Teenagers / Classic Cars ??

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SleeperScamp

SleeperScamp

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Well my 14 year old daughter thinks she would like to have something old like my Duster.. Thought about finding a /6 Duster or Dart and painting it Panther pink. She likes the idea but wouldn't mind having an old truck, so I am thinking about getting started on fixing up my 1978 Lil Red Express for her.. What are y'all's thoughts on teenagers and old cars? Safety, reliability,fuel economy ,etc......
 
FIRST, I'M NOT A PARENT!....... However, in 30 years of law enforcement I've seen no difference in teenagers being any more or less responsible in old cars than in new ones. If properly maintained (& that should be HER responsibility, IMO) I don't see why it would be any less reliable than they were "back in the day"
Allowing teeneagers to drive for some homes is a necessity but you also need to teach them the responsibility of ownership, along with the rules of the road. That way they know what to do, how to do it and the "hows-n-whys" of mechanics........
 
A slant 6 a body would be a great first car today as it was back in the day. Find a solid one and upgrade the seatbelts, tell her if she proves she is a safe and responsible driver you will reward her with the panther pink paintjob.
 
i think for her first car get her something with fuel injection and something that gets better then 10 miles a gallon. no way should a 78 lil red express be her first vehicle. thats one of like 2500. no need for her to bang that thing all up while learning to drive,
 
Back in '78 my first car was a 318 Dodge Dart, which almost immediately modified with a manifold, 4bbl and headers... I survived and never had any accidents, that I caused...

The only accident I was ever involved in happened when an off duty cop made a left turn in front of me as I entered an intersection. He got the ticket. The car and I survived to live another day;)
 
Just remember, As kids grow older they change. In a different thread I told the story about my daughter and wanting to take my 65 Belvedere to school and after a driving lesson ( "What do you mean it doesn't have a radio ?? No power steering or A/C and a stick shift??" ) She said "no thanks" and never asked again.My sister was the same after her husband bought her a 63 Valiant (that she just had to have) We just couldn't get it in her head that the car has a choke and a carb and needs time to warm up before driving. Nope , after a few days of flooding and stalling and fouled plugs,she parked it and went back to driving her 2000 something car. NOT saying that your girl won't do just great with a old car but it happens. Kids of all ages (boys and girls) tend to think what is cool today is lame tomorrow. On the plus side, You may end up with a really nice car,, I got the 63 Valiant !!
 
Newer cars are safer and get better MPGs.

These run forever, are built like a tank, and cost under $2000 for a nice one.
 

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My son just got his DL's last month, he can't drive worth a crap, so him wrecking is my biggest concern... I like the truck idea, a dodge truck can take a hell of a front end lick, plus trucks are easier to fix.. I'd rather my kid crash in a dodge truck than a sh!tbox compact, fuel economy will suck..
 
I got my 67 cuda when I was 15 and I love that car and treated it better than my friends haha granted I did do a few stupid things in it, but never hurt myself or the car. the only issue with older cars is they are far from safe, the best you can hope for is the lap belt to keep you from being ejected from the car in a wreck. :S but other than that I'd say go for it, she'll stand out and she can never skip school without a chance of you finding out ;)
 
Personally I'd go with a /6 Duster, they get good gas mileage, the motors are just about indestructible. They're like the energizer bunny, they just keep going and going......
Dusters are also easy to find parts for cheap if a fender bender happens, plus you can really make them look cool with all the different options like 70 stripes, 71 stripes, hood strobe stripe, blacked out hood, dual hood scoops, or the later snorkel type, shark tooth grill, Go-wing, rallye wheels, or some old school rims like cragars etc.
The truck on the other hand would have a 360 correct? gas mileage is going to suffer compared to the /6. My teenage daughter also wanted a truck, but after explaining to her on paper the difference $ wise in gas mileage between a heavy truck with a V8 and a smaller, lighter car with a 6 and how she would be paying for the gas, she realized it would really cut into her spending cash LOL
Also what about A/C? I don't know too many teenage girls that can deal with driving a car or truck without A/C in hot climates. So that's something to think about.
Safety wise, I'd kinda trust the older cars with my kids over some of the newer economy cars most kids drive today. Just make sure whatever she drives has shoulder belts that she uses, not just a lap belt.
My son T boned a Honda with his Demon, the Honda folded up like a tin can, totaling the car, while the Demon bent one bumper bracket, twisted the bumper a little, messed up one fender, rolled the corner of the hood(fixable) and broke one head light and headlight trim. And that was it! One swap meet and $100.00 later I had a perfect fender and bumper bracket, I was able to twist the bumper back into place (not perfect but good enough to get it all bolted up and not be real noticeable)
As far a reliability goes, it's much easier and cheaper to fix an old car than a new car.
Hell I just spent $300.00 bucks on a damn meter to diagnose the check engine warning lights that just popped up on two of our new cars....stupid sensors!!!!!
 
