It was 1992 and I was spending the weekend with a friend. While chatting with the friend’s grandfather, he suggested we visit a man named Otto if we were really wanted to talk cars.
So we went to Otto’s house.
Soon after we started talking, Otto stood up and announced he wanted to take his 1929 Ford Model A Tudor for a spin. The Model A fired immediately and we climbed in. About five minutes into it, Otto looked at me and said he was about to make my day. When I asked how, he pulled over and said he was tired of driving. Swapping places with Otto, I took the very long way back to his house, piloting the Model A on city streets and on a state highway.
Twenty-two years later, the memory is as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
This Model A is the oldest vehicle I have ever driven. What is the oldest vehicle you have driven?
1956 S&S Cadillac Hearse. It was a local car listed on EBay several years ago- so I took it for a test drive. The owner was selling it to finance the “restoration” of a Rolls Royce for use as a daily driver. Sadly, the Rolls was never really put back on the road. I was in the Auction until it went over $12K – and I have no idea where the ’56 ended up or what shape it is in now. More pics are in my Flickr album.
1956 S&S Cadillac Hearse album by Matthew Taylor on Flickr.
Just follow this link to see this album:
https://flickr.com/photos/14668750@N07/sets/72157608139131882
Hi Matt,
That was our car. I bought it in 1982. It had spent the first 26 years of its life at a funeral home in Fayette, MO. We owned it for the next 25 years, but decided to sell it a few years after we bought the Rolls. We actually use the Rolls as a daily driver and have for almost 12 years now. The ’56 S&S sold on eBay for almost $14K and went to collector in Ohio. The buyer ended up having to liquidate his collection and told me the car sold to someone in Australia! Just thought you’d like to know!
1966 Chevy Malibu convertible, 283/PG. The lack of a third gear took some getting used to.
I grew up riding around in my mothers 68 Olds Cutlass S with a 350 rocket and 2 speed powerglide, I became quite accustomed to it when I first started driving and inherited my grandmothers 67 cutlass 4dr with a 330 and 2 spd powerglide, fond memories!
1964 Volvo 1800S, my dad had one. I never forget the way a car feels after I drive it. The Volvo was slow for a modern car but the ride and handling were completely contemporary except for the heavy non-assisted steering. The overdrive made freeway travel comfortable.
The next oldest was a 1967 Mercury Cougar Dan Gurney Special with the 289-2V. I drove it in the 80s and WOW what a huge disappointment. Slow, horrible drum brakes and that perpetual-motion power steering with a million turns lock-to-lock made it feel like a Mr. Magoo car.
I had a similar experience with my oldest, a 65 Mustang with the 289 owned by my wife before we married. It steered, braked, and handled far worse than anything I’d ever driven, including a 71 Plymouth Valiant. The Valiant was much better.
Oldest ride was a Model T at Greenfield Village – loved it.
1941 Chevrolet Master Deluxe 2-door sedan, way back in 1970 and 1971. I drove it every day during my senior year in high school. Unfortunately, in an absent-minded moment on my way to my high school graduation, I ran a red light and hit another car (no injuries, fortunately!) and that was that for the by-then 30-year-old Chevy…. I got familiar with all of its quirks: the starter pedal, the manual choke, the hand throttle, the vent right in front of the windshield, the vacuum wipers that always quit just when I needed them the most. But it was fairly comfortable for a 1941 car, and had lots of room inside. And one could actually work on the thing, unlike so many of today’s cars!
1956 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup. 235 with a 4 speed (granny low 1st gear). Manual brakes and steering. Had that “old school” truck feel!
Oh yeah, and the foot operated starter motor.
1928 Ford Roadster Pickup. The centre mounted accelerator and hand operated advance retard take some getting used to but it shows that driving took more knowledge and skill backintheday.
1948 Vauxhall Wyvern.
I owned a L series Vauxhall though it was a 6 cylinder Velox a 1950 with the 7 inch headlights, other than the strange behaviour of the kneeaction front axle under braking they are the same as a moderner car with 3 speed tree shift
My brother’s 62 Fairlane 6 cylinder 4 door sedan.Good looks,reliable,comfortable and easy to work on and not to bad on the hard stuff
My father had an identical Fairlane in baby blue for a short while. He bought it used and it was still going for a long time after he sold it.
I drove my Grandmother’s 1950 Buick Special (straight 8, dynaflow, 6 volt electrics) to high school and then college for a number of years.
A 1958 Goliath 1100, I car I owned for 6 years, and was manufactured by Carl Borgwards Goliath Car company in Bremen Germany.
Car: 1930 Duesenberg Model J (once), 1937 Buick Special (regularly). Motorcycle: 1930 Indian 101 Scout (regularly).
