Sixty dollars a week for the next six years. This post marks the beginning of Operation: Toastcat.
I have two great automotive desires. Two cars that haunt my very soul. One I have driven, the other I have not. While a base model 1968 Ford Thunderbird might be more attainable, I have turned my attention to the subject of today’s post, and have set a lofty goal. By the time my Mazda is paid off in six years, I will be able to buy a 1958 Plymouth Plaza like the one you see above- for cash.
Some men are Baptists… others Catholic… But I am a Plymouth man. Don’t let my recent purchase of a new Mazda fool you into thinking I’m not a classic car buff, for a man has to have his priorities. On that note, I came to a realization. While I could buy an older car that needs loads of work and spend time fixing it on the weekends, how practical is that for a man in my situation? I am not mechanically inclined no matter how much I deny it. While I enjoyed working on Helen it quickly became too much for me to deal with and stopped being something I looked forward to. It became a nightmare of constant worry, knowing that at any second she could break down in a way that I, with my paltry toolbox and limited knowledge, could reasonably handle.
This would prompt yet another visit to the shop, and the stress of how much it would be to fix this time. The Sword of Damocles hanging above me quickly sapped any enjoyment I gained from driving my beloved Fury. I was terrified to get behind the wheel, and that’s not something I want to feel again. Also, while people have worked miracles in their garages, I do not have one, and it isn’t exactly appropriate to be restoring a car in the parking lot of your workplace, the only place I would be able to store said project.
With all that in mind, I decided to look up the price of a car I had wanted for years, the one with such distinct fins and flowing lines. I found the price to be between 21-24 thousand dollars. That’s the average cost of a new Accord! I could save that up if I REALLY stuck to my guns and didn’t buy stupid things I didn’t need…
…Like my modest collection of MiniMaster Transformers from 1988, or my Erector Set from 1936.
The above car is from my local Streetside Classics dealership in Fort Worth, and while I highly doubt it will still be around in 2024, I know a car like it will be.
I have placed subtle reminders around my office, like this sign behind my desk…
…and this lovely reminder on my wallet.
(Also, the Plaza will be named Charlotte, much like my Fury was named Helen)
Whoa… that lead in picture scared me! It looked like a GIANT version of JPC’s avatar! ;o)
Ok, now I should go back and read the article to make a proper comment!
Ok, I got back down here before the time ran out. Good Luck P-Fox! That would be a nice car. I suppose a name like Christine would be too obvious? That said, I like Charlotte. It happens to be my wife’s middle name. ;o)
FWIW, I had an Erector Set like that when I was a kid, and from what I recall, the box looked just about the same. I got it in the sixties, and I assume it was a new purchase from that time, not an antique from 1936.
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!
The lead in picture totally looks like a shot from Christine, too.
A man with a mission! Good for you. What you might not know yet is that your plan may actually put you in a much better position overall six years down the road, regardless of whether Charlotte is still waiting there for you. Having over $20K in your account will do wonders for a lot of the other issues affecting your life, and will provide you with a cushion that you, at your young age, are not accustomed to.
In six years, you may have a wife and kids. You might buy a house. You may move. Things happen. It’s okay though. Even if plans go astray and you need that money for other things, remember that Charlotte will always be there, waiting. Keep that motivation and drive going!
Good luck with your disciplined savings regimen. I hope that when the time comes, the right car materializes for you to take home. Should it in fact be a Plaza, may I suggest naming her “Rockefeller,” to remind you of the riches you will have found!
I admire a man who can decide what car he will want in six years. Jeez, I have trouble deciding what car I will want in another two weeks.
As a former owner of a Forward Look Mopar (59 Plymouth Fury sedan) I will tell you that I loved it. And it had multiple little niggling issues that kept me more or less occupied during the entire six months it was my DD. And that was a 60K mile car in 1979.
