How far have you driven your Classic?

[charlie65_67]

A fellow Hipo owner and myself drove our cars to the 40th & 45th Mustang Anniversary Celebrations held at Nashville & Birmingham. About 2100 miles for each round trip. Had a great time. Hopefully we will be able to do likewise for the upcoming 50th.

That's the main reason for owning & restoring these cars; isn't it? Fun, fun, fun!!

[Kenster]

100 miles round trip to my first car show. But several short (23-40 mile) trips at near highway speeds - 60-65mph. Ran it a couple of times right at 70mph for a minute or so but feel more comfortable around 63-65, with the top down.

I'm planning on doing a charity cruise this weekend that will be about 70 miles or so. We'll be running classic cars and trucks with the local motorcycle club. Hope the weather is nice!

[66sprint200]

Originally Posted by charlie65_67

A fellow Hipo owner and myself drove our cars to the 40th & 45th Mustang Anniversary Celebrations held at Nashville & Birmingham. About 2100 miles for each round trip. Had a great time. Hopefully we will be able to do likewise for the upcoming 50th.
That's the main reason for owning & restoring these cars; isn't it? Fun, fun, fun!!

I drove my FB about 1700 miles round trip to the 45th in Birmingham. It's no fun to let them sit in the garage. Dean

[Varilux]

I drive mine 3 or so times a week 36 miles round trip to work (too often in bumper to bumper traffic)... put almost 4,000 miles on the clock since getting back on the road last year.

I would add one tool to the list of stuff to put in the trunk- a 1/2" wrench. Seems to me you can take almost 50% of the car apart with that one tool!

Have a great trip!

[PonyDoc]

In 23 years, my 64 9/10 has gone over 368,000 miles. For years, like Laurie, it was my only car and was driven every day. In '92, I decided to call a friend in LA and ask her out to dinner. Minor detail is I lived in Ft Lauderdale at the time! 30 days and 10,000 miles later, I'd done LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Durango, Denver and the Mustang/Shelby show in Tulsa! Went to a car show in LA and entered in Tulsa and got the "most miles driven" for each show!
In 2004, my car led the Pony Drive for 9 weeks and 15,000 miles. Pony Drive 2011 was Fla-PA-Denver-Cheyenne-Sturgis-Montana-Yellowstone-Salt Lake City-Denver, and then back to Fla.
It gets regular maintenence, fix things when they break, and carry a tool box in the trunk.
If I can't drive it everywhere, I really don't want it!
I sold my 65 K GT Convert years ago because I drove it about 10,000 miles/year and, being Concours, it really needed to be a garage queen!

[EP429]

I drive mine daily, I try to keep it looking as nice as possible but it's no show queen. I also do a yearly 767-mile round trip in it. Adequate cooling, a good carburetor & a well thought out ignition can go a long way.
Having 2.79's out back I get 20mpg @ ~80 MPH on the highway too

[Mustang_zulu]

Since going to a 3.55 RAR, i haven't done anything over 20-30 mins on the highway, but when i first bought her, i drove her up from Houston with no prob w/ ac running... mpg is pretty low especially with the new rar... but i build my cars to be able to go anywhere if i choose too... just might suck up alot of gas.lol

[69mach351W]

Since January 1970,when my late Father bought the car from the original owner, we together have put 126,000 miles on it.

I need to mention, the '69 Mach 1 has been restored twice since then(1986-87,2009-10).

Our Mach 1 is an MCA concours driven Mustang and we are 2 points away from retiring the Mach 1 and putting it into the conservator class in the MCA.

This is my baby, and we've been a long way together since my Dad give it to me in 1979 in high school....Thanks Dad, Love and miss you

P.S. The red '67 you see on our signature has been in our family 32 years, and my husband and my late Dad restored it in 2002-03.