I'd go with something much newer.

Kids are irresponsible in cars, and the consequences of irresponsibility are much lower in newer cars.

FWD, 4 cylinder, airbags. New cars sacrifice themselves to save the occupants. Old cars, your kid is the only compressible component onboard.

People were driving these old cars back in the day in my high school, and there were a lot of casualties. And there were a lot fewer cars on the road. And there were no cell phones.

If you want to teach them about maintenance, you can do that on a new car too.
 
ProStreetDuster said:
My son T boned a Honda with his Demon, the Honda folded up like a tin can, totaling the car, while the Demon bent one bumper bracket, twisted the bumper a little, messed up one fender, rolled the corner of the hood(fixable) and broke one head light and headlight trim. And that was it!
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Modern cars are designed to crumple, absorb the impact and transfer the energy away from the passengers.

The Honda did exactly what it was designed to do. The cost of fixing the car is flawed thinking. The cost of fixing the people inside is what's important.

Would you rather have your daughter smacked in the face with a steering wheel or an airbag?
 
hemicop said:
FIRST, I'M NOT A PARENT!....... However, in 30 years of law enforcement I've seen no difference in teenagers being any more or less responsible in old cars than in new ones. If properly maintained (& that should be HER responsibility, IMO) I don't see why it would be any less reliable than they were "back in the day"
Allowing teeneagers to drive for some homes is a necessity but you also need to teach them the responsibility of ownership, along with the rules of the road. That way they know what to do, how to do it and the "hows-n-whys" of mechanics........
Click to expand...

As a fellow 30 year LEO Veteran, Ditto....
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
Newer cars are safer and get better MPGs.

These run forever, are built like a tank, and cost under $2000 for a nice one.
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Not all new cars are safer, some of the compacts are death traps, but I have to agree with you the Volvos are one of the safest cars ever made. Built like a tank is right! My wife had one when my kids were little, I hated the looks of that car with a passion, every time I walked by it I wanted to kick it LOL But I never worried about my families safety when they rode in it.
 
Let me start off by saying that I am 19, and this is from what I have seen and experienced. A lot of teens in my area wrecked their first cars. So I would be afraid of giving a teen a vehicle like a Lil Red Express, due to the rarity of it, or a duster/dart. Unless she is real familiar with carb. engines you might want to lean to fuel injected. I drove my dads 78 truck a few times, and the carb would heat soak on me and if I wasn't familiar with it I probably would have given up. Also a lot of teens in my area had no clue how hard it was to get a car, or how lucky they were to have their parents provide one to them, and wouldn't take care of them. Have you thought about getting her something else and then working on the dart/duster together to show her how much work is involved in a vehicle. I know that helping my dad fix up his 78 truck made me think twice about mashing on it because I didnt want to damage it in any way.
 
older cars are more durable,cheaper,can be reliable.that being said most kids today cant even start an older carbed car.they need to learn about carbs first....:bootysha:
 
buy her something first that nobody will give a **** about her wrecking. not that i'm saying she will and i don't want her to,but it happens more often than not. then buy her a classic!
 
