Blk63Vette

Hi
I thought I would share this story happened couple months ago...I was at a Shell Gas station putting gas in my Corvette.. (Yes my Corvette is very very thirsty for high octane)

Well, a older guy in a beautifully restored 1964 Corvette convertible...drove up and parked next to me...This car had every bolt and nut had been taken off and it "showed"..

He asked me how i liked my Corvette..I told him it was nice and i enjoyed it...He told me he was ready to SELL his and he wanted to know if I was interested in buying it...

I told him no....I already had one...But I really liked his...To my surprise he told me he HATED his corvette...

Apparently, this is his "main mode of transportation" he sold his Lexus and had this Corvette restored foir himself...(eveything factory correct) including Polyglas tires..

He said it leaked real bad....the ride "sucked" he looked very very hot when he came out of his Corvette (It was July in Florida NO A/C)

So, he talked about when he bought his other Corvette "New" in 1964 he didnt remenber it being this "bad"..

Makes me wonder how people lived without smooth ride and A/C for all those years?

Does anyone out there drive there Corvette as a daily mode of transportation????

BADBIRDCAGE

I used to drive my vette (78) for daily transportation a few years back. But that's not a fair comparison to a non AC midyear car.

The main difference is that "we were a lot tougher then".
(when we were younger)

Remember, we were not only tougher years ago, we also died at age 33 - 35 years old.

Rich

Midyearnut

Bought a' 63 Coupe back in the early 80s that had 135,000 miles on it. The previous owner said it was his only car. I believed him because I had to reframe it since he drove it year around which meant he drove in the snow (read SALT).
I imagine at that time not many people had the luxury of driving their Corvette just on sunny, warm days or just hauling them around in trailers.
Bob L.

wesmigletz

I commute 3 hours daily in L.A. traffic. I regularly drive the 62 to work. Drove it top down this morning, FWIW. My other daily is a 72 Chevy 3/4 ton, with a 4 spd. manual. It is the newest vehicle I own. The Vette is missing the P-side window, and the heater is disconnected. Neither vehicle has working AC, but I plan to fix the trucks by this summer.

I don't understand why people in So Cal don't drive their older cars more often. I've always been more of a knuckle-draggin motor head than a cruise-in queen.

Jack60

If that guy has enough money, he should have a coupe with air as daily driver.

Seaside63

It would cost him less to add an A/C system than pay the sales tax on a new car.

Brutal64

The depths of other peoples stupidity never ceases to amaze me. It never occured to him that a 40 year old car with poly tires and no A/C might not be as comfortable as his new Lexus?! Gimme a break.

Mecom Racer

Yea, what a dork.

LouieM

These were undoubtedly the worst-riding tires of all time. I had them on a 66 back in the 80s and it felt like the tires were filled with brass, not air. The bad ride was not matched by good handling. I took them off within a month.

Red64

Back in the late seventies and the eighties, my 67 roadster, then a 64 coupe were my only means of getting around while living in Wyoming. They saw everthing from 100 degree summer days to several inches of snow in the winter. I know I was a lot tougher then what I am now. I still love to, and do drive my roadster when ever I can, but to think of it as a daily commuting driver on ice and snow, or no air conditioning on hot summer days would not be somthing I would want to have to do again. I still remember cooking behind the big block in the summer, and trying to keep the rear end in the rear in the winter.

Pat

VFW NO.11548

Like wesmigletz I live in Socal and the reason i don't drive mine regulary is that there are crazy people loose on the roads here, not saying there not everywhere else , but we have our disportionate share, folks that try to run you off the road ,some times unintentionally like slowing down traffic behind them just to talk to you ( after they honk at you to get your attention, if being 5 ft away with your top down and honking wouldn't get your attention) , drifting into your lane, etc to just being nasty..cutting in front of you then turning on their windsheild wipers when you have the top down, instant shower (and its not even saturday night) , you have the folks that can't keep their hands to themselves , worrying about your car in the companies parking lot, heck you name it. Not to mention the crap thats on the highways at rush hour, mattresses,tire threads,ladders, rocks...all this I'm aware go with the territory of owning a classic I just try to minimize problems by driving the off hours and weekends..

Subfixer

I drive mine daily (just drove it home from work), although for comfort, I added A/C, P/S and Cruise Control. Otherwise, I think it rides very comfortably.

MidShark

When I was getting my '64 GTO ready for the road a couple of years ago, I ran across a set of Rally II wheels (not correct but I liked the look) with Firestone Wide Oval Polyglas redline tires. Looked really nice on the car, but I couldn't believe the way it handled. The car steered me, not the other way around. About a month of that was all I could take. I bought some Cragar SS wheels and BFG TAs, and now the car drives like a dream.
A/C is something I actually prefer NOT to have on an old car.

Rich

Formula Outlaw

My 65' came with whitewall tires that I swear were as hard as Fred Flintstones' tires. Within 2 weeks put a set of BFG T/A's on it and the difference was night and day. Also put a new set of shocks and I hardly knew it was the same car.

I LOVE driving it. It just transcends you back to a time when cars were cars and men were men....

Tampa Jerry

I bought my 68 coupe when I was 19. I drove it all over NYC and Long Island for years. No PS, PB, or Air. I had the original 3 watt radio. I had a great time with it. I moved to FL and worked up a sweat just getting the car out of the garage. Forget about driving in the rain in the summer without AC. Rather than sell the car, I added PS, PB, and Air. I also added a modern stereo system. I am in the process of adding the same to my 66. These are fun cars. They cannot be compared to todays cars. If you want all that, get a C6 or some other late model car. There is nothing better than taking the tops off my 68 in the FL winter and going for a drive. My wife knows when I'm out with the other girl. My clothes smell like raw unburned hydrocarbons.

iniguy

You know your right...I used to drive my cars 2 or 3 days a week but now that their up in price I just exercise them sparingly. I'm thinking about buying a 63-4 just to beat around in. Enjoy your daily drives I'm jealous.

BlueShark29

I drive my '65 Coupe daily, in Florida weather and it has no AC. I have been thinking about adding a Vintage Air unit to it, as the traffic jams are getting worse here in Florida, especially around the larger cities (Miami, Orlando, etc.).

Russ T Gate

You can never have to many C-2's. Sounds like you passed up a chance to buy one cheap. If the guy hated his car I would have made him an offer just to see how much he disliked the car. Who knows ?you could have had one to sell at a profit.