I remember that Duesenberg story, and remain jealous over it to this day. 🙂
A chance I will never have again, thank God I remember it so well.
Classy!I like your taste in cars and bikes
1952 Chevy pickup.
1963 Buick Special. My grandparents’ car, which they kept in top mechanical shape even as the rear quarters were starting to give in to the tinworm. Since my grandmother had suffered a stroke and my city-bound grandfather never learned to drive, it was offered to the younger folk as possible school transportation.
Aluminum 215 V8 and automatic tranny. Not a tire-burner but not bad. Still had the silly PNDLR shift quadrant though. Brakes solid enough but the steering was the numbest I’ve ever encountered, felt like a rotary potentiometer. And I was comparing it to a 1970 Buick wagon. Outside of that, though, overall feel was tight and nimble, not wallowy at all.
We ended up selling it to a guy with a Skylark coupe of the same vintage who was interested in the engine. Me, I wanted to drop it into a Jensen-Healey.
“…the steering was the numbest I’ve ever encountered, felt like a rotary potentiometer.”
I hope I never encounter steering as bad as that!
“…the steering was the numbest I’ve ever encountered, felt like a rotary potentiometer.”
Try a late 60s/early 70s Ford. In comparison the Saginaw unit in a 70 AMC was a delight.
1976 Ford Torino police package steering felt like the steering wheel was spinning a propeller in a bucket of water. I don’t want to know how the standard power steering felt.
Oldest car I’ve driven? 1962 Chrysler 300, at the time about sixteen years old and clapped out…though the legendary Chrysler motor and TorqueFlite transmission were still faultless. I offered it up to a demolition derby team but it was so rusted out in the rear end, they declined it and I took it to a wrecking yard where it was bought for parts.
I’m guessing this Torino you drove didn’t feel or sound like the Starsky & Hutch car at all!
I am in a tie with Mr. Shafer – the 1929 Ford Model A that I bought from a relative in 1989 and owned until the family outgrew it in 1993. Mine was a coupe with a rumble seat. It was always a blast to drive, so simple and elemental, a straightforward machine.
Second place would be the restored 1936 Plymouth sedan that I test drove when a fellow was selling it in the mid-late 70s. I was probably about 18 and sort of hoped to talk someone I knew into buying it, but that never happened. The old fellow who had owned it for years was very pleasant. It was small inside but smoother and quieter than the A. I recall that the structure was fairly willowy, which surprised me at the time.
Third place would be the 1951 Dodge – flathead 6 and 3 speed manual mated to Fluid Drive.
Oldest non-car would be the John Deere Model B from 1937. Great QOTD, Jason.
A couple of years ago, my mechanic let me drive his ’36 Plymouth. It really wasn’t much bigger in the front seat than a VW. And it did feel a bit willowy too, but then it’s original and more than a bit tired:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1936-plymouth-i-can-take-it-for-a-spin/
’67 Corvair. I was about 10 in 1975 when my parents bought the car as a backup to dad’s ’72 Volvo 244. I was fascinated by the automatic lever on the dash, as well as the way the car would seem to hunker down when placed into “D” (the lever was R-N-D-L; no P). The car had a sorta weird “cane” parking brake.
I was fascinated by that car – compared to my dad’s 4 door Volvo it was like a spaceship. So naturally one day when mom was away I stole the keys and took it for a ride. The controls looked much easier than dad’s Volvo – only two pedals instead of three, no complicated stick shift thingie. Just get in and go, right?
Well, no. OK, put small key into (dash mounted) ignition – check. Twist key and the car comes alive, with that Corvair whirly, spaceship sound. Thankfully mom left it in “N”. Release old lady cane. Foot on brake – move shift lever up to “R” – release foot slowly – the car backs up. No problem.
Good. Now to go forward. Pull the lever down past “N” into “D”, allowing the power of the (I dunno maybe 90 hp) mighty Corvair to be unleashed. Unfortunately, the power was unleashed into a fence before I learned that hitting both pedals did not equal zero.
Would love to have the car today.
My answer to this is rather laughable for someone born in 1953. It was a 1961 Ford F-100 pickup, and this was in late 1971 at work. Someone my age might be expected to list a car or truck made in the 1950s or earlier, but back then vehicles didn’t last as long as they do now, and a 10 yr. old truck was quite elderly, which this one was. It was replaced the following spring. Also, by the early ’70s, most cars were no more than 8-10 years old, and it seems like they were much more affordable then, too. So, among my friends and relatives, I don’t remember anyone owning a car or truck older than about a 1965 once I was old enough to drive. One friend had a 1950 Olds, but it wasn’t his daily driver. Great QOTD!
