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The Way It Used to Be

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  • The Way It Used to Be

    Lisa in West Virginia is one of the most prolific contributors to my website. She's got a wickedly funny sense of humor. A WHOLE bunch of the stuff on the site is from her emials. Sue Unit and I were lucky to meet her in person one time over lunch on our way to Pittsburgh. Yeah, Lisa's a gem indeed.

    Lisa likes history a whole lot, too. She sent a mail that had a bunch of photos of old cars, like the '41 Chrysler Thunderbolt, a weird looking thing. 15 photos of old cars. You guys have all seen them before. The gist of the email was, they don't make them like they used to.

    That much is exactly right - they don't and they never will again.

    That made me think....Pinkard and Bowden, the comedy duo who do (did?) parody songs about stuff, did one named "The Fifties Suck." They called exception to the lore of the 50's (American Graffitti, etc), and in the song they pointed out that the 50's really did suck, for a whole lot of valid reasons. It wasn't all that great, no matter how legendary it was.

    Anyhow, here's the answer I sent to Lisa RE the 15 old car photos. Maybe this will spark some banter. Maybe not. Maybe it's just my own interpretation of how things were a long time ago:

    I've gotta agree. Yup, they don't make 'em like they usta.

    The guys on the hotrod forum can recite chapter and verse, "but that one had an X-frame and the joints were prone to rust", etc., but even with that, they sure don't make em like they usta. Hulking hunks of steel .... and the tires - you could expect to have a flat tire on a road trip of any length to anywhere. The bias ply tires would blow in a skinny minute. With luck and not doing any skidding or burnouts, you may get 20K out of a set of tires before you could see the cloth threads.

    Both of our vehicles have over 50K on them right now. And the tires are not showing a whole lot of wear. That much has changed for the better. I remember various road trips from SC to AL when I was a kid to see my parents' family, riding in our '59 Ford Galaxie, and it never failed Daddy would have to stop and empty the trunk of all the luggage on the side of the road so he could get to the spare tire. Darned near every trip. It was a given. Flat tire - count on it.

    Some things ARE better now. Some things are.


    Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

  • #2
    Re: The Way It Used to Be

    The mileage and A/C is better, but driving those old cars sure is fun.
    Act your age, not your shoe size. - Prince

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    • #3
      Re: The Way It Used to Be

      Unquestionably vehicles are better made now,but for the most part,they lack soul.
      They are just transportation devices for the masses.
      Calypornya...near the beach

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      • #4
        Re: The Way It Used to Be

        Originally posted by studemax
        The mileage and A/C is better, but driving those old cars sure is fun.
        I don't know about the A/C, my parent's old New Yorker used to blow snow.

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