Sometimes, you start reading an article online and, before you get a third of the way through it, it absolutely clicks. You find yourself nodding your head and getting excited because, dammit, someone else out there actually gets it! I recently read such an article. The observations made were spot on and I wanted to share the similarities, despite his speaking to Saab ownership and me to Mitsubishi.
Headings taken from James Mackintosh’s article “Life With An Old Car, Part 1” on CarThrottle.com. Highly recommended article. This post was originally written in June of 2009, but saved as a draft until I could pick out pictures to go with it. Since then, I’ve followed up with James and, if he can turn out Life With an Old Car, Part 2: The Cheapnessss, then I should get around to completing and posting this post of my own.
Observation 1: Old Stuff Breaks.
True that. It all worked when I bought 464/1000, but the very next day, a little plastic clip notorious for failure in the Mitsubishi community lived up to its reputation and I haven’t been able to open or vent my sunroof since. Annoying idle surge and lifter tick presented themselves soon after bringing the car down from the cooler elevations. So I had to swap the entire throttle body out for the one on 195/2000, which idled like a top, but still hadn’t been returned to the road after an accident. I’m still living with some lifter tick and I’ll be damned if I’ve managed to swap over the working sunroof yet either.
What doesn’t work? Um, 195 doesn’t exactly work right now at all.
Jokes aside, 464 is currently plagued with the following players on the disabled list:
- air conditioning (fixed: September 2009)
- cruise control (fixed: February 2010)
- vanity mirror lighting (Still don’t care: May 2010)
- Moonroof (fixed: July 2009, broken again: January 2010)
Now you might think that, having endured last summer in Phoenix driving around in an 86 Volvo wagon that had no air conditioning, I might have learned my lesson and made AC installation priority number one once I took delivery of 464 back in October, but the weather was so nice and then I was working two jobs and didn’t have the time and then it was too hot to work on the car outside during the day and now I’m working outside on other cars during the day to help pay the bills around here. No matter how fast you think your car might be, time is faster.
Observation 2: It’s more amazing what DOESN’T break after 21 years.
464 just rolled 150,000 miles last week. (Beyond 165k as of May 2010.) I was pretty stoked. The car is pretty much all original, aside from some cosmetic bits at the front end, replaced after a collision by a previous owner. The theatre lighting in the cabin, power windows and locks (I hear ya on that slow passenger window, James), remote trunk release, speed-sensitive wipers, and even that cool little button on the instrument panel that changes the lighting from green to amber all work just like they did when new.
Observation 3: What was efficient engineering in 1985 still is in 2009 (or 2010, even).
In my case, 1991-1992, of course. New cars might edge the Galant VR4 out in the miles per gallon contest, but I still consider the car fairly efficient for getting 22mpg+ around town since it does weigh more than a ton and a half. I will also admit that I do miss having a hatchback, but I don’t miss having to hulk heavy items up and over the sill to load up.
Much like James, I have a wheel/tire story involving my car. A couple weeks ago, I managed to fit two complete sets of mounted wheels and tires into 464/1000. I could – sadly – only fit two in the trunk. but then I parked five in the backseat and one rode shotgun for the 100 yard drive to the tire shop. That was really pushing the limits of interior space, but just goes to show that even older cars can still take care of business.
Observation 4: Old Cars are MUCH easier to work on.
Preaching to the choir, right? Show me a new car with a turbocharger and all wheel drive and I’ll show you a car you really shouldn’t be messing with under the hood. Compared to the computing power that’s monitoring wheelspin at each wheel, slip angle, yaw, lateral g, and the alignment of the planets on those cars, my OBDI Galant might as well have two giant reels of tape spinning back and forth in the trunk. This doesn’t mean I never end up scratching my head, with a river of four letter words pouring from my mouth in frustration from time to time, but these older cars are advanced enough to be a challenge without requiring a signature from the brass at NASA.
Idle surge on a 17 year old Mitsubishi? Changing the entire throttle body, sensors and all, is a 30 minute job with less than four, common hand tools. Idle surge on a newer Audi? I’ll leave you alone for 30 minutes so you can concentrate on filling out the credit application for that new BMW. Older cars just seem to be more forgiving.
Observation 5: An interesting old car attracts far more attention than a boring new one.
Older cars just stand out. In our too big to fail world of cookie cutter, planned obsolescence, even the most run down, beat ass of older cars stands out. We see them all the time. You can’t help but spot that POS Chevy Celebrity with the peeling paint or the beat-ass Cadillac that’s missing parts, but when you come across a well-maintained older car, well, you usually do a double take. Car guys do this more than non-, but seeing older cars that aren’t mainstream classics like the Bel Air, Charger, or T-bird is mentally refreshing. It’s different, novel, and it makes just the sort of connections in the brain that make you want to pull alongside to give the driver a thumb’s up in approval.
Observation 6: Man, it’s rewarding.
For me, it’s nice to know I’m driving one of what has to be maybe a dozen of a particular car in the entire state. Barely 3000 sold in the United States 17 years ago, likely less than 1500 of those still on the road today, and I know the owners of nine of however many are roaming the streets of my hometown. The faint whine of the turbocharger delivers a subtle nudge deeper into the still excellent leather seats and then the whole car settles into a near silent cruise, smoothly carrying me to wherever I’m going. Sure, it’s not flashiest modern vehicle, but it’s the automotive equivalent to speaking softly and carrying a big stick.
Observation 7: Sometimes owning an older car turns into something more.
Sometimes you write something and forget all about it. The completed editorial collects dust in your drafts folder for a year before you finally stumble back upon it at random. Such is the case with this post. What’s interesting is how James’ original story resonated with me and inspired me to share my own on similar terms. Barely four months later, Gearbox Magazine was started, with the core ideal of sharing stories between gearheads. Coincidence? I don’t know, but sometimes you read something that just clicks…
In the glovebox:
Working Credo
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