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I think you made a good decision. I recently bought a '70 Cutlass that I will use as a summertime daily driver. It's a toy for the boys and I to play with and maintain. They have '90s trucks (with abs and airbags) as their daily drivers. They will get to drive the Cutlass a fair amount (1-2K/yr), but it will be more of a reward. They're about as excited looking forward to summer as the picture of your girls in your car.
I don't see an issue, I mean how did we live through our own childhoods and these cars. Things to think about:
*Insurance, it will be basically liability only because of their age.
*How nice do you want to make it knowing it will be parked at school, stores, public functions, etc... Remember its not if they will put scratches on it, they will.
*The safety aspects of the car are based on the skills you teach them and the maturity for them to be responsible drivers.
*How do you address a breakdown, who to call.
So far each has driven one time with me in the car. They seem to love it!! They like it just the way it is though they are asking when will the top be replaced — heat works fine, but you can feel the drafts. They seem to handle it fine, loose steering is new to them, braking is fine, acceleration is fine as well. They learned how to drive in a Suburban so size is of little issue for them. What they express is how "low" they feel. Interestingly one noticed "maybe its not that I'm low but the hood is high" I actually never realized that. The A-bodies are not that low, I just think the seats are not as tall and the hood is in fact higher on these older cars — and much longer.
They are very responsible and I'm a strict father but being a father I know kids will be kids. My son was 26 before he drank in front of me. My 21 year old has yet to do that. I like the idea of limited use, and that's what it will be. Will be hard to say no at night sometimes as that will be part of the fun, warm night, dark street, top down. They come home between 10 - 11 anyway. a late night to them is 11:30 on a Saturday five blocks away.
Speaking of lights, I just noticed they are now making LED lights for these cars. Anyone have them. My W30s have original T3s I might as well be wearing sunglasses driving those at night. THis car will get better lights thats for sure. Suggestions welcomed
Nope. If you are used to driving an SUV or Pick up they are low. Front seats sit low in the car. I was going to suggest bringing the height of the rear up, which sometimes helps but it's exactly where it needs to be. Like anything else they will get used to it in time. These cars were always good for producing heat. How's the draft situation in the 71'? New top and possibly weather stripping you should be good. Just check the trunk and floor boards for holes to avoid the carbon monoxide.
My biggest issue is the lack of a mirror on the passenger side. You never realize how much you use it until it's not there when you look over. Sport mirrors are the only logical option since the non-remote's do not do the car justice.
Had to chuckle a little. I let my son who was 17 drive my cutlass convertible without me. One day at work one of my co workers told me he seen me flying down the expressway. I asked him when and where and how fast was I going. He told me that it looked like I was going well over 100. I told him that was not me but my son who I was going to kill when I got home. My son did finally admit to driving it that fast. Needless to say he did not drive if for a long time.
I just took the car out on its first highway trip, man the car is smooth. Yours is really nice looking - makes me want to repair the body right away but that will have to wait.
My son learned to drive on a tractor, then a 1955 Dodge Crusader three in tree, then a Suzuki sidekick that stayed on the property on trails made by the both of us...he had to pass a safety course developed by me before he drove the ATV(written and practical )..he has never driven the Cutlass on the road. His car is a Mazda 3 and he is 18. If he wants an older car, it will be his decision, not mine. ...from a Dads view
Last edited by sammy; February 7th, 2017 at 04:58 PM.
I wouldn't have purchased it if the girls didn't want it. They are offering to help financially too. Just to make sure, I asked them about a Marauder, Mustang, Jeep, SUV etc. They kept saying they wanted the Cutlass. My oldest two never had a car of their own and I'm not making this theirs for that reason alone. They are good kids, with good grades, part time jobs and two sport athletes. They work hard so to have something they are proud of to drive once in a while is nice. They could have been asking for a brand new BMW or a Jeep.
All my kids learned how to drive a Suburban when they were 14 on private property just like your son. It certainly helped.
Yes I would wait to restore it until after your Daughters drive it for awhile. Hate to see all that work and end up with a small dent or scratches in it. I remember my first couple of years driving lol.