Good point – I’m about three years older than you and my memories are the same because I grew up in the midwest where cars had a pretty short life span (very different here in SoCal). When my dad and I were looking for my first car in 66, 1960 was pretty much the cutoff year and I bought a 1960 VW Beetle. I can’t recall driving a car much older than that (I believe I drove a friend’s 56 Beetle convertible once or twice but it was not much different than my 60 sedan) though I have ridden in cars from the 50’s (and even a few from the 40’s) that belonged to family and friends when I was kid. Great question, interesting responses.
Same for me…guess I led a sheltered life, but the oldest car I remember driving (as opposed to being a passenger) was my Aunt’s 1969 Olds 98 which my Grandfather was keeping for her…and I’m only about 2 years younger than you.
My Dad changed cars pretty frequently back around the time I started driving, and even the first car I owned (a rusty ’72 Fiat) wasn’t that old, but I lived in the north country back then, and as you say, cars didn’t last very long, that’s part of the reason I think my Father had pretty new cars.
That being said, we did have some long-lived cars in the family; only 5 years ago my mother’s 1988 Ford Tempo was retired (21 year old), eclipsing my Grandfather’s 1951 Chrysler, which my Uncle drove till 1969 (18 year old). But most of the cars I got to drive were relatively recent (at the time I was driving them).
1960 Impala 4 door hardtop with the 283 and powerglide, almost bought it as my first car when I was 16 but my parents were not receptive to the idea understandably. I did get to drive it around town before having my heart broken though, and while battered and in desperate need of a tune up it was a pretty fun experience.
Oh well, I can’t compete here…
In absolute terms, the oldest car I drove was a 1984 Renault 4 which was my dad’s /our family car from 1984 thru 1994 and when I got my license in early 90s, I had many opportunities to drive it.
In relative terms (as in the age of the car at the time I drove it), it was a 1986 Cadillac Eldorado I test-drove in 2013 (it was for sale and I was quite seriously contemplating buying it, but the seller and I could not agree on the price so it never came to be).
I noticed that an Eldorado (even if it was the least loved Caddy from the mid 80s) after 27 years was not only a better design (ok, you would expect as much) but also in a considerably better shape than a merely 10-year old European car (which also had only about half as many kilometers on the clock).
1930 Model A that belonged to a friend. We had an annual Biplane Fall Classic event at the airport I flew out of, and I drove folks out to the flight line for their Stearman or Waco rides. There were a number of older folks who asked if they could ride along, and I heard some tales! Lot of those folks “went a-courtin'” in a Model A…
The oldest motorized vehicle I’ve ridden in was a 1911 Baker Electric at Old Rhinebeck Airdrome. We had gone to see the weekend airshow, which got rained out. Beth was expecting our second, and Son Number One was in a stroller. Cole Palen himself walked over and asked if we’d like a ride back to the parking lot – who could turn that down!
The oldest I’ve actually owned was the 1950 International L-170 I bought to refurbish for hauling hay, but subsequently let go after the tornado took out the machine shed last year. I drove it a total of about 100 yards during my ownership. (c:
1931 Ford Model A Coupe and then a 1932 Chrysler Sedan.
1938 Chevrolet Master Deluxe. Also the first car I owned; I paid $100 for it and drove it home. That was in 1968.
I also, a Ford Model A, unsure of exact year.
Ford Model T Roadster (well I guess that one doesn’t count because it was a street rod with fiberglass body & modern drive train components). So it would be a 1940 Chevrolet Coupe.
In 1972, there was a hippie kid I knew who would putter around downtown Iowa City on warm summer evenings with an original early-20s open Model T tourer that he got out of some old farmer’s garage for next to nothing. We used to pile in and ride around, maybe cruise down to the DQ or out into the country if he felt ambitous. I eventually talked him into letting me drive it, out on a country road; pretty weird, with no foot throttle (hand throttle), and the left foot pedal pushed down to engage low, and released to engage high.
t was more like driving an old tractor, in terms of the odd controls. Chugged like one too. The steering was lighter though. Brakes…I’m trying to remember whether I used the foot pedal (driveline brake) or the hand lever (rear brakes). In any case, they weren’t exactly very strong (also like a tractor). It’s not like one needed to brake much on a hot August night…no other cars out. It was great bopping down that gravel road in the wide open car on a summer’s night.
I’d like to drive one again…if just to refresh the memories.
Always wanted to drive a Model T, to experience this automotive icon just once.
Nice
Figured the bar would be set pretty high for this question.
Oldest I ever drove was the 66 Plymouth mentioned in the Belvedere thread here a few days ago.
Oldest I ever rode in, that I am sure of make/vintage was my Dad’s 51 Studebaker Champion.
