I went out to that Taco Bell a couple of years ago with my dad in his 67. Lots of cool cars, but unfortunately the people seemed pretty stuck on themselves... too good to talk to us. I'll have to give it a try again this year. I'm sure it would be better if there were a group of people to talk to.

This past weekend I was busy ferrying my dog from house to house. She had surgery on Thursday so I didn't want to leave her alone. It's all good now though.

 

I WILL DRIVE MY CAR IN THE RAIN. It's just water

 

Sorry no rain for me - except the water from my eyes if my beast gets dirty! But yes I do wash it - and dry every inch afterwards. I got caught in a rainstorm at night last fall on a white crushed gravel road and fugged up the entire car. After a week of digging white gravel goo from every orfice I vowed never to go through that much work again just to drive the car for 45 minutes. Just ask Becca_007 how clean my SS is. Besides if it's raining out nobody is cruising,racing, or showing anyway! And having Nitto DR's on the rear makes for a very cautious ride!
Good to see a decent turn-out and variety of cars on Sat. Timberwolf I hope you can hang on to the 69. PM me with your phone # and I'll see what I can do to help you sell the 94.

 

I wash it with nice warm water and soap and then dry it off right afterward with a soft chamois.

When I wash it, all kinds of water and crap don't get splashed underneath. If I drive it in the rain, that happens. The body may be largely fiberglass, but the undercarriage is metal right?

Before I put her to bed for the winter I let the guys at the detail shop go over her and give her the royal treatment.

It's not like I'll have a heart attack if I happen to be driving it and it starts to rain. But if I have the chance to avoid it, I try to. Someday when I'm in my 50s and this thing is a collector car, I want it to be fabulous. I want kids my age to walk past and droll over it and marvel how it still looks brand new.

 

When your 50?? Kids won't want to drive a SLOW car, they will have car's with jet's on them.

 

Right now my dad's car is 35 years old. It always gets more attention than mine and I can understand why. It's a classic. It's in great condition. It's just so awesome to see it out on the roads.

I'm willing to drive my car in the rain, but if the day looks crappy why bother? That's what my Lumina is for. I'm not too concerned about the undercarriage yet. Everything looks fine. I do keep an eye on it though because I bought this car for the long haul. Preventitive maintenance/care now will save me from having to do restore work like my dad did.

Please know that I believe restore work is rewarding, but I don't want to have to do it with this one! I'll be restoring that 64 1/2 convertible mustang, or 68 convertible camaro when the time is right.

 

Exactly what I'm talking about! My old man has got a 70 1/2 TA with 30K miles on it and is like 95% as released from the factory untouched including original paint - not to mention a bunch of other 60-70's cars. I drool over them all the time and vowed that I would get my hands on some nice cars of my own. So when I bought my one of a kind special order 2001 SS, I knew that I had to take care of it. Look at all those one off 60-70's cars that were just a little different (Judge, GSX, LS6 Chevelle) but are now worth thousands more than a regular GTO, GS, or 375HP Chevelle. I am thinking of preserving a piece of automotive history, not just flogging it into the ground to get my instant gradification jollys. That's why you have more than one cool car to play with! Take the cool junker out in the bad weather.

and the thread runs away.......

 

I was just givin you a hard time woman I can understand not WANTING it to get dirty.



34 yrs old with 30k miles on it?? That should be a crime. It blows me away that someone would have a car like that and never drive it, whats the point? I have a Filet mignon in my fridge right now, maybe I should freeze it forever just so I can say look at my steak, it sure would be good to eat, but i'd rather just know I have one in my freezer. Screw that, these cars are made to be driven and enjoyed. If you want to admire it, take a picture and save it in a scrapbook. Real car guys ( AND GIRLS ) drive cars

Just my opinion, which I am sure plenty of you will disagree with, but who cares?

 

I agree with you Eric. I love my cars, but would rather enjoy driving them then encase them under glass to look at. Cleaning them is part of the fun I think. Now I wouldn't go driving the 1st gen in bad weather, but there is no point in doing that. If it was dry and only a chance of rain, I would still drive it though. And my 4th gens get drivn from March to October at a minimum regardless of weather, and neither of them have a spot of rust on them top or bottom.

I am kinda curious what the people who won't drive if there is a chance of rain use as a cutoff point. 10% chance? 20%? I find the weather in Michigan is too unpredictable, and there is always a CHANCE of rain. If you only drive on cloud free days you have a really expensive paperweight. But that's just my opinion.

 

I hope it didn't sound like I'm encasing mine for preservation. If the sun is shining or looks like it's going to peek out later in the day, I drive mine to work; even if the weather is calling for rain. Right now I don't have a garage spot to park mine in at home though, so I don't drive as much as I'd like. I have to kind of plan out where I'm going to be so I can switch out cars and all. Things that I won't do are allow my dog in my car! I just cringe at the thought of trying to clean the slobber off the windows, not to mention the nails digging into the leather. I also try to keep it off the roads until the salt has disippated (didn't work the first year I bought it... I couldn't resist on those sunny winter days. I've found that the 2002 SS handles much better than the 1998 Z, so driving it in the rain is no longer a stressful experience. Oh yeah, rain or shine, she will be driven for a good couple of weeks straight when the Lumina goes in for repairs.
Sometimes I worry about the miles, but I can't justify the car payments and cost of insurance if she doesn't get out on the road. I try to play with the balance between enjoying her, and keeping her safe for the years to come.

 

Hey, I drive my car... Not in the winter, mind, but I drive it all the time in the summer. Just wait until later this week when I get her out, then you'll see...

 

Edited for P.C.

 

No offense man - now start cleaning your own car man! It looks like hell all dirty and with the steelys on the back I had a customized 94 9C1 Caprice from 97-01' that I had to drive through 3 winters cuz it was my only car. It had a $3500 four color paint job, street rod tweed-velour interior, dropped with Eibachs, etc. It was an awesome car that attracted a s$#tload of attention from people and unfortunately cops. So I just washed it everytime the snow stopped and twice a week in the summer. It was way cool, but it will never be worth any kind of money in the future. I enjoyed driving it - but I sure got tired of washing it all the time to stop the salt from eating it up. So I sold it to my brother and now his kid pukes all over the inside/slobs crackers all over, it sits outside not in the garage, and he never washes it. Makes me everytime I visit him.
It just a balance of cleaning vs. driving enjoyment and each person has their own opinion. Personally, I just like things clean - my house, my cars and truck, my trailer, my yard, my body even Perhaps it comes from having slobby parents Washing my nice cars is relaxing for me - some guys like to watch football with their free time. Having a cool car is kinda like a trophy wife ~ nice to look at but more fun to fool around with!

 

Yeah yeah, pick on my dirty car. 600 miles in a day will do that to you

 

So is it still on this Saturday at the same place? I have been to zero in the way of car events since last summer and would like to see a bit of action soon.