This is a post about mental hygiene.
And cars.
Plus, it’s short. What’s not to like?
Essentially, the question in the title is the question for you.
If you’re at all like me, there are times – and there seem to be more of these times as of late – where it’s necessary to just pick yourself up and without doing anything too crazy get a change of scenery and activity. As someone who spends large blocks of time in front of a computer Zooming and writing for work, I often find the need to say “enough is enough” and simply go do something else. Mind you, the things I do for work include writing multi-chapter reports about first graders interacting with exhibits in a museum devoted to Dr. Seuss (true fact); so it’s not as if I’m tethered to a screen doing coding or accounting or reviewing contracts (no disrespect to those who do such things, more power to you, but I honestly wouldn’t be here today if that had turned out to be my lot in life). No, I actually get to do generally enjoyable things! But even generally enjoyable things can get overwhelming after a while.
So, I regularly go looking for a change of activity. Nothing crazy like taking off for Thailand to spend a couple of weeks at a resort. I’ve seen that show and those people are considerably less fun than the kids at the Dr. Seuss Museum. Plus, as someone who tries hard to make a living evaluating things like the learning experiences of first graders on fieldtrips (etc.) I naturally don’t have the funds to go on major travels that are not work-related. No, I’m often looking for something easily attainable that can divert me for a couple of hours, get my head out of the screen and challenge some other part of my brain. This is where “an automotive diversion” comes into play. Sure, there are also non-automotive diversions, but since this is Curbside Classic, let’s try to drive the discussion to things that relate to vehicles.
I’ll offer several of mine, and then it will be your turn.
The first is indicated by the lede photo, which was taken just about an hour ago. For me, firing up the relatively ancient car and heading out on a drive nearly always produces a change in attitude. First there’s the smile that comes from realizing that the Volvo actually started on the first try after sitting under cover outdoors for 3 months. Next, there’s the pleasant reminder that this thing will likely start well after the impending apocalypse (Not that I’d have anywhere to drive except perhaps to help liberate Furiosa and those five attractive but sadly not terribly bright wives of Immortan Joe). But mostly there’s the pleasant reminder of how much fun it is piloting this rolling project around in all of its agricultural, gas smelling (yeah, I’ve been meaning to get to that), no sound-proofing, glory. Doing this every day like people had to in the 1970s would kind of suck, but actually a lot of things that used to suck are now fun to do every other day. Or maybe every couple of weeks or so. This says something about the power of nostalgia as well as the current state of the world.
Thinking all that through puts a smile on my face, which is sort of the point.
Another possibility is to go parts picking. This is something that has fascinated me forever. There’s nothing like a visit to a junkyard to put a smile on my face. I’m thinking that the popularity of posts about junkyard finds – such as those by CC’s own Jim Klein – is indicative of the entertainment value of “automotive recycling facilities”. These places wouldn’t charge admission ($2/head at this one) if it wasn’t popular.
This is on top of the requirement that you have to wear closed-toe shoes. As I’ve long maintained, any activity that requires specific footwear – e.g., bowling, touring caves, clogging, and visiting junkyards – is an activity that’s likely worth doing.
At this yard in Southern New Hampshire – a new one for me – I found a large pile of 1970s and 1980s Fiats. THAT’S where they all went! Or more like parts of Fiats. These cars had mostly been cut in half and smashed; although given the amount of rust involved, the smashing could probably have been done with your index finger, assuming you were up to date on your tetanus boosters.
I already have enough junk at home without indulging my deep and sudden desire to acquire Fiat-badged hubcaps. Take nothing but photos and leave nothing but rust, as they say. Which is ok, since I wasn’t there for stuff (well, that’s only partly true, but that’s a story for another day). The change of venue and the smile was what counted. In that regard, a good junkyard never fails to satisfy.