Never realized that headlight bezel was just for ornamentation, I thought that was the only thing keeping the headlight from falling out.
I thought that was the only thing keeping the headlight from falling out.
On our 56, the bezel *was* the only thing keeping the headlight from falling out. The mounts for the bulbs were rusted away.
This 56, if you didn’t see the Studebaker thread
1911 White gas powered Roadster I own, Then 1923 Duesenberg Touring I restored.
1954 Buick Century hardtop coupe.
1923 Ford Model T touring car. It was (and still is) owned by a friend from my church. He lived in the country and I got to take it for a spin through his back 40. Pretty neat experience!
Another Model A here, in my case a ’28. A high school friend and his Dad owned it, and I got to drive it around the neighbourhood a couple of times. The deal was you had to be able to start it before you were allowed to drive it. I remember thinking back then that for trips of less than a mile it was probably easier and less tiring to walk!
’30 Ford A.
A 1955 Chrysler 300, transporting a collector friend’s pristine show car from the show grounds to his warehouse in Sacramento about twenty years ago. Sort of a one shot deal, but it probably qualifies as the oldest car I’ve ever personally driven. Scared to death, it drove like a heavy duty tank, albeit a fast one. Next to that, a ’57 Thunderbird E-model, which belonged to a friend in Laguna Beach. Totally restored and completely equipped down to the Dial-a-matic power seat, it, too, drove very heavily, and wallowed all over the road. You felt like the brakes would never kick in when you applied them. Incredible classics, but they couldn’t hold a performance candle next to modern day stuff.
Which reminds me of the comparison one of the car mags did between a Jaguar XK-E, Porsche 356 and a Honda Odyssey minivan.
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/soccer-moms-revenge/
Don – lucky you, great memories of two iconic automobiles. Reminds me of when my dad and I were shopping for my first car in 66. My wish list was huge and among others, I wanted a used Thunderbird but my budget was really too small for a decent one. We test drove a 60 and a 61. I well recall how different they were from each other. The 60 wallowed all over the road, had very poor brakes, and had not aged well in the midwestern climate with salted roads – significant rocker panel rust. The 61 seemed like a different car, much quieter, smoother, and more refined than the 60. In contrast to the popular trope “they don’t build them liked they used to” that I constantly heard growing up, cars were rapidly improving in the 60s. But none of them compare in terms of performance, economy, safety, features, etc. to the cars we drive today.
I drove a September 1986 built 1987 Chevy Caprice Estate on and off from late 2007 to mid/late 2009.
The two oldest cars I have driven were my family’s 1974 Volvo 164 and my room mate’s 73 or 74 Beetle with Automatic Stickshift. So far the oldest car I’ve owned was my 1978 Scirocco
My first car, a 1950 Mercury. Flathead V-8, three on the tree (actually two; first gear would deselect itself violently, so I started in second), suicide doors, lots of rust. My SIL’s dad gave it to me on condition that i had to get it running and drive it out of his backyard. Um, free car? I got it running.
I drove it through senior year of high school. About a month after graduation it threw a rod and I junked it.
1961 Chevrolet Biscayne. 235 stovebolt, 3 on the tree.
1956 VW bus. Was my older brothers, it needed paint. He took it to Earl Schieb to get the actual $39.95 paint job. This was around 1970. They only had bright orange at that price, so bright orange it was. The crankshaft broke going up the grapevine, so we found a motor for $75.00 at a junkyard. Turned out it was a 25 hp engine! Had the old non-syncro 1st gearbox. It actually ran pretty darn good, and got great gas mileage. I blame him for my VW obsession. We went all over the place in that old bus, good times. It had the JC Whitney side scoops, cut out rear wheel openings with fiberglass flairs and chevy wheel adaptor’s and chrome wheels with larger rear tires. In 1972 I made wood bumpers for it in high school wood shop after he got a ticket for no bumpers.
My 1926 Star. In case you’re wondering, cars have gotten a bit better since Coolidge was president.
Wasn’t that one of the cars built by Durant in one of his periods of exile from GM?
Yeah. That was his competitor to the Chevrolet.
Oldest I’ve driven: 1956 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special on original sabre spoke alloys! Car had been converted to RHD. The owner had disabled the secondary chokes since he didn’t use them. That was all OK, it went fine. Stopping the thing smoothly with overboosted drums was an art. My unrestrained son was thrown from the rear seat at one point. All good fun in hindsight.
Oldest I’ve ridden in: 1924 Buick Master 6 Tourer. Turning circle of a large rigid chassis truck and freezing to ride in on even a 40 deg C day. The owner who instructs drivers for the emergency services made it roll along smoothly and without apparent effort but I know better than to try.
