Larry,

I was going to use the Model T example myself. It's exactly what I was talking to my neighbor about. The post 1930 cars and trucks lend themselves more to simple modifications than the previous years so I think their demand will remain high. There a numerous posts on the HAMB board from guys who find "Barn finds" and post pictures. It's very disheartening to me to see that most are very restoreable cars needing very light restoration but the posters are usually going to chop and channel them along with other major modifications. I've seen quite a few posts like that here too. They are the posters' cars but I feel I die a little every time I see a post like that.

BTW, I'm 48 and don't consider myself an old coot, yet. I do feel old when I see a post where the 20 year old poster is referring to his 1976 truck as his "old truck".

 

I agree, and I can take that one step further. I have so many projects in the yard, and there's a whole bunch more that I'd like to have, because the cars I grew up with are newer and boring to me. Not boring to a kid in his early 20's because he didn't grow up with them. My '87 Tbird as an example.... I looked at it as a regular car, the 20 year old looks at it as a classic, the 60 year old looks at it as a jelly bean compared to the '57 Tbird he once had.

So had I grown up in the 50's and being around all of those cars every day, I would have probably picked just one to fix up, and would have probably been the one I was most attached to then. So every car from the 50's and older are all new to me. I'm like a kid in a candy store that can't decide which is the best.

But to drive one as it was, would be slow, and mishandling compared to what I'm used to. I'd bet a new car today makes the one's I grew up with even seem obsolete.

However, I'm different than most people my age. I look at the distant past as a way this country became great, when ingenuity and hard work actually meant something. I prefer to "re-live" those days, thus why I like traditional stuff, stock or hot rodded as they were back then. I don't refuse billet as a means because it is "anti-cheap", but because it didn't exist then. Heck, it's a dream of mine to build my garage to resemble an old shop from the 50's with an old red barn in the back, old tractors, cars, and trucks parked all around, and own nothing new. Part of being in the midwest, maybe, I dunno, but that's me.

(I should mention I'm aware I contradict my self, because I have a computer. And I have nothing against billet, and like all types of hot rods, cars, trucks, etc... I just won't own one)

 

There was a auction last year near me. They had a LOT of old trucks, Sterlings etc from the early teens to 20's. Had a few trucks one of 20 or so made. Most were restored and a few were very nice originals. Most sold for less than 10,000 dollars. There were maybe 25 or so trucks older than 1920 and many were bought for museums and they were sold for less than 6,000.
A modified 56 nomad sold for 63,000. It was a nice car, 350 , just a very nice everyday driver car. Nothing rare or exotic, however it had maybe 30 people bidding in it at first and some of the old trucks had 2 interested people bidding
There is little interest in the really old stuff especially the big trucks. Even the big trucks of this forum era are much cheaper that a 1/2 ton in equal shape.
It was really strange to see all those old big trucks and no one knew anything about them and most of the people were just looking at them and had no clue. There were several chain drive trucks.
Anyone that drove a 1920 vehicle is likely long gone so they are not prized like the 50's and 60's stuff. I am sure as the population ages the years of what is considered old and desirable will change. I have friends that think a 67 GTO is really a old car.
My newest "old" car is a 57 ranchero and I consider it really too new to be old.

 

I agree with most of the postings but I also have to add my .02. There is something great about taking a few modern touches (mostly reliability and safety improvements) and incorporating them into your classic truck. Subtly is key. Most of the mid-50 Ford trucks I see nowadays have alterations from their stock introductions. Being an owner of a F250 as opposed to a F100, I have had to make choices and sacrifices because there are simply some parts no longer available or aftermarket for my 250. I still work hard to keep my truck "looking cool and stock" and no matter what, your truck will always stick out among the cookie cutter garbage that fills the roads these days.

Above all, I respect anyone, male or female, rich or poor, that gets their hands dirty and the minds racing. It may be painful to write a check and buy the ride you always wanted but I have bled Ford Red working on my classic and that is a pride and joy that no one can take away. When the neighbor pulls up in his shiny new 2011 Ford F-150 I still know that I possess something that he doesn't have - a sense of accomplishment by keeping a memory alive. Because without my 1954 Ford F250, his 2011 would have never been built. Ford, as with any manufacturer, got where they are today, for good or bad, on the backs of our classics.

One last thing, anyone that buys those crappy, stick-on chrome do-dads at Autozone and places them on their cars should be shot. A real man cuts the steel and fabs in hood vents or fuel doors, he doesn't stick on a crappy plastic chrome imitation. Just my .02.

 

It's like you guys are living inside my brain! I agree with most everything already said....I like the old stuff better. It seems we live in a throw away world.....which is why I put a high value on things made years ago. Be it trucks, tools, furniture, etc....they were made to last a lifetime.