A Honda 600 also never fails to produce a smile. Generally, I’d rather have one that ran and whose paint hadn’t faded from bright orange to creamsicle – Where was this thing parked? There’s not enough sunlight in New Hampshire to do that to a car, is there? – but this one still has several iterations of smiles left in it. One for the thought of getting this thing back to driving condition and actually driving it. Another for the idea that this is something I could probably take apart and restore in my basement. And finally another for the total ridiculousness of that idea.
Sometimes though, ridiculous ideas are just the change of pace that I need to get my head out of duller more difficult stuff, and/or the overwhelming sense of existential dread brought about by events occurring outside my office. Yeah. That’s when I dig up an automotive experience to change my attitude and try to put a smile on my face.
How about you?
Sounds goofy, but I love washing my cars every Sunday. Takes 15 minutes a car including toweling off, hose & carwash brush only (never soap).
I greatly enjoy road trips in the Saab convertible, but it’s become such a beast (track suspension, high strung turbo) that as I age I may downgrade to a Mustang GT. Never had an 8 cylinder and the sound is intoxicating. With the Saab I’m waiting for the right Saab fan who will appreciate the vehicle enough for me to let it go. It’s been a great adventure car for my daughter and me for nearly 20 years.
Not goofy at all. I see that there are lots of comments here that echo your automotive happy place. I too am a fan of washing my own car. Nothing obsessive, and sometimes I vacuum the interior, sometimes not. But there’s nothing like putting it back to shiny. Particularly after a long crusty winter or a dusty drive on some back roads somewhere.
I don’t know where you’re located, but if you’re close to New England and haven’t been to Swedish Car Day at the Lars Anderson Museum (Brookline, MA), you should attend this August (8/24). It’s a great gathering for Saab fans from all over and may help you connect to the next guardian of your Saab.
Thanks Jeff! I’m in Texas, but will actually be in New England that weekend. I’ll have to check the Anderson Museum out!
Ever since I was a child, I always derived pleasure from scanning the instrument panel of a parked car and attempting to locate the green arrows of the directional signals, which I still call “blinker lights”. Then I would walk around the stern and seek out the backup lights. On certain cars such features are well-hidden, and I always remembered being disillusioned when one light was made to do the work of two. Nowadays I have the additional pleasure of looking for cupholders.
I call them “blinkers” too! I’m pretty sure that I was much older than I should have been when I first heard the term “turn signal” and couldn’t immediately figure out what that meant.
Of course, here in Massachusetts, they’re “blinkahs” and no one uses them.
I don’t actively seek such activities, but it seems that nature grants me a rare car at the moments when I need it. About 8 years ago when I was trudging along trying to recover from surgery, a ’41 Champion appeared in a garage on my daily walk. Another time when I was generally depressed, a ’38 Terraplane appeared in another driveway. Walking down a steep hill trying to prevent my old knees from buckling, a ’53 Cheviac drove by.
Surely this is a variation on the CC Effect. 🙂
Great topic and research, beautifully written Jeff. Your interests would be shared by many of us here.
Like Jim Grey, I love exploring ancient highways, and communities. I usually stick to Ontario, but sometimes explore New York State. Highway 2, one of the oldest highways in Ontario, is a favourite. It navigates the Northern shore of the St. Lawrence River, and Lake Ontario, to Toronto. Communities that go back to the founding of Canada.
There is a remarkable website, that documents the full history of every highway in the province. I’ve promoted this site a few times here. I wish every state and province had such a great source of historical info on their roads.
http://www.thekingshighway.ca/photographs.html
Highway 2 in Brantford, 1966.
Thank you, Daniel.
I’m with you on the restorative value of finding and exploring new old roads. I’ll also say that even a quick look at that Kings Highway site makes me smile (and will provide entertainment purely from looking at the site and photos). I have to say that I believe that such sites are among the best things that 30 years of Internet/WWW have brought to humanity. The idea that people from all over can collaboratively come together to document something that is of particular interest to them is a remarkable achievement to me. I’m sure that there are somewhat similar things for other roads, and seeking those things out will be fun as well.
