Oldest daily driver

[johnh875]

A thought for a new thread to breat some life into this area - what is the oldest daily driver car you see around your area? Eg a car you regularly see driving to work in peak hour traffic.

Having asked the question I don't think I have a particularly impressive answer... I would say mid-to-early 50's cars are not that uncommon to see out here.

In a small country town there is a bakery I know that has a Model T Ford parked out the front, which I assume is driven there every day. There isn't much traffic up there however!

[Truckosaurus]

In rust-tastic England seeing something from the seventies being used as a daily driver is rare.

A colleague uses a ratty old VW Beetle of late sixties vintage as his only car.

[Bluebottle]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

In rust-tastic England seeing something from the seventies being used as a daily driver is rare.

There's a very tidy looking Austin Maxi in daily use somewhere around here!

[John Turner]

I don't drive everyday but most days. I share the driving between my 25 year old E12 M535i and the 21 year old M635CSI. I've covered over 30,000 miles in each and when I was still travelling to work on a daily basis, I used both regularly.

[johnh875]

When I say "not uncommon" I don't mean every second car is that old, I mean in a daily 1hr commute you would expect to see a couple of cars that age. The cars you see are "the usual suspects", eg early Holdens, VW's, Morrie Minors etc. I'll have to keep a camera handy to see what I can find.

[John Turner]

I often see an old orange (original colour, I think) Mk3 Cortina in my local town. It's the only one that I see which is older than mine mentioned above, that I can think of.

[Armco Bender]

Old cars come down here to die,lots of '50s cars still on the road everday.

[johnh875]

Well I think after this morning I can forget about finding an older car for a while – heading the other way in traffic was a 1930 or 32 Ford sedan (I only got a brief glimpse of it – no photo), it looked to have later-1930’s wire wheels to take modern tyres and it was either a subtle hot rod or original. Judging by the number plate it has been back on the road for over 20 years.

[kingfloopy]

I'm not currently driving it, but a couple years ago my daily driver was a 1974 Dodge Charger for the better part of the summer. It was 30 years old when I was driving it. I still have it, but there's a problem with the electrics so it's been sitting for a while.

J.D.

[DAVID PATERSON]

My daily driver is a 2004 model. I live in a 10 year old, middle class suburb and the oldest car in the street is a '91 Nissan U12 Pintara. Though an '81 Holden Gemini (Opel Kadett/Vauxhall) regularly visits the house at the bottom of the hill.

[Armco Bender]

I saw a Hillman Avenger parked on the side of the road the other day,god we still haven't forgiven the British for inflicting them on us.

[TimD]

Au contraire! I loved the two Avengers I had. Reliable, handled nicely and very cheap to run as a student.

They made decent rally cars, too.

And one of mine kept me safe the night an uninsured driver slammed into the back of me at 30 when I was stationary at a red light.

[LotusElise]

My first car was a 1964 Wolseley Hornet. It was my daily driver until I changed jobs in 2004. I still own it but it is now a "project car".

[The STIG]

Someone commutes to Uni in a 1964 Land Rover Series III (I think, it could be a late 2b). another someone has a Morris Minor, and there's a couple of Triumph Heralds around too.

[Clive]

There's a white 1972 MGB driven daily round here, funnily enough from my home to where I work!!

[johnh875]

Originally Posted by Clive

There's a white 1972 MGB driven daily round here, funnily enough from my home to where I work!!

Well spotted Clive!!!

[bluefeather]

I drive my 1969 Chevy C-10 to work on Fridays if the weather is just right. I often see other "old school" pickups and cars. My neighbor is going to alternate between his '69 C-10 and his 72 Skylark.

[Matt]

I drive a 71 Opel, needs sme new brakes though, lol.

[kingfloopy]

There's a guy in my hometown that drives a 1955 Chevy as his daily driver during the summer. It looks like the car from "Two Lane Blacktop."

J.D.

[DAVID PATERSON]

I was sitting outside a shop on Main St last Saturday and there was heaps of traffic going by and it occured to me that the oldest cars in all that traffic were '80s models! Eventually, a '78 Holden Torana went by, but everything else was '80s or newer.

Where are all the old cars?

[d-b]

hi there

i used to drive older cars to work daily(up until 2 years ago)

1956 chevy (no fun in february with no choke or heater),till it failed mot
1963 morris minor (fun till the floor fell out)
1983+1986 capri's (great fun)

but gave up & bought a pt cruiser when someone kept nicking my fuel

sadly they're all gone now except for the cruiser

also used to drive a 1979 oldsmobile 98 (until a granada wrote it off for me)

it's certainly much more fun in an old car

[johnh875]

David, I've noticed the same thing, I think a lot has to do with the phasing out of leaded petrol, and then lead-replacement petrol. I too don't see that many pre-80 cars - mind you they are now 26+ years old.

In the last few weeks I've seen a few older cars though, a late fifties Holden, another 1950's car I can't recall at the moment and a few rat-rod style 1930's pickup trucks

[DAVID PATERSON]

A 50's American pick-up passed me last night, on my way to the fish n chip shop.

I remember the exact same vehicle was first prize in a raffle a few years ago. I can't remember who ran the raffle, it was either an oil company or an auto parts chain.

[Daimlerman]

During the summer Mrs Daimlerman drives to work in our 1955 Daimler Conquest Century.

[John Turner]

Excellent! Well done to your Mrs!