I always get a kick out of seeing old cars moving along with contemporary traffic and being used as originally intended.
Followed a 1930 Oldsmobile through Napier this morning it easily kept pace with traffic, its a local rental car so I see it lots.
I’m with Paul–early Ford T…with lovely brass radiator and headlights. I love the way all 20 horsepower are available from about 1500 rpm.
I feel very inexperienced in comparison with most comments above! Oldest car I’ve ridden in was either a 1963 EJ Holden wagon or a 1965/66 HD or HR Holden. Oldest car I ever drove was in 1992/3, and was an acquaintance’s 1970 Mazda RX2. That was only around the block though, so the oldest car I regularly drove was in 1992, my first car, a 1971 Ford Escort 1300XL. Like some of the commentators above, the cars I’ve driven all made strong and lasting impressions on me. I remember the feel of the Escorts door handle, having to slam the door just so to close it, the wind whistles from the A-pillar, etc etc. #reminiscing! Edit: although I owned a 1936 Dodge for 5 years, I never actually drove it (motor turned but it needed full restoration). I did sit behind the steering wheel numerous times and imagined driving it though! When I sold it, I sat behind the wheels and steered it for 10 metres as we towed it out of the storage shed, so maybe that kind of counts!
1931 Model A Victoria. Black roof and fenders, gray body, cream wheels. Aside from the timing advance on the steering hub, the car was quite modern and had no problem navigating San Juan traffic in 1965. I was dressed in my preppie best-Madras shirt, white Levi Caifornians, and Bass Weejuns.
Lookin’ good! Thanks for sharing.
Guess that would have to be the 1957 Chevy I learned to drive on. TWO DOOR WAGON stripper which was dad’s commuter car and ‘second car’.
1929 Chevy pickup, a barn find that I helped my uncle get running. I learned about babbit con rod bearings, torque tube driveshaft, and how to use an easy out when I broke off a bolt. It was used as a parade vehicle for my high school at football games, etc. Mechanical brakes were a little scary.
1964 Impala
’54 Chevy BelAir 2-door sedan. Daily driver in 1975-76. Fun times…
Four ‘A’ Model Fords , all daily drivers up into the 1990’s , they were good little cars then and now if a bit crude .
When I lived in Guatemala City in 1976 I found , purchased , rebuilt then rode everywhere a 1937 EL Harey Davidson KnuckleHead Motocycle , that one was a hoot .
1935 & 1937 John Deere “A’ & “B” model tractors on the Dairy Farm in New Hampshire in the 1960’s , lots and lots of 1940’s & 1050’s cars & light duty trucks back when they were just $35 ” old cars ” .
And a 1948 VW Beetle I wish I’da kept .
-Nate
Oldest drive remains my 1977 Buick Electra 225 sedan. Have really come to appreciate its overall simplicity. It’s not a fast or notably powerful car but somehow feels more responsive and exciting knowing that when you ask it to operate, that action is purely mechanical or electrical and was not directed by some sensor.
Oldest ride was in a 1951 Chevrolet truck. Not a pickup, a bigger one with wood fencing on the sides. Parents’ friend owned it and we used it to move some items. My mother allowed me to ride in it with great trepidation since it had no seatbelts. Had to tell me about the child of friends of friends who was killed in seatbetless old car. Went on the ride anyway. Just remember the primitive shift, and all the metal, and the great view over the hood.
On private property: 1958 Chevy Bel Air 4-door sedan with 283 V8 and Powerglide.
On public roads: 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air 4-door sedan with Stovebolt Six (235 cu. in.) and 3-on-the-tree.
Both were 2-tone brown and white!
I’d like to drive a car older than me (I’m a ’52 model).
Oldest I’ve properly driven was a 1980 Toyota Corolla in the early ’90s (it was so rusty I should probably say “most of an ’80 Corolla”), but I’ve steered a ’67 VW Beetle while it was being pushed with another car a few years before that and I sat on my dad’s lap while he moved a ’55 Chevy pickup around the yard as a little kid in the late ’70s.
’58 Chevy Bel Air, two-tone blue 4-door sedan. This was c. 1991 or so, car was for sale locally, took it for a test drive and almost bought it. Technically, I even owned it for a day, but then the deal was off due to some nonsense on the seller’s part. The car drove like a truck, very heavy, even compared to various 60s and 70s cars that I have grown up driving. But ever since then, I liked to brag that I once owned a ’58 Chevy.
1912 (chassis/drivetrain) Model T Speedster. Pretty easy to drive compared to the non-synchro crash boxes of similar vintage. I’m restoring a 1925 Dodge Brothers touring car and shifting must be done slowly and carefully or a gear grinding racket results.. Downshifting in motion can only be dreamed of…
One of the reasons Henrys primitive Model T remained popular there were no gears to shift so T drivers didnt need to learn doubldeclutching.