I will echo JFrank – saving is good and when it comes to buying an older car cash is king. But those Forward Look cars have gotten pricey. If I did it again I would go with the bigger DeSoto or Chrysler, but that’s just me. I will also tell you that if you can handle the tradeoff in looks, the 59 was a substantially better car than the 57 (with the 58 being somewhere in the middle). My tastes also tend more towards un-messed-with stock rather than the mild custom that has grabbed you by the collar.
Good luck!
Love that model Plymouth, we only got the Plodges new, fourdoor versions with flathead six badged either Plymouth Savoy or Dodge Kingsway and they lasted quite well Todd motors locally assembled ours alongside their Rootes range and there are plenty of survivors, I’d love to have a two door though.
Here is a little motivation for you! I took this picture in Havana last year.
I’ve enjoyed your posts regarding Helen and your new car. I went through a similar phase with a vintage 280z, having similar problems when I was fresh out of college with a low paying job back in the late 80s. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the practical route and bought yet another 280z. Financially it was a bad move. The money would have been better spent on a late model econobox like a Tercel. Ultimately I took a bath and bought a 2 year old Mazda 323.
That amount of money would be a good down payment on a house…
Sorry, but old cars are almost invariably money pits. That’s why I write about them instead of buying them. I know I probably should’t say that here.
As the owner of an old money pit car it is impossible to disagree with that statement. 🙂
New cars are money pits as well. 🙂 It is the VERY rare car that as an investment actually beats inflation and even less rarely beats an extremely modest market investment return.
BUT they (can) give joy as well as providing utility so all is not lost.
I think they key is not to spend the whole egg on the car. So for example save the $20k and THEN buy a perfect Plymouth Gran Fury or whatever for $5k and save the rest of the money for the inevitable repair. It’s not like the $20k car will all of a sudden be the most reliable car in the world going forward. But the act of dreaming is OK and provides an excellent return on investment!
I didn’t mean to come off as a grump old man here (which I was rather today) and rain on his dream. But I do think that he’s shooting a bit high here, in terms of what is essentially a toy/hobby. I’d suggest something for about a quarter of that or so, and then learn bit by bi how to keep it running and improve it even.
These cars are not cheap, needless to say. And if he has the discipline to save that much, I’d suggest putting a portion of it towards something that will build long-term value.
The problem with cars (like with so many things/stuff) is that it looks so desirable, and you’re so convinced that owning it is going to make you happy, yet it’s the desire and build-up that creates the most impact on your brain chemicals. Once you own it, pretty quickly you realize that it’s not perfect, that you’re actually not truly happier, and now you have to take care of it.
What I’m suggesting is that he might want to ease into the old car hobby with a bit less of a steep financial commitment.Keep i mind that when you’re young, you’re almost inevitably going to make a mistake (or a number of them), and he might be at risk of overpaying for something he could never get his money back. Let’s face it, he’s exactly the target buyer of that Plymouth he’s showing, which to me looks a bit wonky and overpriced.
There’s inevitably a steep learning curve he’s facing; better to limit your risk exposure.
Paul, wishing your procedure was uneventful and it all came out well in the end.
Dilly Dilly
I agree that much money would go a long way to getting him into a house that will almost certainly gain in value in the long run and provide insulation from rising rents. Fact is a home can be a great way to build wealth and most people like to have somewhere to live.
I also agree this car seems to be priced too high and if it is actually driven it will invariably need some things along the way.
When I was a young guy in my 20’s and floundering about, I ran old cars most of the time as daily drivers, and it was not terribly cheap. But, it was fun and insurance was less. However, they had to go when my wife and I decided to buy our first house, and it was a good decision and I had no regrets – one has to be practical at certain times of their lives. The cars I owned were $5k or so level cars, not $24k cars (this was around 1990). We sold the older cars and bought a new Volkswagen Golf on payments ($11k+/-, 60 month paper) at low interest and used the cash from the sales to help buy the house. The Golf had a warranty which provided cost certainty and reduced our operating risk. It’s was a simple compromise. I recall having to rebuild the Rocket 455 in my 1970 Olds 98 and that cost me $4k in 1990, I simply couldn’t afford that risk if I was also a new, first time home owner.
