recently cancelled due to a corporate restructuring. Freiburger launched his own YouTube channel: the D/F channel to continue posting his own content.

I was a huge fan of Freiburger's Car Craft, with it's low buck emphasis on hands on wrenching, junkyard prowling, as well as the philosophy that it was more important to get your car up and running, instead of worrying about making it perfect. 

When he moved on to Hot Rod, which had become the premiere venue of the Petersen automotive magazine empire, he was able to revitalize and make relevant the magazine's focus, Though the magazine continued to focus on well engineered, finished ,and detailed machines, Freiburger managed to put a relevant spin on it. 

When he moved on to the Roadkill era, which also featured a short lived magazine, he slipped back into his junkyard ways. He became fixated on working on "junk." Very rough abandoned cars that he found and rescued. Often installing overly high powered engines into these "wrecks." 

I do like the idea that old abandoned cars could be resurrected and saved. I also like the idea that a car can be cleaned up a bit and put back on the road. But there are times that I thought that this philosophy was pushed too far. He was aware of this even during his Car Craft days, he once editorialized that while low buck thrashing was always interesting, most readers have a car that they pour their heart, money and efforts into. They wanted a car that they could be proud of, even if it wasn't perfect..

One of Freiburger's T shirts offered for sale at his merch shop bears the legend: "Life is too short to drive a mobility blob!"

Yeah, I get that. An enthusiast should be driving something worthy of that enthusiasm. 

Just recently my Wife and I drove down to Pismo Beach for a few days. This trip I was driving my '06 Mustang, and thought that this type of car is well suited to this kind of short holiday.

While it is now a twenty year old model, it's really a modern vehicle.

It's low mileage enough that it still has plenty of life left in it, it's reliable, comfortable, is plenty fast with good handling, safe, and even gets good gas mileage. 

In those respects it has a lot in common with some mobility blobs.

Vintage enthusiast cars are quite a bit different; they come from a much different, earlier age. The newest originate in the 1970's and late 1960's; these are the muscle and Pony cars.

Earlier vehicles from the 1950's and early '60's are also interesting to the enthusiast. 

Because they are so old they lack most of the features that are taken for granted by modern drivers.

While these vehicles can be pressed into everyday and even roadtripping service, they are more expensive to run, but they will get the job done.

Thinking about something even older, like my '46 Plymouth, you find vehicles that aren't really suited to modern driving conditions. They can get the job done under certain circumstances under controlled conditions, where the vehicle is operated under it's own set of limitations.

However, there are times that...

No matter how much I like an old car, it gets old driving at 55 mph. especially when you've got a long distance to go.

No matter how much I like an old car, I don't like getting 10-15 mpg, or sweating because there's no air conditioning.

Sometimes the "interesting" car isn't really suited to our particular lifestyle, and current circumstances. Especially if we don't have the money to also have a modern daily driver. Years ago I called up the seller of a '65 Riviera and among my questions, I asked why he was selling it. (Sometimes you get lucky and they give a truthful answer!) The seller, a young guy, told me that it was his only car, and his employer at the time Walgreens, was sending him all over the Bay Area to fill in for absent employees. He was driving anywhere from 30 to 80 miles a day, and the cost of premium gas (at  9-10 miles per gallon) was killing him!

Now that I'm an old guy, it's difficult for me to imagine a guy having an old car as their only driver, but there was a time when I was in a similar situation. Though I usually had a motorcycle, or one of my Dad's cars to fall back on.

For someone like me, the attraction of any vehicle was always in using it to go places. 

"Garbage" sounds so harsh.

Another of Freiburger's T Shirts challenges you to; "Drive your Garbage! You never know unless you go." A sentiment that I fully support, and for the record, Freiburger refers to all old cars, in any condition as "junk." So that's not meant as a derogatory comment. However, trying to live up to that mantra will likely be costly.

For the younger person, or casual fan of old cars, I would recommend a more moderate position. If you are only going to have one car, make it something newer and more practical, like a mid 2000's Mustang, Camaro, Challenger or Charger. Or whatever car or truck that you like. Just be sure to have something that is reliable. 

On the other hand,life is better when you can afford to own an interesting older vehicle and keep a reliable daily driver on hand to get to work and make parts runs. That's the best of both worlds. Then the older vehicle can be kept as a hobby. This way you can still go places and enjoy travelling and activities, no matter what you are driving at the moment. 

Back when I was in high school, I was scheming to buy an old Harley Knucklehead chopper from a classmate's uncle. I had scraped up the 500 bucks needed to make the purchase, but that was all that I had. The bike had been in storage for many years and wasn't running, but of course, I wanted it anyway. 

The uncle backed out of the deal and I was quite disappointed and brokenhearted. However, I bought a '70 Kawasaki Mach Three instead, which ran like a jet. I rode this bike all over the state and had a tremendous amount of fun. 

If I had bought the old Harley, chances are that I wouldn't have had the money or knowledge to fix whatever it needed and get it running reliably. I might have had a Harley in the garage, but I'd be in there too, either working on it, or just gazing at it wistfully. I would have missed the opportunity to participate in the California 1000 rally. That was the event of a Lifetime.

As I always emphasize, this whole car thing is about having fun... your way.

Freiburger is very big on performance, and likes taking his cars to the drag strip. Many of his cars have been really hopped up, and are very quick. That's cool, and he's been consistent in that area his entire life. However, this is not something that has ever held any interest for me.

On the other hand, a 1/4 mile isn't enough blacktop for me, and I want to get out on the highway and go places. Freiburger also likes to get out there and explore, and has documented those trips on YouTube.

I hadn't thought about Freiburger for many years, but I was looking for something on YouTube, and saw some of his content recommended to me. I went to his channel and learned a bit about his latest activities and enjoyed a couple of videos. I may even be motivated to buy a T shirt or two from his store! I certainly hope that he is successful with his new channel, as he has contributed a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm to the old car hobby. That has been a benefit to all of us car guys, no matter our orientation.