I still have most of my dads old trucks and tractors...sentimental value you know. Keeps me connected to the "good old days".

 

One of the main reasons I have my F-2 was because it was my dad's, at least some of it was. When I am tooling down the road I hear the engine whine, I shift and hear the clutch pedal thump the underside of the floor and smell the under hood aroma wafting into the cab and I can feel the late nights we used to come home from his shop and the cold winter days I'd accompany him to service a customer's car out in the middle of nowhere. Some times I just sit in it and talk to him, maybe he hears me. Other times me and old Betsy just talk to each other as we're bumping down the road. I will never let that go.

 

The downturn in interest in really old cars (Model T's, etc) has an upside; it will spread down into "newer" cars. There are going to be lots of '40's and '50's cars coming on the market, I've already noticed an uptick locally. It's about 50-50 due to the economy, and old owners throwing in the towel. Will restored Model T's ever be scrapped? It could happen! I have to admit, while I find them interesting, I just don't have any desire to own one.

I embrace the new technologies -- to a point. IMO the peak of useful technology was around 1991 - 1993; cars had simple EFI by then, airbags on the steering wheel and dash, ABS that was relatively simple and cheap, etc. After that, things just got more complicated, not really better.

But I really don't want any of that on my '52. Driving it nice and slow down uncrowded roads reminds me of the world when I was younger. I don't want or need P/S, disc brakes, or any of that, but I'll take alternators and electronic ignition so I can enjoy more driving time, less maintenance.

 

I like the old stuff, pre 60s stock cars/trucks are better...i wish mine was stock but it was cheap, it drives ,is in good shape and it was close to me.i prefer mechanical over electrical on everything,unless I have no choice.i prefer rusty,pitted,good old lead paint over a 15 000 dollar paint job,and i drool over old pitted chrome rather than billet.i will spend hours looking at a 50s car at a junk yard rather than mr Big Shot's cartoonish looking thing with mirrors all around it at the show ,but that is just me...This is the way i see it; If it worked 60 years ago,why wouldn't it work now?.It maybe slower,harder or not so fancy but it works...I think i was born in the wrong era.I just turned 26 and i didnt grow up with people that like old cars or old stuff and everybody i know thinks that i like to collect ''JUNK''..like hondas are a f***** piece of art.i drive what i really want not what they want me to drive,why get a ""hot car"" when im butt ugly...i am what i drive and i consider myself an old soul,i take my old jazz,old blues,old rock,doowop,my old truck,my son and you can have the rest...by the way if you dont want them model ''a''s or ''T''s,dump em at my house, i will get "" rid of them"

 

Life is not always a simple choice of what we want verses what we have and can get.

I started out wanting an "older" project that was a driver. I grew up in the 50 and 60s so that was the era i was looking for. Due to age and health issues I knew that i didn't have the resources to get an old project and restore it back to old original. I would have loved to but just not a realistic goal.

Then I ran across my truck or I should say it ran across me. First time I saw it I was hooked. Here was across between the old look I loved and the modern equipment so I could drive it in some comfort. Little did I know I would become a DARKSIDER..... Now I embrace it as it works for me and my needs.

Do i love big old restored trucks, absolutely. Do i love darksided trucks that fit the needs of their owner, absolutely. Do I love driver trucks, absolutely.

Do I love the chrome dome super shiney show trucks, not so much... Don't get me wrong I respect the amount of effort it took to get the truck in that condition but if you are not driving them then what is the use????

One final thought I have noticed that all these projects laugh at the word budget no matter what level you are working at.

jim

 

you are right Jim.these old trucks are like kids,they always need something, even if you dont have the money,you cant leave them out in the weather,and everyone wants you to do their way.(you should dress your kid like this!!!you should paint your truck like that etc)and when you dont take care of them,they take em away

 

i agree 100 % with everything . i have tweaked the 52 by going to an alternator and 12 volt , but i'm sorry it's a necessity in the quest for driving it . both of the oldies i am trying too temper my need to modify them as they are survivors , with the need to be me . so it's a fine balancing act . having the bird to play with has helped there . the new tech is way to overly complicated and unnecessary in my opinion , hades you can hardly change plugs in your driver now without having a rocket science degree ............ i have found a company though now that makes carb intakes and a cam driven distributor for the 4.6 fords giving me some ideas for a future oldie project ................

 

Not to hijack the thread but who would that be???

jim

 

Great reading guys I grew up in the 70's and I like all the old cars & trucks of the 50-70s. I sometime drive about an hour away just to walk through this salvage yard thathas lots of 50s-80s vehicles. i can remember watching shade tree mechanic I theink the guy's name was Dave & the other Menlow or sommething like that; he was on two guys garage then a younger guy replaced him; they didn't have all these high tech tools just great information anyone could use.