Now I am old and have the fortunate luxury of being able to consider a very wide variety of cars, but the older cars I have bought recently are once again not expensive. I’ve chosen interesting or fun driver level stuff, not low production muscle cars, vintage German or Italian sports cars or anything terribly exotic. While I could do so, I realize my pleasure is from driving them and I am not sure that pleasure would be amplified if I was driving a vintage Porsche 911, Dodge Hemi or LS6 Chevelle that cost a fortune, instead of the $6200 Mercedes 450SL I have or the $23k Caddy.
Just how much money can you lose on a $6200 Mercedes, anyway? Not a lot and I don’t want the risk of tying up a bunch of money in expensive vintage cars that can easily go down in value if the flavor of the month in the market changes. There are inalienable costs associated with all car ownership, and that is all there is to it. Paul’s advice here echoes my experience and is bang-on.
I’ll say it depends on the car.
I’ve tried to stick with Chevies and even then, ones with good bones, easy parts availability and easier to repair/maintain/improve than comparable vehicles of competing brands.
The Tri-Five generation checks all those boxes, unless you’re going with a four-door hardtop or a Nomad which have their own unique quirks. Oh, and avoid the Turboglide.
Dakota Digital JUST unveiled a ’57 Chevy instrument cluster that integrates a tachometer, oil pressure and voltmeter in pods that look about as close to the original as one can get. If I owned a ’55, both Dakota and Classic Instruments have clusters that look like dead ringers for the originals – you’d think full instrumentation was an option back then!
My intent for my ’57 Handyman is a daily driver with enough modern technology to truly enjoy and rely upon it if desired.
Then again…
1) We already own two regular vehicles.
2) I’ve played in this rodeo a number of times since my teens. In February I’ll turn 62, Lord willing.
Unless you’re going full restomod with this ’58 Mayflower, it’ll be a toy. Occasional driving only.
Because even in perfect original condition and perfectly maintained, were these cars all that reliable to begin with? I know the ’58s were vastly improved over the ’57 debacle, but it was still a few years before the venerable Slant Six or any of the indestructible MoPar V8s with their TorqueFlites.
All this said, it’s great to have a goal and save for it. Knowledge is power and learning to do as much work as you can yourself is priceless. And in the age of YouTube and AllData DIY, learning is easier than ever.
Now, allow me to introduce you to the enjoyment of Cold War Motors. A friend turned me on to this YouTube series about a year ago. They find and fix vintage iron and seek to preserve as many CCs as they can.
Some NSFW language…but watch this series where Tom, his special agents and poodle Francine put together a ’60 Plymouth Fury body with a ’60 Dodge Dart platform.
Maybe I’m getting old and lazy, but either it won’t work and will destroy two cars, or it will work and totally not be worth it.
I noticed this car on ebay too. One little detail: It appears that the horn ring was painted silver/gray instead of chromed on these Plazas. However, in this other picture of a ’58 Plaza, the horn piece is also painted, but there is no circular ring portion.
The Plaza was often equipped with the wheezy old flathead six that finished its life in passenger cars in 1959. These were also the last Mopars with column mounted manual shifts for a few years.
I would prefer the more upmarket Belvedere or Fury as you were more likely to get one with a V8 and the pushbutton automatic (which could be either a PowerFlite or a Torqueflite, which you can tell by the number of buttons on the console – the PowerFlite was only a 2 speed).
Another comparison: ’58 Plaza with optional deluxe steering wheel.
My neighbor a block away has an (I think) 1957 Plaza. Well, I assume he still has it; I don’t see it much but I assume it’s just hidden away in the garage. I remember seeing it show up on a trailer one day several years ago and wondering what it was (At the time I was less familiar with Plymouths from that era than I am now), but I thought the styling looked similar to the car from Christine.
His is a convertible. It was light blue when he first got it, but the last time I saw him driving it he had done some some restoration work and had given it a red and white two-tone paint job.
If his 57 Plymouth is a convertible it would be a top-trim Belvedere. The low-end Plaza was only 2 and 4 door sedans and the mid-level Savoy added only a 2 door hardtop. The Fury was a trim and performance package offered on the Belvedere from 1956-58.
