We were once the 2nd owner of a low mileage 4 door 1964 Pontiac with 36k miles. It was parked in a temperature controlled garage from 1972 to 1986. It was a few years before I learned to drive. My father got it for cheap at an estate auction sale.
My father had his industrial mechanic's papers and had built hot rods in his youth. He replaced all the gaskets, liquids and tires and had it running like a top in a weekend. Body was 9/10. That 283 V8 was bulletproof. We drove around North America on family trips with that car. I wish we had kept that car longer, I would have restored if I had been a little older. It had over 300k miles when we sold it as a derby car, the engine was still running fine. Matter of fact, the car took one hit to the passenger side in the derby that put it up on the barrier blocks and then it was disqualified because it was stuck and couldn't move. The guy who bought it for the derby then sold it to someone else who took the engine out and put it in his truck.
Yep, as with pretty much everything else, pre-owned cars are a trade-off. We're lucky that my husband is mechanically inclined, and we have a couple knowledgeable friends, too. I don't know what we'd have done over the years, otherwise.
She never did try! I thought she'd figure out how to grab it by the stem, since she loves carrying things off to hidden spots in the house, but she never did.
I suppose we are not so far off from the day when automobiles will truly be assessed as a "disposable item." They will be acquired with the clear understanding that after a set number of miles have been put on, they are simply retired and recycled.
"and the tire pressures were an assemblage of PowerBall number picks—37, 36, 31, 32 . . ."
Cleverness like that is the mark of a good writer. Love it!
Laughing is good for you 🤣
We were once the 2nd owner of a low mileage 4 door 1964 Pontiac with 36k miles. It was parked in a temperature controlled garage from 1972 to 1986. It was a few years before I learned to drive. My father got it for cheap at an estate auction sale.
My father had his industrial mechanic's papers and had built hot rods in his youth. He replaced all the gaskets, liquids and tires and had it running like a top in a weekend. Body was 9/10. That 283 V8 was bulletproof. We drove around North America on family trips with that car. I wish we had kept that car longer, I would have restored if I had been a little older. It had over 300k miles when we sold it as a derby car, the engine was still running fine. Matter of fact, the car took one hit to the passenger side in the derby that put it up on the barrier blocks and then it was disqualified because it was stuck and couldn't move. The guy who bought it for the derby then sold it to someone else who took the engine out and put it in his truck.
The plastic bag fix is what my mother would have called “shanty Irish.”
Yep, as with pretty much everything else, pre-owned cars are a trade-off. We're lucky that my husband is mechanically inclined, and we have a couple knowledgeable friends, too. I don't know what we'd have done over the years, otherwise.
Has Whitsun tried to bite the pepper yet?? 😁
She never did try! I thought she'd figure out how to grab it by the stem, since she loves carrying things off to hidden spots in the house, but she never did.
Maybe she's a feline genius, and knew that biting any part of it wouldn't taste good.
Fresh green beans are a cat magnet! Then you have the fun of finding mummified green beans in unexpected places for the next year or so!
I suppose we are not so far off from the day when automobiles will truly be assessed as a "disposable item." They will be acquired with the clear understanding that after a set number of miles have been put on, they are simply retired and recycled.
It really depends on your tolerance for random broken things. Mine is higher than most simply because we've owned a LOT of older secondhand cars.