Oldest car I can remember driving was about ten years ago, my brother left a 63 falcon 4 dr with inline 6 and fordomatic two speed at my house for a couple of weeks, when I started driving in 1976, I inherited a 67 olds cutlass 4 dr, then move onto my dads electra 225, and then into the first car I ever bought which was a 67 Chrysler 300 2 dr. If airplanes count, I got to handle the controls of a Ford tri-motor and currently fly a 1961 piper colt, also got to fly a ww2 chipmunk, that was cool, so the airplanes were a lot older!
Also currently own a 65 Corvair 500 2 dr, lots of fun!
I have fond memories of my ’62 Corvair wagon. Small dash mounted power glide shifter, and a glass bottle of washer fluid.
Corvair owner here too, 1965 Corsa convertible, 4 carb 140, she’s a blast to drive.
3 spd, non synchro first with radio delete and original white interior, time machine! Oh yea,110 hp
The oldest car I’ve ever driven was a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker, all black and possibly the same one we had bought when I was 4 years old. It was about 1983, and a friend of mine’s uncle had just bought it. He had some paperwork on it, but nothing indicating the first owner’s name, just the dealer and the date it was sold, which was my birthday. That alone makes me think it was the same car. He only kept it a couple of months. He took it to an old car show, and got offered too much money for it to not take, so it was gone, replaced with a car I liked much better, a ’70 Super Bee, which he had until he died.
Oldest I’ve owned: 1973 Pontiac Ventura (Nova clone) 350/auto
Oldest I’ve driven: 1964 Chevy Malibu (a friend bought it in California and we drove it back to Milwaukee. So I probably drove the Malibu a farther distance, but it was over 3 days. It purportedly had a 350 newer than the car, and a Th-350 trans (it definitely had 3 gears) The steering wheel had a disturbing tendency to come off in your hands if you didn’t remember to tighten the bolt in the middle every now and then. Kept me awake on the long freeway drive…
It burned a quart of trans fluid, at least 2 quarts of oil and a 20-something tank of gas every 150 miles or so, so we may have spent more $ just driving it than it cost him to buy. He was going to restore it (it had been kind of street-rodded in the 70’s and he wanted it more original) but it got taken apart and sold years later without being finished.
Oldest car driven: 1965 Chrysler
Oldest vehicle driven : 1941 Alco S-1 Locomotive
Oldest ridden in : 1905 Curved Dash Olds
Oldest that I’ve driven? My ’78 BMW 530i
The newest that I’ve been driven /in/? A ’59 Studebaker Lark VI
In my case, my mother’s uncle Simca 1000, I guess from 1967 or 1968. I begged him to give it to me once he wanted to get rid of it but he ignored me 🙁
1949 Dodge with 3-on-the-tree fluid drive. If you got up to about 20 and yanked the steering wheel, it would start to oscillate and, if one did not stop it, get so bad it seemed like it was getting close to rolling over. Other than that, it was like driving your living room, and just as comfortable. Shit brown. One central brake light on the trunk with turn signals outboard. 6-volt system. Cool as shit. I wonder where that car is now…it belonged to a friend’s uncle.
Flat-head 6, I forgot to mention.
oldest I’ve driven was a ’29(I think) Model A Coupe Cabriolet. The CC was a model I wasn’t previously familiar with, it had a fabric roof so it looked like a roadster but it did not fold down and had doors like a coupe.
On the road, my dad’s 1973 Mk III Cortina estate, which was on its last legs – rust and filler everywhere, Miami Blue metallic faded to a sort of matt peacock shade, clutch worn to the point that it only started to bite in the last inch of the pedal travel, and to cap it all a collapsed piston crown so that there was nil compression on one cylinder and an effective engine capacity of about 800 c.c. rather than 1600 – and it disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke when it pulled away from a standstill. My dad believed in getting his money’s worth out of his cars.
As an aside, it was 10 years old and had 80,000 miles on the clock, the same as my current Citroen C5, which continues to run faultlessly and if it looks a bit well travelled (it lives under a tree and has the scars of a number of car park battles) has not a sign of rust anywhere. They don’t make cars like they used to…
Off the road, my mum’s 1935 Austin 7 Ruby – she is probably the only 77-year-old still to have her first car. Not that it’s been on the road lately – it was parked up in 1966 when she stopped work to have me. When she needed a car again in 1973 it was not really suitable as a daily driver (top speed of 45 mph) and she bought a Morris Minor – she still has that up on bricks in the barn as well and actually drives a Renault Clio.