I took a look at it when it was in his driveway once, and I’m sure it had “Plaza” badges. An aftermarket convertible conversion, perhaps? Another hint, perhaps, is that when it first arrived it had license plates from Jalisco, Mexico. So I’m guessing it was originally a Mexican market car. Maybe the model names or available options were different there. When I get home I’ll upload a couple of pictures of it.
There were no Plaza convertibles, anywhere. Only 2 and 4 door sedans. The Plaza was a total taxicab stripper, as spartan a car as could be imagined.
Thank you, Pioneer for your honest account of lack of mechanical ability and fear of a breakdown. These fears are part of old – car life. But I think practice can overcome this.
Practice and study makes anyone’s skills improve. I would encourage you not to be intimidated my mechanics and to strive to do more work yourself. This may not apply to the Mazda, but will to your future projects.
As you do more work on your cars, you’ll be more knowledgeable and confident to look after any future maladies as they occur. Fear will be reduced accordingly.,You’ll also be taking charge of your own cars’ function and condition. The car will be entirely yours, and no one elses.
Excellent advice. It seems that there are two kinds of successful old-car-ownership experiences: Owners who do at least a fair amount of their own work and owners rich enough to pay a mechanic well and frequently. I would advise any young person who wants old cars in his (or her) life to work towards at least one of these two methods. In this day and age the internet (especially YouTube) makes wrenching on your car so much more successful. Once I see someone else do a job and understand what is involved my confidence level increases dramatically.
What REALLY helps is being able to do it on your schedule, not the car’s schedule. Having a car need a repair is significantly less stressful if there is another in the driveway that can be used in the meantime. But yeah, YouTube is a savior, several is the times that I have (successfully) done something with the laptop open on the engine bay and a greasy thumb hitting the pause button after several viewings the evening prior…
+1. Lots of help figuring out the easiest way, and tips showing you the hidden things( screws , clips, etc).
Or in the case of an alternator on my old focus……. enough to know I couldn’t do that one myself.
Pioneer Fox I hope you find the car you want. If it changes in six years or six months. I still hope you find it. Good luck
The wide availability of instructional videos on the ‘net can work in the inverse, as well. Once someone sees what is really involved on a particular repair (or even routine maintenance), it can go a long way to discouraging attempting it. It recently happened to me when I watched what was involved in the changing of sparkplugs on a modern Pentastar V6. It’s nowhere near as user-friendly as it was back in the day.
OTOH, it made me much more confident on changing the oil or fixing a flat tire.
As Paul says, recognize that even a supposedly restored car is a sinkhole of money and FowardLook cars do have their own particular weaknesses. I can say that as a dedicated lover of them and having owned 7 over the last 30 years. The only Plymouth being a ’57 Sport Suburban wagon, the rest were Chryslers or DeSotos, the latter my favorite.
The subject car is very incorrectly “restored” and imo very over-priced for a BOL model well off-key from original. However you’ll have some time to learn about them, and, who knows, for a variety of reasons prices could even drop over a 6 year period. Check out http://www.forwardlook.net, read it regularly and ask some questions.
Here’s a ’58 FireDome that I sold just 3 months ago. All ’55 to ’61 Mopars are fabulous cars and ’57/58s are true design icons, but they are always needing something, like most 60 yr old cars!
Here’s another ’58 Plymouth Plaza 2 door sedan which was on ebay in 2012. I think I like this one better–it’s “cuter” and appears to be more original.
39,000 of this model were built–how few survive! Production of the comparable ’57s was even higher, but are now so scarce as to practically be “unicorns”.
http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=39782
My Father was a Mopar man and was cheap. He was a child of the depression, and if you called him cheap; he took it as a compliment. In the spring of 1958, he decided on a used 1957 Plymouth convertible, and one Saturday we went to the local Plymouth dealership used car lot. They had none, and the protypical salesman asked him how much he wanted to spend, which was akin to asking if he still beat his wife and cat. He did finally reply, “$2800”. The salesman said you can have a new one for that. My Father ordered one.
