My job takes me around Southern California and I have an old (2008) Porsche I drive on the weekends.
Here in SoCal, the classic car culture is cool, but the big draw is being able to work on/modify any car before 1974 due to emissions. I've always wanted an El Camino and the prices for the SS versions are climbing. I have my eye on a couple 1971-73 El Caminos with 396 engines which would be cool. It makes no sense. I drive a Subaru Forester to work everyday because why the fuck not.
Still, life is too short. I can pay cash for half of it, and sell the Subaru for the rest. I also have a full set of metric tools which will be useless to this old American clunker.
....talk me out of it.
https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1972/chevrolet/el_camino/1…
Didn't they only come as automatics? Also, most classic muscle cars are nose-heavy, swapping out the back for a truck bed is just going to make that worse. I'm sorry, but I'm a lightweight sportscar guy. If you can't go fast with 90HP, 900HP isn't going to help you.
I'm not a huge muscle car guy but I am a car guy (I see cars and much, much more than a means of going from point A to point B). So, if you have a passion for those and comfortable means to get one - go for it bro. These things are highly subjective and this is a purchase that would make you exuberant every time you walked in and out of your garage. I'm assuming you're buying this out of a lifelong desire so why not just pull the trigger? It's definitely not a "rational" purchase but whatever man just get out there and drive
Why? If you want it and you can afford it...
Get it.
If you get it post a pic!
check this website pretty much every day...they have a '72 up for auction right now https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-chevrolet-el-camino-3/ for some models they track the sale prices over time to give you a good idea of what direction the value is moving in currently waiting until i can afford to sink all my money into a late 80's AMG
I love BAT. There are some crazy good deals on there.
The Mecum auctions have some pretty good deals as well. Would be nice to buy one in Arizona or Texas and make a road trip out of it.
I'm going to catch MS for this, but also living in SoCal, depending on the length of your commute and business traveling, keep your reliable daily driver and sell the Porsche to save the classic car for the weekend / holidays (or keep all 3)
Bonus points, if you are married and planning to have kids shortly, you'll need a vehicle to put the car seat and won't want to do that either in the El Camino or Porsche because of safety and aesthetics.
Have you agree with you, not having reliable car in Socal is scary as hell.
I don't let people drink in my car so there's no way in hell a baby is getting in there. Told my boss to throw away his coffee last week. Pretty sure that was a career limiting move.
Yeah, that is a very good point. I'm envisioning a steamy radiator on the side of the 405.
I used to drive a modified import and it had so much HP you'd be in jail by 3rd gear. Maximizing fun is more important than maximizing speed.
Maximizing fun with a vintage car in SoCal is a 1967 Shelby Cobra -
What a gorgeous beast.
The real question for SoCal is... does it have A/C?
he's in socal bro, not miami
OP, do it. just make sure you can repair the thing yourself.
post pics once bought
Why would you drive the Subaru to work - aren’t most 2008 Porsches comfortable enough to be a daily driver?
I bought the Porsche used and it only had 11,000 miles on it. The values really start to decline around 40,000 miles or so and I want to drive it through HWY 1 on the coast before I sell it. The goal was to drive the car for free for two years and that was three years ago.
When I bought it, the value was around $6,000 more than what I paid due to it being a special edition and the dealer not knowing what they had. I think I would net a $1,000 loss at this point which isn't bad depreciation for three years at all. Also, when I drive it everyday, I get used to the speed and don't appreciate it.
Sometimes I look down and I'm going 105 MPH on a busy highway. We got it up to 167 out in Arizona near a military proving ground. When the car is bouncing around due to lift, it's time to come off the loud pedal.
Working on these cars is a pain. I changed the water pump and accessory belt and had to take out a seat, the back carpeting, the firewall and finally replace the parts which took another 3+ hours. I'm convinced every German mechanic is sadist.
If you want a car you can work on yourself get a NA or NB Miata (89-2005) Everything's mechanical, and there's plenty of room. There's a reason people keep dropping corvette engines into them. They also only cost $5k, and don't depreciate.
Love the classics, SoCal is definitely one of the best places to own one. Reliability for road trips is the only reason I haven’t picked one up. Well that and here in NY the roads are salt covered half the year.
Which car would you like to buy? Could you share a picture with us?
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