340_dart_power said:
As a fellow 30 year LEO Veteran, Ditto....
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From a 33 Year Veteran as Fire/EMS,...There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WORSE than having to visit a parent with the "worst" news. With the "Privilege" (not a "right") of having a DL comes huge responsibilty.A little wrench time is always good for the feeling of ownership as well. Were sure you'll help her make a good choice. Lots of good comments here,...Her ride doesn't have to be fast to be cool,....How about a later model truck (not as fast) EFI with air bags.
 
My Barracuda was my first car, and I cherished the automobile since I had a great deal of time and love in it. I kept it clean, knew the limitations of both the brakes and suspension which kept me further back in traffic and not willing to take the risk of pulling out or tailgating those in front of me. It was also unique enough that everyone in our town knew it was my car, and that fear kept me from doing or trying anything that I could have gotten away with with a common car. I kept that car, and yes, have had some real good times with the family. My daughters have enjoyed cruising in it and my oldest daughter has helped me work on it. Honestly, if my parents had bought me some just common used car, it could have been a whole lot different.

I just recently purchased a project '66 Mustang for my 13 year old daughter. She knows it will take a couple of years to complete and that we will be doing some minor modifications to it for safety and reliablity. I will be adding sheetmetal to isolate the gas tank from the rest of the car, I will add more modern seatbelts in both the front and rear seats, it will get a modern sound system made for the car, as well as an approved suspension system and modern rubber all around. The 302 the car now has will be peppy (210 stock hp) but will still be decent on gas. It will also get a unique paint job that can be easily spotted. Best of all, due to the number of early mustangs produced, the parts are very common and reasonable. We will have a whole lot less in it and still have something very unique that she can be proud of.

At any time that she loses interest in the project, we could always sell the car for profit to fund a newer bodystyle. However, at the current time, it is more than an automobile, it is an opportunity to bond with my daughter, something that many parents missout on.

I can tell you several other stories of parents and children that have bonded over a restoration, enjoyed shows together, and was much more cautious based on the time and effort provided.

Are there risks? Absolutely. However, we believe we have a much better chance of getting our daughter to be a responsible driver by making her work on and for her car. She will have to purchase the gas and insurance on her car which will lead to her to having a job and enough work ethic to keep the job if she wanted to drive. And with the laws here in North Carolina, she must stay in school to keep her license.
 
My daughter drives the 63 valiant back and forth to school and work. She is responsible, careful and understands the quirks of the old car: warming it up, manual brakes and steering. In the foul weather we have a 70 Dart, the "beater" as she calls it which feels like a modern car compared to the 63 that she drives. My older son sticks with the toyota, he is more of a get in and go type.
 
My daughter will be driving in a few years and the plan for her is a Duster with a slant; although she will have fun in the winter with rear wheel drive!

With her time and effort going into the build she will take care of it.
 
If she drives something she wanted and something she worked on with you to build she will take care of it I hope. I would build a duster
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
Modern cars are designed to crumple, absorb the impact and transfer the energy away from the passengers.

The Honda did exactly what it was designed to do. The cost of fixing the car is flawed thinking. The cost of fixing the people inside is what's important.

Would you rather have your daughter smacked in the face with a steering wheel or an airbag?
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Air bags are a great safety device, which unfortunately old cars don't have. That's why I mentioned making SURE, if she gets an old car, she has and uses shoulder belts. I guess you missed that when you quoted me, and then made that comment of the steering wheel wouldn't of been brought up. And yes I know newer cars are SUPPOSED to crumple on impact, some do it very well like the Volvo and some don't, like alot of compacts that many parents buy for their kids these days. And it makes sense for front and rear collisions as long as the passenger compartment stays for the most part intact, but the example I gave of the Honda my son T boned pushed the door all the way into the center console, and it happened while driving around town not doing 60 on the freeway, so if someone was in the passenger seat air bag or not well......, it crumbled way too far for my taste at that speed. I know the newer mid size/full size cars and trucks would be alot safer than old cars, but most teens don't end up driving these for their first car, they end up with a little economy car. This example was just to answer his question about old car safety, they can take a lick! The repair cost was just an added bonus not a "be all, end all" of why or why not he should let his daughter buy an old car or truck.
 
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