I have been the go-to guy for my friends and family for about 40 years to choose cars. Truth be told, I’d enjoy it much more when we had to look around for used cars and I could find rust, Bondo, repaints, oozing oil, and so on. Right now, it’s mostly done over the phone or even WhatsApp, get this or get that, as my generation by and large doesn’t buy used. But that was a great time, from looking at a ’56 Crown Victoria with the glass front top, in great cosmetic condition, with a Perkins Diesel engine (the engine wasn’t in the newspaper ad and the interested party was my brother) to the ’61 T-Bird, when my brother’s girlfriend felt she had to ask something and inquired if the car used premium gas….that’s over. But I’d do that again over and over.
Excellent. Everyone needs a friend who can do that. And I expect that many of us here are that person within our communities of friends.
Oh boy, lots here. I always experienced joy whenever I drove my Miata. Even now, my cheap but cheerful Mazda3 provides me with that basic mechanical interaction that is missing from newer cars.
I have always enjoyed cleaning a particular part or area that is dirty on a car. I rarely have time for a full-on cleaning, but something like wheels/tires, the dash panel, the windshield or the headlights always brightens my day when I take the time.
Also, fixing some small, insignificant thing on an old cheap car makes me happy. When that job involves a trip to a salvage yard, all the better.
It really is the basic mechanical interaction that does it for me too. I know I should be deemed totally insane for thinking so, but this is why I could see value in finding and restoring something that is REALLY basic such as that Honda 600 in the post, or a 1970s Fiat Spider (preferably one that’s not like the flat ones at the NH salvage yard), or heaven forbid, something British. As it is, the Volvo presents enough challenges and having something larger to work on is probably better suited to my relatively klutzy physical abilities.
I call it following the front of the car. Simply driving with no particular destination (any car in my fleet will do, but especially my Mustang which always puts a smile on my face) has always been a favorite pass time of mine. At one point when I owned my ’83 T-Bird (in my early to mid twenties), I lived 1.5 miles from work. I put 25,000 miles a year on that car. I love to drive and have never tired of it since getting my license in 1976. Does today’s traffic suck? Of course… so sometimes on my commute, that means taking the scenic route to keep my sanity. Just twist my arm…
Other car related distractions:
I love to wash my cars. I do not consider this a chore. After I’m done and look at my car, I’m happy. I can so relate to Clint Eastwood’s character admiring his Gran Torino.
Curbside Classic. Blogging with you guys is awesome.
Cars and Coffee: Although I don’t go often, I enjoy this. The best was this time back in 2018 (see above).
Even minor maintenance like oil changes give me pleasure, but approaching 65, it’s less fun to climb underneath my cars anymore. Lately, I’ve been prone to having my friendly neighborhood mechanic do it for me.
Spotting old cars in movies, although this drives my wife crazy when I point them out. She did however like the Flair Bird I pointed out to her in a documentary we were watching the other night. 😉
Your comment reminds me of a version of “following the car in front of me” that used to consume many hours over here, before kids, serious jobs, or other responsibilities of more-adult life…we called it “left turn, right turn” and it involved randomly deciding which way to turn at intersections in the mostly rural areas here in Mass/New England (it was a lot of fun in Vermont).
We could spend entire days just driving aimlessly like that.
Open the cutouts on my Wedge next to a Tesla.
Drive briskly on a gravel forest road, the more remote the better.
Drive really fast on a remote Nevada highway. And hopefully not get busted:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto-biography/road-trip-journal-busted-for-60-over-the-limit/comment-page-1/
Works for me too. Although as someone who also can very easily find myself in the triple digits, I rather appreciate the protection my license receives through my driving a car that cannot possibly reach triple digit speeds on those trips where I just need to zone out and drive.
Then again, if I were lucky enough now to be in the desert….
