Does anyone else drive their classic Cadillac as thair daily driver?

[Bill Young]

I drive a 1972 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible as My dailey driver. I was wondering does anyone else?

[Ken Perry]

My 1960 Cadillac series 62 flat top is my dailey driver,has been for over 12 years. My next dailey driver is going to be my Pinehurst green,1959 Cadillac series 62 coupe,her name is Sarah ! I would rather pay a little more in gas and ride around in style.                    Ken Perry             

[James Landi]

I think about your very thoughtful question quite often. From a financial analysis, the cost per mile for owning a new, highly efficient car and using it as your daily driver does not make sense. ( However, I am forever grateful for all those good purchasers who go out each year and keep the car companies and our economy in business.) But you and I are Detroit's worse nightmare.... I can maintain my Cadillac, and keep it safe and comfortable, and drive 15,000 miles a year, and I am setting aside 1,000 a year for major repairs. I may run two or three years before I have to spend some "real" money... however, the pro-rata costs of owning, running, and repairing my Cadillac could amount to a cost savings of 30 to 40% when compared with depreciation, interest charges, and the initial costs of a new car every three years (so the additional costs for gas consumption is never a valid reason to switch to a newer car. THe other part of the equation is the quality and comfort and joy of driving these cars.  They were designed and marketed to an audience of successful Americans of a bygone age...and that uniquely intrinsic value and pride of ownership is truly considerable. When you're behind the wheel of your 72, and you can feel the power of the engine and drive train as you effortlessly move through traffic, it's a sensation that is unique to cars of that design and that era.  So why should you not drive it every day... and if you can set aside some money for replacements and repairs, you can keep that experience going.     

[Glen]

I drove my 68 ELDO every day from about 1974 to 2004 when it turned over 300,000 miles.  It needs some body work and a new interior but mechanically it is still in good shape.  I got tired of using the poor car as a pickup and decided to get an actual pickup. 

[dadscad]

I don't drive my 63 every day, but I do drive it frequently to work or to run errands on weekends along with some pleasure driving. My Dad bought the car new and gave it to me a couple of months before he passed on. He and Mom put 99K on the car and I've put an additional 131K on it in the last 23 years. I took my drivers test in the old gal back in 64, you could say I've been driving her most of my life. I try not to drive it in bad weather if I don't have to, but if it's sunny, she may go every day for a week! I plan on retiring from the work force in the next few weeks. With that freedom in hand, I may even take the old girl for an extended out of state vacation tour to celebrate being free of work obligations. I wonder how far she'd be willing to go??   

David

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Speaking for myself, no.

However, if weather is right and roads are clean I'll drive a classic to commute to & from work since the distance is relatively short and traffic is light.

[TJ Hopland]

I drove my 80 Eldo diesel pretty much daily for 2 years.   Hit a deer and it was never the same so ended up replacing it with an 81 Riv.   Insurance can be complicated for daily driving an old car.   

[James Landi]

Hi Will, thanks for the affirming response to my post. I love the 80's Cadillacs as well.  And, if you look for my more recent postings, you'll find a long thread about my 1983 Eldorado roadster, that I owner for 23 years, (I purchased it in Naples, Florida with 58K) and drove it until it died at 315,000 miles-- with no internal engine work required on the 4100 engine.  My present 85 convertible has a small block Olds conversion-- having had two replacement, used 4100 engines in my COnvertible... You're right about the 90's models... but each "generation" of Cadillacs has its own "feel" and "experience" that is a unique driving engagement and somehow, I'm stuck in the 80's, having owned 50's, 60's, 70's, and 90's Cadillacs-- I loved them all, but I'm an 80's guy, perhaps it's woven into who we were at the time the cars were produced?.

[INTMD8]

I don't because they salt the roads and the car would be gone in a couple of years. If I lived in an area they didn't salt the roads I would certainly drive classics every day.

[Coupe Deville]

I got my drivers license at the end of September this year and have been driving my 72' Coupe Deville every day. It is my daily driver because I have to drive it to school everyday, and where ever els I might go. Had no trouble with her what so ever since I have been driving it everyday. It used to sit under a cover in the garage for months at a time but now its back in active service. I just hit 17,000 miles on the way to school this morning. I have always maintained these cars right on schedule so it is just like a modern car. Just gas and go. You cant beat an old Cadillac cruising down the road with all the windows down and the stereo going, with a big C.B. whip following you. It cant get more period correct and the feeling is amazing. You can not get the same satisfaction with a new car.

-Gavin

As long as they keep selling gasoline my car will still be on the road.       

[sding]

Nice Deville Gavin. big back seat in that Cadillac LOL. I drive my 85 eldo every day in the Summer
winter is to cold in Alaska. 

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I got my drivers license at the end of September this year and have been driving my 72' Coupe Deville every day. It is my daily driver because I have to drive it to school everyday, and where ever els I might go. Had no trouble with her what so ever since I have been driving it everyday. It used to sit under a cover in the garage for months at a time but now its back in active service. I just hit 17,000 miles on the way to school this morning. I have always maintained these cars right on schedule so it is just like a modern car. Just gas and go. You cant beat an old Cadillac cruising down the road with all the windows down and the stereo going, with a big C.B. whip following you. It cant get more period correct and the feeling is amazing. You can not get the same satisfaction with a new car.   

My first Cadillac was a 1973 Coupe deVille that I drove to HS myself. Yellow/White Vinyl w/yellow-gold leather. Car had 100K though but it was still pretty near mint. That was back in '81. 

