By RICK NEBEL
Los Alamos

I own 3 “nostalgic cars”: a 1928 Model A with a rumble seat, a 1955 Chevrolet Pickup truck street rod, and a 1966 Mustang GT. The best thing about them is driving them down the street and watching all of the smiles they put on people’s faces, both the passengers and the people on the street. 

All three of my vehicles have been restored to “as new” condition, and they are a joy to drive. When I drive the Mustang into a gas station, I usually have someone come over who wants to take a look at it.  Unlike Corvettes, Mustangs were affordable in the late 60s and a lot of us drove them in high school.  Most people my age either owned one or knew someone who did, and a lot of them have stories to tell.

Are they as safe as modern vehicles? No. But they are safe enough to drive them around town. Since both my street rod and Mustang have high performance V-8s, I’m pretty sure that both of them could easily go over 130 mph. However, you would have to be out of your mind to drive them that fast. The Mustang’s suspension is basically the same as the suspension in a Ford Falcon, which was a compact car. Driving it fast will scare you to death.

One of the more interesting things about driving an old car is that it gives you an appreciation of how much automobiles have improved over the years. The Mustang doesn’t stop as fast as modern cars and the brakes tend to fade. The steering isn’t nearly as responsive as a modern car, either. Also, old American cars start to wear out when they get over 50,000 miles on them. I wouldn’t want to drive an old car every day because they simply aren’t reliable enough.

However, the best car I’ve ever owned is my present daily driver, a Tesla Model 3 Performance. It hasn’t required any maintenance for the 3 years I’ve owned it. It is rated at 0-60 in 2.9 seconds with a top speed of 163 mph. Believe me, every old fart with macular degeneration “needs” one of these. When some yahoo in a super-sized diesel pickup pulls up next to you at a stoplight and thinks he is going to blow smoke all over you, you just wave bye-bye.