When I don`t see an endless parade of gray, silver, beige and white look-alike SUVs, but that is rare these days. When I see an older, well kept sedan, coupe, convertible or sports car, that maker smile-from ear to ear.
Those increasingly rare, old ride, sightings. Washing my aged ride. Driving in the sunshine with the top down.
Amazed at the pic , here, of that “ole Honda car”! ((and it seems to be standing!))
Oh I thought those were the “coolest” when they came along.
Those bright colors were real, “eye catchers”!
Well, “standing” may be a bit strong. I’m pretty sure that blue rope like stuff (photo below) is all that’s holding the rear leaf spring onto the axle. 🙂
Well the first is washing my cars. This dates back to when I was 12 and started to wash my parent’s cars in1966. I was almost as particular then as I am now. Every nook and cranny is washed and dried down to all the jambs. Inside also. Typically takes me 1-1 1/2 hours to do. With eleven cars it seems endless but seven are protected so they only need it maybe three times a year. My daily is every week, though, and has been since 2004. Hey, I am clean and neat in everything I do and it comes naturally so no effort needed on my part. Although I know I am a little too neat for my wife. Michael, did you throw away….? Her car takes two hours minimum due to the inside.
Driving them always puts a smile on my face. All of the vintage cars are V8’s so they have that sound. My Cougar of 56 years brings the most since it is my first car and to drive it is to go back in time. Even driving my Focus four days a week today is mostly fun when curves are involved as it eats them up. Plus it is 21 years old so it isn’t young but it looks like it. Working on them, as you guys know, always makes me happy when done because I did it and did it well.
Pick & Pull around me no longer has anything older than 1990 for the most part, unlike in the early aughts, so not much fun to be found there today. I do carry my Canon S95 all the time in case I see an older car to shoot. Photography is my first joy since I had my first camera at the age of 6. I am a film guy and conservatively have around 225 film cameras but one doesn’t carry those on a day to day basis in your coat pocket. Digital has made that easier since I can just shoot and delete on the go while film requires me to consider as it costs money.
Should note my son turned 16 and he doesn’t help me wash any car and I don’t ask. Video games are more interesting than cars to him other than for driving somewhere which he can’t just yet.
I’ve shot photos my entire life ever since I was old enough to stand upright and hold a camera (there are several family photos of toddler me clutching the 620 film camera that currently sits on my shelf). So it’s particularly enjoyable nowadays to take pictures (sadly, mostly, with the ever-handy phone) of cars, and think about how those can be turned into something here on CC.
Used to love doing body & Bondo work, riveting or welding sheet metal, painting, but only on cheap old drivers that didn’t require perfection. I’m too much a perfectionist to do work that requires a lot of training and practice to get results I’d be happy with, so work that allows for just “settling” is most enjoyable at my minimal skill level. That now consists of occasionally grinding, filling and spray bombing to keep exterior rust at bay (sort of) on our older xTerra, but otherwise no longer work on the cars, even oil changes are done at the Valvoline place, so just doing stuff like cleaning & detailing the engine compartment is time happily spent. It’s 70 out here right now in Colorado and presently am having fun times cleaning the RAV that we keep out here.
Briskly going up through six grand changes in the Celica.
Stopping to let people out of side roads in heavy traffic/traffic jams.
Mountain roads in Wales and Scotland.
A roadside picnic somewhere beautiful. (Ties in withe yesterday’s post, and yes I’m happy to risk glass jars and bottles)
Curbside Classics, I’m learning a lot here
Great suggestion about the restorative value of being a courteous driver. I personally find that this is equally enjoyable as being a “brisk” driver. Under the right circumstances, both are good for the soul.
As are mountain roads in Scotland. Yes.
Fortunate enough to live 10 minutes away from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Take a car up here, and you’ll find out in a hurry whether it can corner or not.