Couldn't agree more with the rest.

17,000 mile car is quite a find.

[gary griffin]

Washington state collector license plates prohibit commuting and commercial use and several other things.  They are to be used for tours, club events and "occasional pleasure driving".  The collector car insurance rules are also restrictive. First I have to have a insured other vehicle and several other things.  I just added a 1957  60 Special to my policy for $67 a year. That makes it easy to insure several vehicles. Now that I have retired just about anything I do is "occasional pleasure driving" I guess?  I plan on only driving collectables as much as I can as long as I can keep them running.

[James Landi]

Interesting that the thread in this conversation has pointed in the direction of insurance...  I believe if you've decided to use your vintage Cadillac as a daily driver, it will, simply as a consequence of daily use and accumulated mileage become just an old car.   Also noted, is the fact that many states will issue "Historic or Antique" plates for cars that are 20 yrs old or older.  My impression is that many states are providing a "pass" on vehicle inspection for folks who can't afford a newer car, or the repairs to meet strict state annual inspection guidelines... then there are states like South Carolina, where there are no state inspections and no special plates for old cars.... only an annual tax based on the state's assessment of your car's value... so that my 85 Convertible Biarritz, is tax annually at $8.50, with a retail value of under $1,000.  All this is to say, the following:  If I can keep the car looking sharp, and if I can keep the car safe and running well, and I want to use it as a daily driver, and spend some time each weekend keeping it looking good, then I must forego comprehensive insurance.   THoughts?

[waterzap]

I tried it, I could not do it.

An old car is an old car with many, many parts that can and do break often. Sometimes you can find the parts, sometimes you cannot. If you really need to be somewhere every day, like going to work, then I would not drive an old car every day. Even if you can fix it, do you want to HAVE to work on the car all the time. On the other hand you can drive a “classic” that has undergone a full frame off restoration. In this case the car is pretty much like new with a like new price.

I still have my old cars, work on them now and again and drive when the weather is good. But if I don’t want to work on the Cadillac, I don’t. The car stays in the garage. I cannot do that with my daily driver.
For reliability, safety and overall driving experience. New cars are just very very good.

[Caddy Wizard]

Over the last 25 years, I have driven 1949-1956 Cadillac's as my daily transportation about half of the time.  I usually have a modern car as a backup, just in case.  When I am working on them, I drive modern.  When I have them working and not taken apart for some project or other, I try to drive the old ones.  I love the feeling of being behind the wheel of these cars.

1955 S62 Sedan -- drove for 12 years

1949 S61 Club Coupe -- drove for 2 years

1950 S62 Sedan -- drove for one year

1956 60S -- drove for 3 years

(others for lesser amounts)...

[James Landi]

Art--- I drove a 1956 four door sedan with rear mounted air for fifteen years--- my daily driver during the 60's and late 70's... had the engine rebuilt in the mid 7-'s because it won't pass NJ inspection... it had a SHORT rear trunk like yours.  I was told that this model was called a four door Park Avenue sedan... I can not verify that the model had that name or just how Cadillac differentiated the short deck model from the much more popular standard body length sedans.  DO you know?

[Caddy Wizard]

A fifty year old car can be quite reliable, but it takes a lot of effort and maintenance, more or less constantly.  A modern car only needs gas and an occasional oil change.  Not so with an antique.  Biggest problem is poor fuel pressure when hot due to crappy gasoline.  The old carbs and mechanical fuel pumps were designed for decent gas, not this gasohol crap.  Most of my troubles with driving such an old car over the last 25 years can be traced to that one fact (including overheating problems as the carb leans out due to insufficient fuel flow).  You can put fuel injection on them and end that misery, but it takes a lot of money to do that (although technically it is quite easy).


For the average person, they are not as reliable as a new car.  Indeed, new cars are almost perfectly reliable these days.  While I wouldn't hesitate to use one of my antiques for any purpose (including driving my wife to the ER in the back of a 1950 Cadillac sedan when she fractured her ankle badly), most folks will be let down by an old car a lot more often than by a new car.

[Dan LeBlanc]

The Park Avenue appeared in 62 - it was the deVille with the shirt deck. The Town Sedan was the Series 62 version I believe.

[Bill Young]

First of all I am really enjoying and appreciating as I eagerly read all Your responses. I will be 60 Years old this month and I fell in Love with Cadillacs at about age seven ( really ) as a kid I cut the Cadillac ad's out of National Geographic's and had them posted around my room. I have owned over 30, 50's 60's 70's 80's and 90's Cadillac's in my life. Economically I am not sure I will be able to retire but I am stubborn by nature and I dislike foreign cars , to me the newer Cadillac's are like foreign cars. I just sold a paid for 2011 Dodge Challenger and put most of the money toward paying off most of my disabled Wife's 2014 Dodge Challenger and with $5,000.00 bought the '72 Eldo Conv. I guess I don't care what People think of Me they will think whatever they will but when I was 18 the most fabulous car was the one I just bought. I Loved my Hemi Challenger but in truth I don't miss it. We moved from Rochester New York to Gainesville Georgia in July 2012 mostly due to we are Conservative Christians and New York State had so radically changed we couldn't stand living there any more. Georgia's weather is great but the freedom here from opressive taxes and laws is fantastic! so, one Mans opinion. One thing that always tickles my funnybone is when People ask me frequently what the gas mileage on my Cadillac is. It tickles me because if I cared I would drive a prius.