Hey all, just wondering how often you all drive your classics? I've had my '72 U code Supreme for two years and I've logged about 7,000 miles on the clock. I tend to drive it every chance I get, even if it's just to take it out and shake off the cobwebs. Although I sometimes wonder if I should ease up to keep the miles from racking up, or just enjoy it for what it was intended.

Thoughts??

 

My philosophy is these cars were made to be driven and enjoyed. I drive mine to work, grocery store, etc but everything is fairly close and the most I have done is maybe 4500 miles per year when I was driving to work every day all year long. These days I park it for the 5 months of blistering 100+ summer temps and drive during the fall/winter/spring so the mileage is a lot less.

 

Just enjoy your car as much as you want and do the proper maintenance when required. Thats what I do, although lately haven't driven much. On average I drive mine around 3-4k miles a year.

 

Me too, 3 - 4K per year but, that is split between the two cars. When the weather is right and I am not dragging a lot of stuff up to the lake house, I try to drive one of them there. I take the back roads for about an 80 mile run each way. Takes longer and a little further than the highway but, a LOT more enjoyable. Gotta love that 2-lane black top though.

 

I have a 64 F85 with a 455 typical hop up mods. Probably do about 3,000 a year. I’m 68 years old and when I’m out cruising around it takes me back to a time when cars, girls and music were all that mattered in life. Keep driving your cars guys, life goes by pretty darn fast!

 

Theres more?

 

I'm with Ken also living in the PHX metro area it's just to damn hot to enjoy it at lease June-Sept, it has a Knee freezer A/C unit that actually works quite well but we are experiencing over 20 days of 110 or above right now and I just don't want to tax a veh that wasn't
made for A/C. when the temps drop I doubt it will see more than 1000 per year as most trips will be a few cruise ins ( if they ever return ) and trips to the ice cream shop and maybe a occasional trip to the Grandkids so they can bug me fore a ride!!

 

I drive mine all the time, my wife loves riding in it. I think it reminds her of cruising in my 68 Chevelle back when we were dating. We live about 2 hours from Paso Robles Ca and we drive there often to wine country. We always get alot of looks and questions. I think mine is one of the few Olds that cruises that area.

 

Yeah, I am 67 in less than two weeks. Its just a different "comfort" feeling while driving these rolling tributes to automotive history. But, its more than that. Like music from our youth, these cars drive us to a place that we look back to. Even if life was a hard road, today, they help us remember the good.

Hey, maybe we can write our cars off our taxes as "Comfort Cars".

As a side note: Only '60s & '70s Rock & Roll allowed to be played in my cars...

 

^^^x2

 

these cars drive us to a place that we look back to

So Well Said !

 

I take a picture of my odometer at the beginning and end of Hot Rod Power Tour each year, good reminder of some fun memories. Unfortunately, the tour is cancelled this year.

This is from start of the 2015 tour, and I'm at 17,500 now. So about 2,500 per year. Now that I live closer to work, I drive it more often.

 

In my '75 98, I've been doing 5-600 miles a month since April. Gotta enjoy em!

 

I had to do that for my insurance company back when I was driving the convertible to work year round. I discovered that my premium was lower if the vehicles were driven under some low mileage limit, so every year I had to document the mileage to prove that I was driving under that limit. I don't think the insurance company believed me that I drove under 5000 miles per year on my daily driver, but I proved it to them and reduced my premium cost.

 

I was going to Long Haul the Power Tour this year but, that hope ended when they had to move it to August. I wasn't real thrilled with the route anyway. Maybe it will be rethought for 2021.

 

The whole tour has been cancelled for 2020.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hot-...2020-canceled/

 

I know. That's why I am hoping for a new route...for 2021...instead of duplicating what was the 2020 route. Part of it was redundant.

 

Same here, my car is parked down a lot as she shares duties with my daily. I consider it a fall, winter, spring, car. Very hot in summer, black vinyl interior and no AC. I gauge my miles off of my purchase date. Which is mid October. I figure I will have put about 22,000 miles on her by then. So this year makes 6 years but she sat for a year. So 22,000 divided by 5 years. Approximately 4400 miles a year.

I do stretch the cars legs throughput the summer here and there when temps are reasonable. Needs a good run out now to be honest but its been pretty brutal here. 94 degrees yesterday and 97 degrees today. Regardless I do start the car every so often all year round as well, to keep her ready to go.

 

Up here in Michigan we have 6 to 7 months. March and November are questionable. I hate to say it, but the 70 only gets 550-800 miles/year and the Alero gets about the same. My lot at work is dirt/gravel so when it's wet or to dry/dust, I don't drive either in to work.

Pat

 

Since my '68 has been on jack-stands for the past six years, it is hard to determine. It won't be a daily driver to work (when I get back into the office after WFH) because that is 80 miles round trip. At roughly 11MPG that is nearly half a tank a day . Before it went up on the stands, I drove it about 400/year for 3.5 years - out to dinner, short errands, go see friends, etc.. The hope is to have it completed in the next six to seven weeks, and be able to stretch it out a few times before Fall.

 

Until the last couple years I put a lot on miles on the old girl. She was my trip ride and for the 10 years previous she and I saw the whole western US and Canada several times. Four thousand miles on a trip were not uncommon Life changes and so do the cars I play with. I now campaign the Miata for completely different reasons than the Olds, for one it has AC and the older I get the more important that becomes for extended drives. It's a summer mountain carving ride with fun at ever corner but the Miata has no class compared to the Olds it's just another little red car going down the road but it puts a smile on my face every time I get in it. The Olds puts a smile on everyone's face and will draw a crowd if you stop long enough. So the Olds gets more smiles to the mile hands down. I probably in total drive the Old's about 9,000 miles a year when there are car shows or someone who wants a adventure back to the fifties..... Tedd

 

I alternator one summer doing a project (paint, auto to manual swap, whatever) the next summer driving. Usually put 5,000-10,000km on it in that time.

 

Same here in Phoenix, but the "non driving months" are the exact opposite of yours. Mine goes into hibernation from May to September.

 

Since I live in Boston, I can only really drive for about 7 months out of the year April-October.
When I only had 1 Cutlass, I would drive it 3,000-4,000 miles a year, going to car shows all over new England.
Now I have two classics to play-with, and I still do about 3,000-4,000 per year.
Each getting about 50/50 attention.

During June and early July, I drive to the Far-away [45-60 minute rides] week-day Evening cruise nights [trying to take advanced of the longer summer nights].
As the days get shorter I frequent the shows that are less than 30 minutes away.
I try to go to 1 big weekend car show each week [If I get my chores done].

Last fall during Covid, I would often take the "Little-red-corvette" or the "Gold-Car" to make the "Take-out" food run. I did not complain at all.
I looked forward to going for a drive for 60+ minutes [round-trip] to bring back cold food, just so that I could drive.