Has anyone here driven a classic huge American late 50s beast? What is it like to drive those things? A car that large with no electronics must be somewhat difficult to drive, right?
Yes, my boss has a 57 Chev pillarless. It drives fine, steering wheel is on the wrong side though.
You get use to it fairly quickly.
I prefer manual brakes as I feel power brakes are too sensitive.
Most came with power steering but with a large wheel, it doesn't feel much different except when moving at slow speeds.
Ive driven an early 60s chev. Great other than city parking. Slow as fuck with the 6.
they drive and ride horribly
easily the worst Ive driven and it was from the early 70s can only imagine a 50s shitbox
>>15350666
Drove some kind of 50s monster coupe. The steering was so slow it was terrifying. Also the body roll was awful.
>>15350666
Shit, you think an old chevy is hard to drive? Try an old 50's military transport truck like pic related. My dad owns two from the mid 50's and they don't even have power steering. The windshield wipers run off compressed air and the only electronics are the wires going to the spark plugs
By the way, nice trips el diablo
>>15351264
>I laugh at your EMP. Come at me.
>>15350666
Incredibly slow. Suffocating V8 gas fumes fill the cabin that's essentially bolted to a wet noodle some boomer was ignorant enough to call a suspension. Deafening at anything resembling highway speeds. Impossible to safely stop at any.
Pretty terrible desu and this was a "nice" Chrysler 300E which had one of the best engine and suspension setups out there. Can't imagine what the poorfag cars of the generation were like.
They aren't too bad.
Those old engines had loads of torque, so they moved around fairly well despite their weight.
Stopping distance and some body roll are really the only issues. Back then the onboard computer was you so you need to pay attention when driving one of those things.
Restored a 57 Chevy with a mostly stock 327 and three speed auto. It had a smooth ride and was comfortable around town. A bit too bouncy. Steering was heavy in the parking lot. It struggled on the highway. Lots of wind and road noise, and the noticeable shaking from the wind at 70mph.
>>15351264
>spark plugs
Who the fuck puts a fucking gasoline engine in a commercial fucking truck?
>>15352142
It's probably a multifuel engine that will run on gas, diesel, waste oil, cat pis, fuck anything that burns.
Gas Monkey show how it should be done.
New brakes / shocks. Big block engine. All that comfort.
>>15352172
>how to do it
spend 10s of thousands on chassis and suspension
then spend more on interior and luxuries
then even more on a modern engine and drivetrain
then youre still going to die in a 35mph crash lel
>>15352142
>commercial truck
>>15352228
>die in a 35mph crash
And look cool doing it
Its not difficult.
Not all of them had power steering but the wheel is big and turns easy.
>>15352710
for you
>>15350666
been in a 49' Mercury once, close enough.
They were called boats because they handle like one
>>15352142
>commercial truck
That truck is not used commercially my friend.
Otherwise many light commercial vehicles have gasoline engines and they work just fine and the margins of cost are similar even when the fuel costs/consumption of diesel is cheaper by 50%.
The cost of maintaining a diesel, even yourself, is the most prohibitive part.
Closest I've driven was a 65' Mustang. Total piece of shit desu.
>>15352729
The manual steering gear ratio was also very high, which also aided in turning.
>>15351264
>The windshield wipers run off compressed air
They run off of engine vacuum you dip.