Can not say I like to do it but cleaning and detailing one of my cars is enjoyable once it is done. Luckily I don’t have to do this but twice a year as no longer a reason to drive in bad weather and I have an assortment of car covers. It sweet to drive a super clean and detailed car just after the process. Memories of being a teenager with the first car. Keeping it super clean for the weekends.
For decades my favorite aunt in SC would call me when she decided it was time to buy a new car. She didn’t car shop with her husband, nor her son-in-law, just me. Didn’t matter where in the country I lived at the time I had about two weeks to show up. Aunt was a true southern belle who could put anybody in their place, and do it with great charm. I would do my advance research on all the personal luxury cars that were 2-doors before I showed up for a marathon of car shopping. Going out with my aunt required good grooming and Sunday best attire. She would ask the sales associates about horsepower, torque, then move to questions like 0-60 mph times, breaking distances, etc. She loved driving and driving fast even into her late 70s. So after a few days of test driving multiple auto brands, never holding back telling the poor sales associate, in her deepest disapproving voice what was wrong with their cars, we would have lunch or dinner and discuss the days adventure. Many times pity the poor sales associate, if they lamely attempted to justify something she disapproved of. Only then she would special order a white Riviera optioned her way and pay cash. Not even going to discuss the sweat inducting haggle about a trade-in. Always a white Riviera. I always knew in advance, and unspoken, she would get her Riviera but it was enjoyable spending time with her going through the process. Fun lady with a wicked dry sense of humor. She knew her cars, her fashion & interior design, and we could talk all night until the sun came up. When she passed I was willed her latest pearl white Riviera. Oh, and the years and years of day road trips on my visits, speeding along the back roads of the Carolinas in her white Rivieras. Visiting small cemeteries where some distant relative was buried 150 years ago. She knew the story of every dead relative, who had affairs, who was a bootlegger, etc.. I once heard it said, Yankees hide their crazy relatives in the attic, in the South they put their crazy relatives on the front Poarch.
Wonderful memories of our car related adventures. I miss her still.
Sorry but I am getting a little off the subject now but a quick story about my aunt and our bond . The car memories shared but also, perhaps a little more that I can’t explain. December 2004, I was working in Canada. I was still in contact with other expats I knew when I previously worked in the ME. So five of us guys decided to rent an ocean front house in Phuket Thailand for X-mass week. I had paid my share of the rental, had my plane tickets. But my aunt in SC insisted I spend X-mass with her in SC. I had never spent X-mass with my aunt before but she was insistent. Loved my aunt so sure, Canada to SC and not Thailand. So what happened, two of my four friends died in the Tsunami, the house we rented was washed away. If it hadn’t been for my aunt and her premonition, I might not be posting this too long post today. A few months later I was in China at a convention. While in China I was informed my aunt died. That X-mass in 2004, was also the last time I was with my aunt.
Wow.
Thanks for sharing that story. You know, there’s a novella in there should you want to extract it. I’d read that for sure!
Your Aunt sounds like a real character, enjoyable reading about her. The last part of your post gave me goose pimples, I’m not a superstitious person but I’ve come to suspect some things happen for a reason.
I recognize that gauge cluster! Identical to my ’75 245 I had, right down to the factory tach! Is the odometer broke yet? It’s a matter of when, not if. 🙂
It’s not broken yet, but it’s a matter of cannon in this household – violations will be punished through something terrible – that NO ONE can touch the reset button on the trip odometer. I’m rather sure that touching that would shatter the fragile plastic gears and then that would destroy the whole thing requiring a rebuild. Which I would of course do, as I am way too ocd to drive without an odometer.
Not to mention that the fuel gauge has only recently been repaired (so now it reads half when it’s in fact empty…which is better than it not reading at all) and thus I’m still used to buying fuel based on elapsed miles versus what the untrustworthy gauge says.
It’s always something.
Driving my 2010 Honda Accord!
