New vehicles are engineering marvels.
Most of them make the USS Enterprise of Star Trek fame look like a covered wagon.
I took a long ride in my brother’s brand new full-load truck and realized that creature comforts and maximum performance design are not bad ideas.
The truck had more whistles and buzzers than a pinball machine in a kazoo factory.
I live in a cold climate where winter barely gets kicked out the back door before it’s knocking again on the front door.
My brother’s truck could deal with any weather possible on the planet. It could warm your seat or cool it –just in case the global warming rumors have any grain of truth.
The giant truck steered through icy roads like it was July on the calendar.
The truck’s sound system was probably better than the Beatles’ system when the Fab Four played Shea Stadium in the mid-60s.
Now I’m a firm believer in the idea that old–tech rides should have old-tech engineering in a let’s-preserve-automotive-history kind of way. But there is a place for new technology and old iron in my humble opinion.
Take any mid-60s Detroit sedan that has little of the curb appeal of its prettier hardtop and convertible cousins. I disagree with the idea that a four-door sedan is a disposable part of automotive history, but that is the steadfast belief of many car guys.
Four-door sedans from the old days have a functional design to them. They are big and comfortable enough for normal-sized people to survive long road trips. The trick is to make them more comfortable for the masses in 2010.
If I was a guy with an unlimited budget, I would add many features to a resto-mod on a 60s four-door sedan. The car would be fitted with the finest 2010 power-train offered by the manufacturer of the original vehicle. The brake, suspension and steering systems would also be right out of 2010-including traction control.
The car would have hot and cold-running seats fitted with a state of the art lumbar support system. It would have the finest climate control, GPS and sound systems available to the public.
The weather-stripping and sound insulation would be upgraded to 21st century benchmarks. In short, the old buggy would be skin-deep 60s and the rest would be a very functional 21st century driver. And I would drive that old sedan every day of the year because I would also throw in traction control to celebrate the occasion.
The paint and finish would also be the newest and finest concoctions, and every nook and cranny of the car would be covered in a protective skin. I would fear no weather conditions and I would get from Point A to Point B in style and comfort in my 60s-era more-door.
Life couldn’t get any finer.
Jim Sutherland @mystarcollectorcar.com
