Jack Meoff
Mopar Maniac
On a morning like today I fully take in the differences between daily driving my trusty old carbureted Fifth Ave and a jellybean fuel injected gender neutral hyondayotissan. For one.....my car has personality....a personality that makes it easily recognizable as "not just another blobmobile. Even in it's day you could distinguish it from it's other manufacturers offerings. Now? Good luck.... Without seeing the badge you'd be pretty hard pressed to tell what kind of " vehicle" it was. Vehicle because we don't but cars anymore.....we buy vehicles.
I remember cars......that's all I own.
On top of the aforementioned things there's also the way you drive a carbureted car as opposed to the new vehicles.
A cold morning.....a couple of pumps and the choke snaps closed. Dial up your favorite station while she fast idles for a bit......give the pedal a little tap and she drops down to the lower position. A few minutes later give her a kick and she drops to curb idle and your ready to go.......sort of.
Still cold it takes proper feathering of the gas to prevent it from bogging....but then once fully warmed up she's rocking and rolling. "That's crazy!" you say....."I just hop in, turn the key and go.....and with my heated seats I'm warm immediately."
Yep.....that's true....but I wonder this. I'm warming my car up because the fluids are like molasses and she's cold as ice....this makes sure that everything is warmed and lubricated and conditions are right to go on my way. Although because of the fuel injection your vehicle will go right away I have to wonder if it shouldn't be allowed to warm up at least a bit to get fluids moving properly?? Regardless.....most don't do that....or even think about it. Most don't really think about anything when it comes to what is going on with the functions of your ride.
Why would they? You can't hear it, you can't feel it.....how would you know?
With my car I'm fully aware of what it's doing......if I ignore the obvious it will bring reality to my attention by stalling or bogging to the point of almost stalling. In other words it's telling me in no uncertain terms "Hey Brainiac.....I'm not ready yet!" And I can fully understand.....if someone woke me up in the freezing cold and wanted me to go right away I'd be saying the same thing.
I was up at my trailer a while back and a friend of my nephew's wanted to take my Fifth for a run around the park. I said sure....I know he's a good driver. I tossed him my keys, he hopped in and started cranking the car....and cranking and cranking. I yelled "Pump the gas a couple of times" and she fired up. He just looked puzzled.....
Just a few of the differences between new and old.
Myself? I like old. I like feeling the car. I like being in tune with what it's doing. I like having to "cooperate" with it first thing on a cold morning. In return for my patience this car has never let me down, has always run like a champ and the only time it's ever left me stranded was when the 28 year old fuel pumps diaphragm went and it leaked. Even then it probably would've don't the 150 miles but hey......I have CAA.
Keep the new crap.....I'll stick with this.
And at some point I'll be one of the few remaining guys who knows how to properly drive one of these glorious old beasts.
I'm totally good with that.
I remember cars......that's all I own.
On top of the aforementioned things there's also the way you drive a carbureted car as opposed to the new vehicles.
A cold morning.....a couple of pumps and the choke snaps closed. Dial up your favorite station while she fast idles for a bit......give the pedal a little tap and she drops down to the lower position. A few minutes later give her a kick and she drops to curb idle and your ready to go.......sort of.
Still cold it takes proper feathering of the gas to prevent it from bogging....but then once fully warmed up she's rocking and rolling. "That's crazy!" you say....."I just hop in, turn the key and go.....and with my heated seats I'm warm immediately."
Yep.....that's true....but I wonder this. I'm warming my car up because the fluids are like molasses and she's cold as ice....this makes sure that everything is warmed and lubricated and conditions are right to go on my way. Although because of the fuel injection your vehicle will go right away I have to wonder if it shouldn't be allowed to warm up at least a bit to get fluids moving properly?? Regardless.....most don't do that....or even think about it. Most don't really think about anything when it comes to what is going on with the functions of your ride.
Why would they? You can't hear it, you can't feel it.....how would you know?
With my car I'm fully aware of what it's doing......if I ignore the obvious it will bring reality to my attention by stalling or bogging to the point of almost stalling. In other words it's telling me in no uncertain terms "Hey Brainiac.....I'm not ready yet!" And I can fully understand.....if someone woke me up in the freezing cold and wanted me to go right away I'd be saying the same thing.
I was up at my trailer a while back and a friend of my nephew's wanted to take my Fifth for a run around the park. I said sure....I know he's a good driver. I tossed him my keys, he hopped in and started cranking the car....and cranking and cranking. I yelled "Pump the gas a couple of times" and she fired up. He just looked puzzled.....
Just a few of the differences between new and old.
Myself? I like old. I like feeling the car. I like being in tune with what it's doing. I like having to "cooperate" with it first thing on a cold morning. In return for my patience this car has never let me down, has always run like a champ and the only time it's ever left me stranded was when the 28 year old fuel pumps diaphragm went and it leaked. Even then it probably would've don't the 150 miles but hey......I have CAA.
Keep the new crap.....I'll stick with this.
And at some point I'll be one of the few remaining guys who knows how to properly drive one of these glorious old beasts.
I'm totally good with that.