A 1951 Dodge Diplomat 2 door hardtop was traded in. It had a flathead six and Gyromatic semi automatic. Its stablemate was a 1955 Desoto Firedome, 2 dr Hardrtop with a Hemi and Powerflite. The 1958 Plymouth had a 318 2 bbl, Torqueflite, plus PS and PB. The build quality of the Desoto was way beyound the Plymouth. As I recall the Plymouth did not have individual dash indicators, for the turn signal; just one. The dash was cheap looking, as the remainder of the interior. It’s new stablemate (replacing the Desoto), was a 1960 Dodge Phoenix convertible with a 318 4bbl. The build quality was even worse.
My first car was a 1957 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer 2 dr Ht with a 325 4 bbl, and limited slip. It made the 1958 Plymouth and 1960 Dodge feel like Tonka toys.
If you want an old Mopar, why go for a cheap hair shirt version?
Cars are a combination of hobby and transportation necessity for many of us here, and not all can afford to have multiple cars to indulge both applications. Cars are either a kinetic expense (high acquisition cost, high and/or long duration payment, etc.) or a potential expense – major repair risk on an older or cheaper car. Either way, one has to be able to pay – the acquisition cost or be able to bare the risk of a $5000 transmission or like major out of warrantee problem that takes the car off the road and has to be handled NOW.
The most costly-to-own cars I’ve owned were never older cars, they are unquestionably the many new or next to new cars I’ve owned, due to depreciation. There has been nothing in the repair realm that even approaches depreciation in my experience. You could probably keep the Plaza on the road quite easily for the cost of the Mazda, if you could handle the risk and aggravation. Most times, people can’t and they end up as you did, with vastly superior newer machines that lack character and uniqueness, but are reliable, comfortable and modern.
Unless one is a collector or speculator, cars are almost always an expense, not an investment and they need to be considered as such. How you decide to make the expense is the question, and once the decision is made, enjoy it as best you can.
You seem to be very financially disciplined and as long as you stick to your plan, you’ll be able to get the Plymouth, or perhaps something else if your desires change along the way. I hope you do, but maybe you’ll gain a love for the Mazda over time, once it’s charms are revealed?
PF I admire your exuberance and commitment. As everyone has stated, you can never go wrong saving money. Money in the bank will give you many options in every area of your life. Desires and priorities will likely change over time.
I would agree that most low buck, old car guys started out just trying to keep their old beaters on the road. As their skills and experience increased they found that they could “afford” to have more interesting cars in their stable. Nor particularly expensive cars but ones that were interesting to them. Save up, and take the opportunity to learn as much about vintage cars and mechanics as you can. Help friends, join a club, you might find places where you could store and work on your hobby car in the future.
Owning a dependable, late model car that you can rely on to get you to work is a real priority. You can’t make any money if you can’t get to work! I also would humbly recommend that you check out my blog, as it is all about my low buck journey in the old car game. Just click on my avatar for the link.
Let me see….Money pits in no particular order of significance:
Old cars
Newer cars
BMW’s
Mercedes Benz’s
Houses
Boats
Airplanes
Grandchildren
Owning a horse and having a daughter that rides
Get the Plymouth!
LOL +11!
I can count 6 personal financial violations of common sense among the 9 from this list that I have dallied in, and in most cases continue to do so. Vintage boats have been by orders of magnitude the most expensive, utterly dwarfing even the depreciation on my any of our higher end new cars. Multiple personal use houses/cottages/cabins at least can be seen to be somewhat reasonable assets – though certainly not always. My poorest real estate experiences have been with rental houses, unfortunately.
My old car costs have been literally fractional in comparison to my boat maintenance and repair costs. Old cars can be fairly inexpensive, if bought with caution and discretion. They can be low priced as well – great for entry level. Purchase price can little to do with actual cost- often there is an inverse correlation.
