After reading the July and August summer editions of Classic Car Magazine and, as well, participating in a few good local car shows around town, it occurs to me that we, the average men– lifeblood of the old car hobby– perhaps need to demand from these magazines more emphasis on that which is actually affordable to us. Let’s face it, if you believe all the hype and malarkey about the latest Mecum and Hemmings Auctions bringing astronomical prices to what are essentially average Joe cars, where does that leave us average Joes? Does this mean that Classic Car is now only catering to the upper eschelon? And I throw this out to you, the readers. Are these high-priced auctions (and the car publications who tout them) not rapidly putting themselves out of reach to us? Does that not also equivocate to therefore out of business to us average Joe car afficionados? To be really honest, I skip over the Auction sections and features of Classic Car magazine. To me it’s like Hollywood Hyperbole– not in my world and they never will be. Hemmings, I am putting you on notice. Your support of these auctions that drive up the prices sky high will at some point backfire on you, just like your specialty car magazines did during the pandemic. This will likely end my continued association with you because you will have priced yourself out of my league. And by “my”, I believe I represent thousands of your customers.
We average Joe, work-a-day car people need to re-focus on that which we drove once upon a time as daily drivers. These are affordable and familiar to us. Isn’t this the same thing that people like us did in the 1970s, focusing on restoring 1950s Fords and Chevies—cars that people grew up, cut their teeth on. You know, the elephant in the room, the daily drivers that we have depended upon for so many years, but now in our fantasy want more, bigger better. These are usually medium to low-priced people movers that get the job done in not-so-lavish fashion. We could afford them then. Let’s for a moment forget about the feature cars in the glitzy car magazines—the Triumph TR3s, the MGTDs and the Austin Healeys all so very desirable, but so very much out of our reach. C’mon, how many of us really did own any of those? Only in my wildest dreams was that possible. Dreams, yes, but possible not so much. When I got out of the Navy, I had the where-with-all to actually go out and buy an MG. Admittedly I had spent much time dreaming about doing just that. I dreamed about driving it cross country . How delicious would that be, driving through Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, with the top down, wind in my face. I spent hours and hours thinking about that while passing time on the ship in the Tonkin Gulf. I also heard about and remembered the experiences of the other shipmates who owned an MG or Triumph and how they were constantly beset with mechanical problems the likes of which our Fords and Chevies never had. Quality issues, I wondered??? When it actually came to get out, I was intent on going back to college, and getting on with my life. What did I do? I bought a two year old 1966 Mustang, a car that was known to me, a trustworthy Ford, and much more practical. Make no mistake, Mustangs were not then the glamorous high-priced cars that they are now. No, it was initially pretty much an average Joe, work-a-day car, a reworked Ford Falcon then marketed to the younger generation.
I look back at my 50 plus years of owning and, dare I say occasionally buying, a collector car. I would have to admit that most, if not all, would have to be considered average Joe, low budget automobiles the likes of Model “A”s, Volkswagens, Fords, Jeeps, Studebakers, with an occasional 1939 Buick, thrown in. I never could, or would, spend the money for a high-priced Muscle Car, a pricey import or a true classic car. It just wasn’t in me. What I drove daily and worked on were Fords and Volkswagens– probably at least a dozen of them. Meanwhile what I coveted—dreamed about back then was maybe owning a Karmann Ghia—a racier version of a Volkswagen Beetle, or perhaps a Model “A” Ford. Model “A”s were something that loomed large in my family history from grandfather to father, now to me. Model “A”s are not big buck cars. These days they are in the 8-20K range Even 30 years ago you could get one for these prices and the prices are still holding.
These cars were not underpowered; they were just not overpowered. Who of us really went out on back roads and spun the tires of our hopped up cars till there was no tread left? Who of us could really afford to do that? Not me; I might have been able to occasionally squeak the tires on my 1955 Fords but that was dangerous and could be really costly if the automatic transmission gave out. Who could afford to fix that on summertime wages? Not me. Volkswagens are pretty much doing the same—low priced but holding a constant value. Oh, you could surely spend more than 20k for a super nice one but a reasonably good condition average collector vehicle can be had for 12-15K
Back to my Classic Car magazine. (By the way, while I’m critical of it, I intently read it.) As expected, the Classic Car articles for August featured the MGs, pricey Austin Healeys, and Jaguars, all with their glitzy photo layouts. It is all fodder for reading and of course, admittedly I did so. But what caught my eye, made a big impression on me was a feature on 1962 Rambler convertibles. That’s right, the then average run-of-the-mill people movers that my friend’s Dad might have bought or that my buddy drove more often than not because his brother’s hopped up GTO was not available or running well enough to be dependable. The Rambler article really made me think that this could actually be about me because this is what I really drove– old run of the mill cars in very good condition. Now-a-days I find myself driving them, preserving them because they impart such great memories!
The article went on to highlight an average John Doe who lived and worked in Podunk, (could also be Mantua, Ohio) Pennsylvania, Over the years he acquired three 1963 Rambler convertibles, one of which he bought new, one that he restored to concours condition, and another one to “knock about”. I thought to myself, isn’t this interesting—this is more like me than I would like to think. Maybe this is where it is really at. None of us average guys can afford to own a 50 K sports car, or a classic Packard, or overpowered 80K hot Mustang or Camaro. But we have our 10-15K Studebakers, Volkswagens and everyday drivers. They are comfortable, cozy and most familiar to me. Just maybe, this is where it is really at for us. This is the elephant in the room. Let’s embrace it.
I recall a time when I got a ride in a 1960s Rolls Royce. My Uncle’s neighbor owned one and thought that this might be an endearing event that I could take back to the ship and offer up to the boys. What I remember most about the ride was all the brown leather surrounding me in the back seat. Other than that, it rode just like my 1955 Fords and was just as noisy. I wasn’t impressed. But I didn’t tell him that. I just said thank you.
I have a 1930 Model “A” Sedan, a 1955 Studebaker President, and likely soon to be 1970 Volkswagen Beetle convertible for a “knock about”. These are not glitzy expensive collector cars. But they are comfortable, dependable rides that I can easily take to any local car show and be proud of. People glom over them because they identify with them. More and more they are showing up at the local old car scenes and maybe this is where it’s at for us average Joes. I can only speculate about the future of things, but this is our here and now.
