On one point, I absolutely agree; when I sold my limousine business last
year, my two Lincoln Town Cars went with the business, so I was left without
a "daily driver". What did I do? Rather than buy another late-model luxury
car (I had considered a '93 Cadillac Fleetwood), I bought the '78 NYB! As
far as using the '38 on a daily basis, a good friend of mine drives his
nicely restored '39 Plymouth convertible to and from work every day unless
it's snowing!
Ross Klein
'Life's too short to drive 'ordinary' cars"
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Dardalis" <dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 10:40 AM
Subject: Re: IML: The More things change . . .
I don't think too many in this
> list would rather drive a modern luxury car rather than their Imp, even if
> it was given to them, me included! (If somebody gave me a 02 Lincoln, I 'd
> sell it right away, buy 2 or 3 more Imps and have gas money for the next 2
> decades!). I am not trying to "put down" the 38. These cars have so
much
> more value now because they are so much different than the cars you see on
> the road today. But lets face it, you can't drive a 38 on a daily basis,
> can you?
>
> D^2
>
>
>
> >(Imperialists, it seems never change. Change 1938 to any year of your
> >choice and date your version of this letter as of today. Seem familiar?
I
> >wonder if Jim Martin, our resident 1939 man, agrees with this letter?)
> >
> >Hugh
>
> Hugh.
> As you are a volunteer in a transportation museum, you already know that
> there was a very significant change in the automobile between 1938 and
> 1958, probably a lot more significant than the next 20 or even 40
> years! Cars got a lot more complicated mechanically, and certainly much
> harder to work on in 1958. I am sure changing the timing on the 38 model
> is quite easier than your 58! However, cars improved significantly at
that
> time also, and cars of the late fifties and sixties were far more capable
> than their 30's counterparts (probably more solid and more safe as
> well). However, in the field of luxury cars, the vehicles lost the hand
> made touch of the earlier cars. An Imperial of the 50's and 60's was
still
> a mass produced car, compared with the luxury cars of the 30's. As you
> know, a 30's luxury car could cost over 10-15 times a regular car, and
this
> ratio dropped to 2 or 2.5 in the sixties.
>
> Similarity with the modern days? Yes and no. The most important
> improvement of modern cars compared to our old Imps is their ability to
run
> with 100-200 times lower exhaust emissions per mile. Even though this is
> important on a social level, this advantage offers little to the owner of
> the car. There are far more minor improvements here and there of various
> degrees of importance, which are compensated by lowering standards in
other
> areas in terms of strength, quality of materials, durability, longevity,
> etc. However, the modern car is now almost completely impersonal, and the
> "mass production" feel is now so much worse. So, overall, I think you
will
> find a lot more people looking back to the gracious automobile past now,
> than you would back then, and for a good reason. My guess is that Mr.
> David R. Christensen, even though he liked his 1938 Imperial in 1958, he
> >
> >
> >
> >
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network