I am glad that you got the car for them and let them drive it. The only thing i would have done is added a roll bar. That way you can have better belts and safety in a accident roll over.JMHO
So how has this gone for you? I revisited this thread because I am undecided what to do with our 62 Jetfire. I believe I was safer when I was in freestyle events and jumping 35 feet in the air with a quad than I am driving these cars. We are restoring one of our 62's and was tossing the idea of adding seat belts and shoulder belts. The shoulder belts were never available in these car. They would not help much anyway when the car has no headrests. We plan to drive this car alot when it is done but the safety concerns me now that I am older.
So how has this gone for you? I revisited this thread because I am undecided what to do with our 62 Jetfire. I believe I was safer when I was in freestyle events and jumping 35 feet in the air with a quad than I am driving these cars. We are restoring one of our 62's and was tossing the idea of adding seat belts and shoulder belts. The shoulder belts were never available in these car. They would not help much anyway when the car has no headrests. We plan to drive this car alot when it is done but the safety concerns me now that I am older.
Well, loosely related, when i get my Cutlass ready, we are going to trip with our baby on it. Theres one approved safety-seat for lap-belts available atleast in Finland.
Despite having a small baby, i ( we) dont see it necessary to over-defend him and limit normal living. Accident can happen anywhere if its going to happen, its better to live your life and not worry too much.
Thats all i can say.
I have had similar thoughts. I have two A bodies, one has shoulder belts, and the other one will. I also have a 73 Econoline Club Wagon, and it has lap belts only and you are way up there in BFE about a foot behind the front of the vehicle. A small overlap crash would be very bad.
My solution is to not drive these vehicles in poor weather, bad traffic, or when I am in a hurry. They are toys, not daily drivers. The chances of a bad collision go down when you are driving defensively, in good areas, and not often.
I revisited this thread because I am undecided what to do with our 62 Jetfire. I believe I was safer when I was in freestyle events and jumping 35 feet in the air with a quad than I am driving these cars.
Seriously, Eric?????
Yeah, I realize that statement is hyperbole. If someone really believes these cars are unsafe to drive, then don't. People need to balance risk with likelihood. Is there more risk of injury when driving an older car as compared to a new one? Certainly. Is it more LIKELY that you will be involved in an accident with an older car that is only driven occasionally? Not so much. It's still significantly safer to drive a 1962 model year car in traffic than a brand new motorcycle.
Everyone needs to make this evaluation for themselves. Seat belts are only a small part of the problem. The older cars don't have side impact beams in the doors, don't have impact resistant door latches, don't have collapsible steering columns, don't have dual circuit brakes, etc, etc. They require you to drive defensively. If one is not comfortable with this, buy a new self driving transportation pod and be done with it. I don't want to live life in a bubble.
Actually, I am very serious, but I should have stated it better. In the event of a crash I am safer doing freestyle. Yes, the chances of a crash are much greater doing freestyle than driving a car and with more crashes the odds are against you because of volume. The vast majority of freestyle crashes are walked away from and is much safer than most people would think or are able to comprehend. I would MUCH rather hit the ground with all my safety gear on in an extreme 4 wheeler crash (and I have) than to hit another car at 35 MPH with no seat belts and none of my riding gear.
For some reason, this thread brings back a childhood memory of watching my dad steal the rear seat belts out of his company car (a 1967 or 68 Olds 88, burgundy with a balck interior) and install them in the front seat of our '59 Fiesta 88 station wagon (silver with a white roof) when I was maybe three or four years old. Heck, I think I even made myself an accessory to the crime by helping him feed the belts between the seat cushions to the anchor points on the floor. I believe seat belts were optional in '59 and I don't think the wagon had them from the factory. My sister and I preferred to ride in the rear cargo area of that wagon, the 'very back' as we called it. Dangerous as hell by today's standards, but I guess kids were more durable back then.
Last edited by Human; March 17th, 2018 at 08:03 AM.