[dzahm]

Having 2.79's out back I get 20mpg @ ~80 MPH on the highway too [/QUOTE]

You know I have thought about that before- we seem to gravitate to the higher rear gears, wanting performance takeoffs and such. But the vert has a 2.79 rear, and after driving it some I actually have begun to really like the gear- so for those thinking about distance runs (and have a c4, or 3-4 spd manual) this is a very nice gear to have. I can and do drive >75 in the vert, and easily get 20+ mpg. The car is actually "happy" around 70-80- you all know what I mean by that I suspect; the "feel" you get when the car hits its "sweet spot". Since most people want higher gears- you can just about score this ratio free (or darn close)- I can't really win a stoplight dragrace- but I can still burn the tire off, and get good mileage, and cruise all day long at high speed. (And despite all that; the "new" to me coupe will have a 3:50 trac lock- haha)

[martyscholes]

In the summer of 1988 my folks drove my 1966 coupe 900 miles and parked it. On July 5 of this year, we spent three days getting it moving again, replacing the fuel pump, fuel filter, gas tank, gas cap, some fuel hoses, wheel cylinders, brake fluid, coolant, oil, filter, battery and several bulbs. We greased everything, ran sea foam in the tank, filed the points, filled the tires with air and ran a wire to from the battery to the tail lights which were not getting power.

We drove it 50 miles then a few days later drove it 900 miles through very hot Kansas summer weather back to my house. On the way home it ran hot (but did not overheat), clogged several fuel filters, had vapor-lock / fuel delivery troubles, broke the belt and drank 5 quarts of oil and several gallons of coolant. As the sun set, it became clear it was not charging enough to run the headlights so we swapped the alternator and regular at an O Reilly in the middle of nowhere Kansas. At the end of the trip it was missing horribly due to bad points.

The tires were out of round from sitting for 24 years but surprisingly held air and made it home. I did not expect that.

[Kelly_H]

I say do as many road trips as possible! Take a preliminary spin to check out any problems (most crop up after 30 mins of driving or so I've found) and then get to it. It has never bothered me to drive Ms. Jane any distance. As far as I can tell, if everything is still working after the 1st hour there's a pretty good chance that it'll keep working I've had to limp home a few times as a result of some novice mistake but the engine has never quit and that's the important part. I think that most people find that the more they drive their vintage cars, the better they run and the more likely they are to stay running. I plan on spending the majority of 2013 daily driving her with road trips to wherever I usually go in a given year (VA, SC, GA, whatever). In 2014 we're going to California and back for the 50th year anniversary of the Mustang. From then on out... wherever I go she's going too and I fully intend to make her my permanent daily driver for all but the most absurd of conditions.

[69mach351W]

Originally Posted by Kelly_H

I say do as many road trips as possible! Take a preliminary spin to check out any problems (most crop up after 30 mins of driving or so I've found) and then get to it. It has never bothered me to drive Ms. Jane any distance. As far as I can tell, if everything is still working after the 1st hour there's a pretty good chance that it'll keep working I've had to limp home a few times as a result of some novice mistake but the engine has never quit and that's the important part. I think that most people find that the more they drive their vintage cars, the better they run and the more likely they are to stay running. I plan on spending the majority of 2013 daily driving her with road trips to wherever I usually go in a given year (VA, SC, GA, whatever).

Hey, Kelly. Then plan on making our MCA National event in Asheville July 4th weekend at the Crowne Plaza Resort. Ask others about our Nationals we hosted in 2010 at the Biltmore Estate,and we plan on this one being just as exciting....

[Kelly_H]

Originally Posted by 69mach351W

Hey, Kelly. Then plan on making our MCA National event in Asheville July 4th weekend at the Crowne Plaza Resort. Ask others about our Nationals we hosted in 2010 at the Biltmore Estate,and we plan on this one being just as exciting....

If I'm in the state at that point in time, I will certainly be there! Asheville's not far at all for me

[BIGRED]

I built my car to drive it, Ive put about 10,000 miles on it in 2 summers. I drove it from albany NY to fun ford weekend in PA, about 800 miles round trip with zero issues. One of the reasons I dont have some crazy HP motor is so it does get decent MPG, it made 300WHP but thanks to a 5 speed gets about 18-20 all highway.

[GolfBoy]

My son and I drove his 66 200 coupe from Chicago to Boise last year, about 1800 miles.
Had a couple minor issues along the way (tried to stretch the gas to our overnight in Cheyenne WY and ran out of gas, fouled the fuel filter), but otherwise was a good trip.

I bought the car when I was 17, and gave it to the boy when he turned 17. That poor pony has seen a lot...