The interesting characteristics of driving a Ruby are 1) a clutch with a total pedal travel of three-eighths of an inch (unlike the moribund Cortina above, it was made that way); 2) a low first gear so that it has neck breaking acceleration 0-10 mph; 3) cable-operated drum brakes of legendary ineffectiveness. I just managed to stop it before it came out the wrong end of the garage…
As to the oldest car ridden in – the 1913 Sunbeam 12/16 tourer that my wife and I had as our wedding transport back on 9/9/1998. Anyone wanting a look can find it on the imcdb website if they search “The Mouse that Roared” (1959 comedy in which it is driven by Peter Sellers playing the Grand Duchess). (Notwithstanding the comments it is not the same one as in Aces High – its actual registration is AX 602 not UI 404 which is another car). But I digress.
We were married in the village church and to get to the reception (in a hotel five miles away) we had planned on a leisurely tour of the country lanes at 30-35 mph. But a medical emergency in the congregation (NB: if feeling faint on the hottest day of the year, don’t use your nitroglycerine inhaler, it drops your blood pressure and you will have a very impressive collapse and the paramedics will be called) held up the service for a half hour and so we agreed with the car’s owner/driver that we needed to go the quick way. Down the A14. That is,one of the busiest dual carriageways in the UK, especially when the 40-tonners are going down to catch the Felixstowe-Zeebrugge ferry. For transatlantic readers, think the I-405 full of 18-wheelers.
On the up side we got the reception you’d expect for a couple in full wedding outfits in a vintage car – waving, sounding of horns in a friendly way etc. On the down side, I got a closer view of the hubs and axles of a large number of Scanias, ERFs, Fodens, DAFs, Seddon-Atkinsons etc as they came past us than I had ever envisaged. I needed a stiff drink before we got into the receiving line.
The uncle who had passed out was quite OK, by the way. He got a round of applause when he arrived just as the company sat down to the parma ham and melon.
Off road 1942 GMC.
On road 1976 MkIII Cortina.
The oldest car I ever drove was a 1948 Frazer Manhattan – I borrowed it from my grandfather for a wedding. My dad had to teach me how to drive three on a tree (with the optional overdrive) – that brought back memories of the first time he taught me to drive stick 🙂
62 Tempest with the 4 cyl and 2 speed auto (glide?). A gazillion turns lock-to-lock.
My ’66 Tempest (OHC 6) had “Wondertouch” power steering, with the same gazillion turns lock-to-lock, only boosted.
Oldest one was a ’51 Dodge but only from the shop around the parking lot and then back into the shop again. It was a bone-stock survivor wearing it’s original paint. Clutch pedal had no feel at all and the brakes… I didn’t think it was ready for the road but the owner actually drove it regularly.
Oldest one that I’ve been a passenger in was a ’33 Chrysler Imperial. Very classy.
Other than that it’s been my abnormally aspirated ’69 510 wagon then the ’69 510 2dr sedan which was also abnormally aspirated. Much more modern and with the performance upgrades they were more than capable.
’37 Cord 812 Sportsman in the ACD festival parade. I was 18, and drove one of several Cords he owned for a friend of my grandparents. (This isn’t the car, but it’s twin.) Good times.
Growing up, I spent a lot of time with him working on his cars, antique radios and the many other things he collected. He was a great influence on my life.
1930 Model A
Fun as hell.
Well, I ALMOST drove dad’s 1950 Plymouth when I was playing around in it one evening in front of our house when I pulled something and it began rollong! I did something else and it stopped. I left the car immediately! I think it only moved about a foot, though, but to a 4- or 5-year-old, it scared me half to death!
Other than that, my first car, a 1952 Chevy DeLuxe.
My 1926 Ford Model T Runabout (Roadster). Completely stock with three pedals on the floor, hand throttle and spark controls and 20 horsepower.
Oldest car I have driven on any kind of regular basis was the 1959 Pontiac Star Chief that my grandmother had when I got my driver’s license. With 389 V8 and the “old school” four speed Hydramatic it would accelerate like a AA/FD compared to my six cylinder Ford. It was fine in a straight line but the combination of no feel power steering and super sensitive power brakes made the Chief a handful to drive on a winding road.
The oldest car I have ever driven is a 1936 Oldsmobile coupe. My best friend’s older brother brought it home from the army with the intention of making a hot rod out of it. The car did run under its own power but not very well, it sounded like it was only firing on 5 of its 6 cylinders. We took it out for a spin once but came back after a few blocks, in addition to the engine miss, the brakes were close to non-existent. The Olds sat in their backyard for a couple of years and then one day it was gone, don’t know where to.