One of the things I deal with in my day job are risk assessments for aerospace systems. We develop what's called an LxC matrix - likelihood x consequence. L varies from 1 (less than one chance in 10,000,000) to 5 (near certainty). Consequence also varies from 1 (negligible effect) to 5 (loss of mission, loss of personnel, etc). 5x5 risks (highly likely catastophic events) get a LOT of attention. 5x1 risks (highly likely low impact) get little. Even 1x5 (highly unlikely catastrophic events) get relatively little attention.
In my personal life, I similarly don't worry about those. For example, I don't lose any sleep over ebola, monkeypox, or avian flu.
Well, loosely related, when i get my Cutlass ready, we are going to trip with our baby on it. Theres one approved safety-seat for lap-belts available atleast in Finland.
Despite having a small baby, i ( we) dont see it necessary to over-defend him and limit normal living. Accident can happen anywhere if its going to happen, its better to live your life and not worry too much.
Thats all i can say.
Even more loosely related. We were going to a baby shower for my daughters first baby about 80 miles from where I live. We took the Cutlass with the top down. Our gift was the newest wiz bang baby car seat. I just threw it in the back seat before we took off. At 70 mph that thing was moving all over the place. People were blowing horns and pointing. Pretty sure there were a lot of interesting conversations about the idiot who did not strap the baby in the car properly
Just saw this come back to life. Interestingly, my girls don't drive the car nearly as much as I thought they would. I am kind of bummed about it but.... it has been winter in Chicago the past 6 months. They did drive it alot over the summer. I asked them about it the other day and one twin said "its because it stands out so much, everyone stares at us." Even though they are 18 they are not overconfident drivers which I am ok with. Makes the feel like people watch them drive. Beats the average self perception of most driver's as being the best driver on the road.
So far they have been very good with the car and now that it is spring I bet they will be driving it more again. At least I hope so. I drive it a decent amount myself, as I have said, it is nice to have a cruiser that I can park anywhere. I did drive it last month in about 2 inches of snow - WOW, I forgot how bad these cars handle in the snow but again most of did it daily 30 to 40 years ago. I even let the girls drive in the snow, I guess I figure its local, speed limits are mostly 15 - 25 around here so odds are even in a crash, at most, it would be a low speed collision. But I do worry, probably more than I should. I constantly remind them of seat-belt use and leave the '72 passenger belt alarm connetced.
Funny though, as my daily driver (a 600 HP 2004 Mercury Marauder) has been giving me fits I've been thinking I need a more reliable daily driver. But don't want to spend the money on a new car only to not let them drive that either. And I sLso wouldn't mind another car the girls could take on the expressway or if one has the Cutlass they can use the the other car (the MM is just too powerful, though they have driven that as well). I have a chance to buy a 2000 Town Car Executive with only 40k on it for a good price. Car is like brand new. All the safety features, and large as well. My wife says I'm too young for the car and thinks its gross, the kids don't really like it but say they will drive it. For the price and the fact that I am fine with it I think I am going to buy it.
It may turn out to be another car they don't drive. But I am not one to go out and buy a car that will only make my 4 kids happy, I understand the desire but at there age, I got whatever car my parents were able to buy for themselves and if it was a 10 year old 4-door '70 Lasabre or a 78 Sky hawk station wagon so be it, then that's what I drove.
In short, its been fine, the kids love it on nice days and seem to shy away from it on not so good days, especially if my wife's car (Ford Fusion) is available to them. And I'm ok with it. In the end, as most have said on here it is a bit of a risk but when weighted much less than you would think.
Its not a big upward swing, you have to look at the total/100k population. Obviously if the population increases, so would the amount of accidents/fatalities.
... you have to look at the total/100k population.
Actually, total/100k population/mile driven.
If the population remains the same, but the number of miles driven increases, then an increase in the actual number of accidents may not represent an increase in risk.
I think it's great that your daughters wanted the car. It's old, it's cool, it's a CONVERTIBLE. I dare say that was the biggest reason they wanted it.
Safety shmafety.... I can't tell you how many times I rode in the back of a pickup, on top of a 12 foot high stack of hay bales while we trucked them from whatever local farm we bought them at, back to our house. I cannot fathom having my kids do something like that!
January 29th, 2017, 07:14 AM
