10 Secret Things You Didn’t Know About Classic Cars

Before I begin to spill the beans, I must reiterate that classic cars are not just a means of transportation. Clearly, they mean a lot more than that both to admirers and people who collect them, I’m very sure that they also mean a lot to you. For this reason, I believe that you deserve to know a few things that I bet will juice up your classic car experience. Old Man David Jones sure did keep a lot of secrets during his time. Unlike him, I’d like to show you ten (10) things in my Classic Cars closet.

Table of Contents

1. Driving a Classic Car Ups Your Driving Game

Merely sitting behind the steering wheel of an antique car and attuning to the out-of-date functionality is in itself wizardry. Because they hardly anything compared to the computer-assisted or ultra-modern cars that are in vogue now. They usually require that the driver is more connected with both the car and the terrain. This ‘extra effort’ helps to hone one’s driving prowess with time. This detail may have slipped past you probably because you hardly drive other modern cars or for some other reason.

2. Cool car features

The 1989 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 Cabrio and 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 have dual fuel tanks which extend the range you can cover on a full tank. How cool is that? Many classic cars on sale currently must’ve had one or two features that distinguished them from other cars that were produced in that timeline. Some of those features are well missed in recent vehicles in production and the only way to relive such features is by purchasing such a classic car. Rear steering, gauges on the hood, suicide doors, headlight wipers, hood ornaments, pop-up headlights, foot dimmer switch, and so on are perks that you can find at the rainbow’s end of classic cars. If you are yet to purchase one, do well to do a comprehensive background research on your prospective classic car.

3. Subject to fraud

The procurement of vintage automobiles increases your propensity to be defrauded. There have been many fraudulent cases relating to the sale of antique automobiles both in physical dealer shops and online dealers. Some of those cases are:

False escrow services where sellers can claim to use escrow servitor to get you to transfer funds and then abscond with the money.
A buyer could also send an overpayment of illegitimate funds and ask the seller to make repayments. The buyer then absconds with the repayment before the seller realizes that the original payment was a scam.

4. Emission Levels

Cars are generally built to meet the most current emission levels at the time of production. Emission standards have been modified in time. With this in mind, you should be well aware that your classic car may be restricted from entering certain countries or cities with special emission restrictions or low-emission zones. Albeit you may be in luck and will be allowed to take such a vehicle in, provided that it would remain in showrooms.

5. Safety Features

Many cars manufactured before the late 1960s did not include seatbelts as standard safety equipment. There are a lot of other safety features that car producers have developed over time to protect drivers and passengers in the event of a car accident that you may not find in classic cars. Viral pictures and testimonies of people leaving accidents in Tesla cars unscathed have flooded the internet in the last few weeks. I hope that you do not feel bad about this discovery. I advise that you drive safely at all times and follow all traffic rules to avoid any accidents.

6. Some Classic Cars May Have Been Carelessly Made

Some of these antique cars were epic failures in an attempt to copy other prominent vehicle industries during their time. They were vehemently rejected by the populace and had poor reviews from critics. It wouldn’t be surprising if some of these cars still made it to this present day and have found themselves in some retailer’s showrooms.

7. Different Strokes For Different Spokes

Even in this present day, each car brand has a different level of expertise needed for maintenance and different cost of maintenance. This is a secret a few car dealers will let you in on. You must understand that in older times, car designs were less homogeneous than they are now so you would need even more precise expertise to work on antique cars. Joining the right car clubs will save you a lot of stress in this regard.

8. Tire Difficulty

Tires! You may miss this detail when procuring a vintage car. What happens when you need a tire change? Did you know that a vintage car’s performance may suffer if you attempt to give it newer tires? This is because they might not fit very well considering that they have a different wheel type. The tires may slip and cause resistance when maneuvering.

9. Auction Prices Are Not Usually What They Seem

Have you experienced auctions? You have seen your dream car and she is up for auction sale. You have the auction date marked on your calendar. You have a reminder on all your devices set, an indication of how much you anticipate the auction. You have saved up and you’re all set for the auction. Were you informed that auctioneers fix patrons just so they could sell vehicles at higher prices? To avoid overpaying for a classic car, you can simply buy one on Dyler.

10. Light Weight?

I have always wondered what array of materials were available to older generations of car-makers. Cars from time before have been recorded to be relatively heavier than those most recently produced. This is because they were composed mainly of steel and iron which when compared to aluminum and fiber are considerably heavier. On the contrary, cars produced before the 1920s were framed in wood (particularly ash because it was lighter and easier to shape). This meant that those cars were light in weight and most definitely less expensive to construct. How about that?

Conclusively…

I’m scared I’ve told you too many secrets and Harpocrates would visit me real soon, I had better rush off to somewhere safe now. Why did I risk my safety to tell you all this stuff? It’s not just about sitting behind the wheels and getting under the hood, the car community is supposed to share knowledge and information so that all car lovers can wax stronger and do better. Thank me later.