1925 Model T that my dad owned for a brief period of time in the early 2000’s. Completely upside down and backwards experience from any modern car, the throttle and transmission operation took a LOT of getting used to.
Oldest “modern” car was my 1963 Beetle.
1956 Hillman, a couple of years ago. Oldest car ridden in would probably be an early 20s Lancia Lambda.
1918 Winton Touring car. I used to work for a company owned by a car collector named Chet Krause and he would have the employees drive them in the local parades.
Got to drive a lot of awesome stuff like the Winton and a WWII military half-track.
My Dads 1972 Olds Cutlass Supreme 442 w30 Convertible (paint colour I think was known as saturn gold).. Had to drive it to the local drug store to get him some medicine, only time I got to drive it heh. I believe I was just underage too. After that its been garaged.
1939 Ford Deluxe V-8 coupe owned by my brother.
I guess it’s my first car, a 1987 Chrysler LeBaron k-car sedan.
I feel so young.
Owned a ’57 Chevy. Sit up nice & high with a commanding view of the road.
My grandfather’s 1969 Sedan deVille – once.
Very smooth – but didn’t have the power I expected it to have.
Owned a 1972 240z in the 90s – great car!
One of my best friends inherited at 1947 Ford Super Deluxe V8 Coupe-Sedan from her dad about 7 years ago. It ran when she got it, but she was too afraid to drive it, so it sat in the garage. The body is perfect and all it needed was a tune-up, new gas, oil change, and to bleed the brakes. I learned what “points” are, and there were several other unfamiliar parts that we’ve never seen on a modern car. We started making up names just for the purpose of communication. Before we knew it, the car had a flux-capacitor (weird spring style resistor) and octopus tubes (tubes where the spark plug wires are run through. total PITA).
We finally finished the car on the day that I was moving from Cleveland, OH to Las Vegas, NV. I got to drive it and it drove beautifully. The 3-on-the -tree was much more intuitive than I expected.
1903 Oldsmobile Model R
’63 Corvair Monza convertible
When I turned 16, my father taught me to drive (a stick) on either a 1954 Dodge or Plymouth sedan. The reason I can’t be sure which it was is because he had one of each at different times. And, I can remember the experience better than I can which car it was. With a couple exceptions, basically all my cars up until 1990 were automatics. Since then, I’ve only had two automatics with the rest all sticks. I can’t offhand recall any older vehicle(s) that I’ve ridden in. And, the oldest car I’ve owned was a 1961 Chrysler 300-G which was in decent running condition but needed a full restoration to be a show car.
The oldest vehicle I’ve ever drive was 1951 Ford tractor. I learned to drive on it when I was maybe 10 years old. Hand throttle, you sat over the transmission, so the gear shift was more or less between your legs. Separate front and rear brake pedals. I had to stand up to depress the clutch. The oldest vehicle I’ve ever ridden in was a 1911 American La France fire engine. A man named Austin Clark had an auto museum in Long Island’s Hamptons. It’s long-since closed, but we went there once, pretty near closing time and to more than make up for the fact that it was closing soon, Clark took us for a ride in the antique fire engine. Way cool.
1981 Checker. It was last year and I was so proud when parallel parked it!
With those bumpers, who COULDN’T parallel park one of those? 🙂 Unless you mean without damage to the other cars. Then I’m impressed.
Oldest I’ve driven was a 1958 Corvette, black with red interior. I was a salesperson at Schonlaw Chevrolet on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood in 1984, and this car belonged to a customer that needed some service work done. I can’t recall now why I had to drive it, it may have been to drop it off to the customer.
Oldest car I owned was a 1962 Coupe de Ville, my first car (It was sort of old by then).
Oldest car I’ve ridden in was a 1947 Pontiac convertible as a baby. Once again, it was old by then, and shortly thereafter traded in for a 1959 Bonneville.
For me, it’s a 1918 Nash Quad truck (four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering – top speed 18 mph). There’s also a 1917 Indian motorcycle, and possibly a 1917 Model T ambulance. That’s a possible only because I’m not sure of the actual year of the base Model T. It’s been rebuilt as a 1917 ambulance (representing the American Ambulance Corps. in WWI France), but the actual Model T engine/chassis could be more recent.
Thought I was the winner until LeBaron added the 1903 Oldsmobile. Rats.
I’ve driven a 1910 Brush many times. My father restored and owns it, and it will eventually make its way into my garage. Two forward speeds (crawl and walk), one reverse speed. It’s a chain-driven, one cylinder runabout with wood axles. Top speed of 20 mph … downhill … in a hurricane.
Oldest driven: 1936 Chevy 4 door sedan.
Oldest owned: 1953 Kaiser Manhattan, 4sp automatic, Jade and Ivory.