It is another reason why my interests are migrating to cars once again. I plan to keep some of the boats I have, enjoy them but reduce the count and maybe get a few more cars. The allure of toys is a strong one. Of this list, I have avoided BMW cars (had 2 bikes though), we had no spawn from which would spring forth grandchildren, and I have never had an interest in planes or flying.
I hope PF sticks to his financial discipline and keeps looking, and I bet he’ll become captivated by some other old car at an attainable or more reasonable price and he’ll make the leap. I’ll be interested in hearing about that if it happens!
You forgot wives who love shoes!
Saving for or investing in a Plymouth makes no sense at all.
There is a very limited market for a 60 or so year old car (research the market for the much more interesting but now very depreciated Model A Ford). It is not a liquid asset. Now maybe it could be if you are very well informed and it is a Ford Skyliner or T-Bird or a Chrysler 300 but not a Plymouth Plaza two door sedan. It may be cute, appealing, fun, unique, etc. but it is a bad goal for a young person with a life of mortgage payments, retirement account contributions and college tuition to anticipate.
You’re on the wrong track. Temper the desire for a Plymouth; that’s a dead end. When you want to sell it to pay for the kid’s dental care or first new car for college you will find that it is illiquid. Don’t go there!
I strongly disagree with the naysayers here. You have a goal, go for it. I would suggest your learning how to work on the thing in the meantime though. Night classes at your local community college perhaps. Driving an old car can be a money pit if you have to pay a shop to rectify every little issue that pops up. It will require more and more frequent maintenance, don’t neglect that or you will be sorry. I drive old vehicles because for me is is a total money saver. My newest is a 1971 Dodge D 200 crew cab. The oldest are tied with a 1962 Studebaker Champ and another Dodge D200. Daily driver is a 1970 Opel Kadett. A truly basic shitbox that I absolutely love to drive. The Opel was purchased from a seller on Ebay for $3,000. It has been phenomenally reliable for the last 5 years, never once leaving me stranded. A few things wore out but were easily and cheaply repaired or replaced as needed. Monetarily I am way ahead of anyone who purchased a new car at the same time. This is not the only old car that has served me faithfully for years. A couple were even sold for more than my purchase price. Hard to go wrong there. Make sure you buy the best example you can and pay attention to it as when an issue arises, you can react appropriately and not keep driving and wonder what happened when it quits. We all have dreams, if this is yours, go for it.
Always thought it was weird (and cheap) that the ’58 Plymouth only had one reverse light. The ’57 had two, with better tailights as well. There was also only one turn signal indicator on the dash, that flashed for both right and left turns.
My father’s experience with his ’57 Belvedere permanently soured him on Chrysler products for the rest of his life. Totally done in six years. Door handles, hardware, trim, etc. fell off the car like rain. Engine needed a rebuild. Push button Torque Flight was flawless though.
This has never been a favorite car of mine. I have never been interested in them before. Not my style at all.
Until this one. I don’t know what is original and what isn’t, but it is just perfect! Whatever is modified as far as I’m concerned is how it should have been made in the first place. I just get it. And you will too before you know it!
(but put seatbelts in it…)
I think it’s fine what he’s doing. However, I do think he should account for changes in HIS taste in cars. By the time his 5 or 6 years runs through, he may be totally captivated by another type of car, say a 61 Dodge Polara or 59 Chrysler NYer.
You see, I’ve been there. And looking back I’ve always set aside recreational money for my old car hobby. And like others have posted, it helps to do a lot of stuff yourself. You learn as you go. Heck, I’m 48 and still learning.
One of the things us old grumps don’t take into account, a good hobby will keep you out of trouble. When I was freshly married at 27 with a kid on the way, I bought my 65 Merc. I was busy with that car and hobby instead of other vices which were readily available, namely booze, dope and women. I tell my 20 year old to “fill the void” in his time with hobbies, so he is going to school AND side hustling car jobs and electrical/tech jobs for others and making money. If he had a place to put a classic he would do so, and I would help him, as I know it keeps him out of trouble.
I think at 24 or 26, P-Fox’s new family would prefer him out in the garage with an old Mopar than out carousing Deep Ellum or the Stockyards bars or wherever with who knows who….It worked for me and instilled a good work ethic in my son.