And twice monthly Sunday morning tire pressure checks on both it and the wife’s Corolla, and the pleasure of setting the pressures more accurately than any “ASE” mechanic would even care to.
The thing about the blinkers and lights… When I was little, I loved going around wiping off car lights, because they looked so pretty when they were clean. And dash lights, trying to figure out what all they lights were for when the car was off. Sometimes I could catch the sun at the right angle and ID them. When I was about 5, I would go into the car and play with the lights until the battery died. Kinda feel bad about it now because we were poor and I was killing the electrical system. And later on, checking out lights on other vehicles and seeing what parts bin they were pulled from.
Nowadays, my favorite thing is taking my 80s Oldsmobile out for a wash, sunset, and pictures. Go to a manual wash when it’s not busy, and scrub the whole thing with a microfiber, nothing gets it cleaner.
And one thing that always makes me smile is the throaty gurgle of a late 80s to early 90s GM 60 degree V6. Since 1996 I’ve always had at least one car in my driveway that can accomplish that.
As a non car owner, I’ve really enjoyed steadily building my collection of diecast models in my would-be fantasy garage. I even enjoy “washing” the ones on display with a damp rag when they get dusty as if it’s Saturday morning and I’m in my old driveway…
Joseph, I have an extensive 1:24 precision diecast collection. Collecting my scale model cars has been my passion for 25 years.
Oh yeah! I still “play” with my Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars not all that differently than I did when I was a (smaller) kid. Someday I fully intend to set up some of the miles of plastic track I still have and REALLY have fun with them.
First drive every spring after changing from winter- to summertires. Looks and feels like a better and different car every time, and as a first time subaruowner this winter, driving up icy hills where I struggled before.
The lead pic put a smile on my face. Growing up, my mom had a 2 door DL (1080), so I saw the pic and I was transported back in time. Obviously yours is newer as I believe the 80’s speedometer only went to 85 MPH (Is Evan Reisner in the house?).
Evan, Stephen Hansen, or one of the other Volvo experts here would need to chime in and verify, but I do believe that many 240 series cars always came with 130 mph speedometers. Likely the 85 mph limit ones were a 1980s innovation. I recall there being some kind of federal regulation about this, which was a not-too-swift attempt to get people to slow down and save gas by making them think that their car couldn’t go as fast as it could.
Mine is a 1976. Although I’m rather sure it’s never ever gone anywhere near as fast as its speedometer might suggest.
My main automotive passion these days is writing for, well, this website. But that doesn’t quite fit your question.
So I’ll come up with a somewhat tangential response. I love taking road trips, and our family has managed to take an ambitious road trip at least once for most of the past several years. And I derive a great deal of enjoyment in planning those trips. I enjoy going to out-of-the-way places, and doing things like plotting the best route across Nebraska (something I was doing last night). Many people would find that kind of planning dull, but I could gaze at maps for hours doing that sort of thing.
I realize it’s not quite as car-nut sounding as junkyard picking, but for me it provides a great escape from other stuff. Speaking of which, now I need to get back to reviewing contracts…
Eric, your passion for writing for CC is actually something that I enjoy (your writing as well as my working on posts) and I very nearly included “writing CC articles” in the story. So yeah, I know where you’re coming from.
Love planning road trips too. I’ve been doing some of that recently and suspect that folks here may see some of the fruit of that effort in the hopefully not too distant future.
I have to face the fact I am in my 70s and not going to do my last road trip.
One last road trip in a convertible, top down crossing the US and visiting places I experienced as a child during family road trips. I would like to have that one last drive, but don’t think it will happen.
Where do I start? When I am out with the dogs, I like to see how many cars have manual transmissions. From my informal observations, it is mighty few and most are either VW or Mazda.
I love driving in the Rocky Mountains. The combination of a German car and mountain roads is intoxicating to me. It gives me the rare chance to open up the EA888 and see what it can do. I try to a Rocky trip every year but the last couple of years I haven’t had time.