The Older I Get, The Older I Go

I was talking with a good friend of mine just this morning whom I haven't seen in about seven or eight months. I finally had a chance to congratulate him personally (Facebook doesn't replace this, I'm sorry), on him getting his pilot's license. He encouraged me to do the same because he knows I'm a dye-in-the-wool gear-head regardless of the type of transportation. I agreed with him, because even though I'm not a "aircraft" kind of guy, I do have a private love affair for planes built from the 1910's through the 20's, especially bi-planes. There is a transportation museum only a few miles from my house that has numerous examples of these winged wonders, and the staff flies several of them on a bi-monthly basis in conjunction with car and air shows. His immediate response was extremely enthusiastic stating how cool that would be. Who knows - flying, at least in the air and not just on a drag strip or the tarmac, may be in the cards of the future.

It's strange - when I was younger, say in my 20's or 30's, I really didn't care for this type of vintage. In fact, my window of vintage was quite small. It was all muscle cars from my youth from 1964 through 1971. However, as I grow older, (I'll be 55 next month), I find I'm stepping further back in time as I age when it comes to purchasing cars, save for the Fox-body Mustang I purchased five years ago. While I still dig 1987-1992 Mustangs as well as late 70's Chevy Malibu's (both are excellent examples of going fast on the cheap), I've found I've been slowly drifting backwards. After muscle cars became stupid expensive, I got into old trucks; mainly from the 50's and 60's. When they became stupid expensive, I grooved on late 40's / pre-1955 American coupes. And while they never experienced the same phenomenon as the first two categories, price wide, I outgrew them because it was somewhat of a bitch to stuff nice examples with big block power without some extensive work and surgery.

Now it's American iron from the late 20's through the mid 30's. Yes, one could say, "Hey Dave - you'd better wake up. A decent example can run you up to 20-25 large. And that's cheap." If I browse the wants ads, whether it's Facebook Marketplace, Racing Junk, or wherever, I can totally agree with you. However, there are some screaming deals out there, as well as off-beat models (ie; not Ford or Chevy) that have a cheaper entry fee. I found a nice 31 Ford example that is about 90% done (just needs paint and a few interior touches) with a 392 Hemi engine that's super-charged with a BDS blower for $15 grand. You can't beat me to the punch, because it's already sold... and not to me. Be that as it may, it proves there is still decent stuff out there that is being sold by people still breathing oxygen, if you look hard enough.

I also bounce back and forth with the T-bucket thing. I've seen some beauties with big-block power, vinyl tops and even heat. And while they tend to be less expensive, (on the grand scheme of things with vintage automotive), you have to deal with an engine bay that's always open to the elements as well as a rig that does not have windows at best, and no roof with most examples. Definitely something that's a challenge to drive in a sudden shower or in the crisp fall air in September and October. Even with those challenges, I can still drift back and make excuses for the impracticality because the coolness factor is way up there. You just don't see that many here in the Northern New England. But maybe there's a reason for that...

I'm too worried about the next go-fast vehicle in our family. I'll probably change my mind a dozen times or so between now and then.

Until next time, peace out.
Dave