As for my boy – what does he want? in no particular order: an Edsel, or 58-60 Lincoln, a 55-66 Imperial or a Mark VIII or…or maybe all of them! (He drives a nice 96 Town Car)
I agree with 67Merc. A good hobby car is a great hobby for a young guy. The only provisos I would add are that I would disagree with Erik about expecting to use a 60 year old car as a daily driver, and I would insist on having a garage for the hobby car to live in before I got one.
Erik is a bit of a different case than P-Fox in that he is clearly a gear head who enjoys wrenching (Erik, confess – I’ll bet you have at least five different socket sets) and he also has the fallback of multiple cars if one is feeling cranky (or not cranking) on any given day. We know from reading his essays that P-Fox loves cars but not wrenches, and that he’s already learned the lesson in annoyance of depending on a classic to get you somewhere at exactly the same time every day.
The reason for the garage demand comes from experience of wrenching in an apartment parking lot. Let’s say you’re an hour into a project when it’s time for a bathroom break. All the tools have to get loaded into the trunk and locked away; yes, even for the two minutes you’ll be gone, because somebody has been watching you off and on for weeks now, and somebodys will steal anything just to be
assholesjerks. Ask me how I learned this.Next, in the same parking lot work scenario, comes the frustration of trying to finish a job as the sun is sinking while the woman who loves you comes out for the second time to ask, “are you done yet?” with the sweetest and sincerest of intentions. Note that it would be absurd for me to suggest that a woman could be jealous of the amount of attention that you are giving an inanimate object instead of her, so I’m not, dear. Still, it is much easier to stop for the day if you can just switch off the lights in the garage and leave things scattered where they lay till….next weekend… if she hasn’t planned anything.
Just sayin’
Guilty as charged Lokki. I was a gearhead at birth and its only gotten worse. The yearly valve adjustment and points change is therapeutic. Adjusting the brakes at the oil change and giving the undercarriage a good eyeball really helps me stay in tune with the car and to take care of small issues before they become a failure. I do have the trucks as a backup but so far I haven’t had to do the morning vehicle change dance yet. (it will probably cough the timing chain now that I said something) You bring up a superb point as to having a place to work on the thing. Open parking lots aren’t really conducive to auto repair. Ditto with the significant other. Put as much effort into finding the right mate as you are the right car.
Don’t listen to the naysayers PFox: save, save, save!
Not that I think the goal is particularly important, 58 Plymouth is indeed a fine looking car, I’d kind of like to have a 57 Plaza myself, like my parents’ except Dad said it was the worst car he ever had. Amazing how few forward look Mopars have survived but I digress.
No, it’s a great idea because it’s good to have a nest egg for something. Maybe a different car (from what I know of PFox’s decision making process that is a distinct possibility) or a house down payment. In my case my early adult car fund went toward paying off Mrs DougD’s student debt (which was an excellent investment I might add 🙂 )
Anyway as I always say the scheming and dreaming is the most fun part. Keep your life simple PFox and pursue the dream. Aim for the stars and you might hit the moon, or save for the 58 Plaza and you might hit the 74 Duster, or something like that…
Of course old cars are money pits but think of them the same as you would of any form of entertainment. You don’t expect a monetary return on your movie admission dollars nor should you on what you spend to have the experience of owning a long desired old car.
Whatever else you do when approaching these Forward Look Plymouths for purchase, watch out for one major thing: RUST! Be extremely weary of any effort to hide rust damage, nearly every example still extant has been damaged by it!
To find the ideal example, join the Plymouth Owners Club, get to know current owners of ’58 Plazas and indicate your interest in owning one in the future. As the membership ages, they will be looking for the next conservator of their beloved rig, it might as well be you. Good Luck in your search.
How about a 57 Belvedere?
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/kapuskasing/1957-plymouth-belvedere-4-door-ht/1405772511?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
It’s in Kapuskasing though, about 7 1/2 hours from Sault Ste Marie…