I am just curious on your guys opinion on using a classic mustang as a daily driver. I am moving to Los Angeles May 1st from Salt Lake City. I have been working on the car for 10 years and it finally has new steering, brakes, suspension, transmission, fully built engine, and the interior is in good shape. I know it never ends, but I feel like I have literally fixed the car and it's components as much as one can without doing a frame off restoration. Mileage isn't a concern as I know that is just a pipe dream. I want to enjoy the car now, I want to drive it. It will get dings, scratches, and sometimes rained on. These are the realities , I will do my best to take care of it. Anyone else here have some insights on using the car as a daily? I know Rorin67 uses it in the LA area so hoping to hear from him on the matter. I might throw in a G-force T-5 when I get there as that is my only worry. I have babied the transmission for 5000 miles and have had zero issues, but I need to get it on a dyno and tuned when I get there. We are almost a mile above sea level in Salt Lake so I anticipate the power gain to be large and don't want to grenade the T-5z in it now. Any way just wondering if this is unrealistic in a city like LA or if I can finally enjoy my dream car?
69Rcode_Mach1
Joined
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2,790 Posts
Just drive it daily, don't worry about it (too much), and have an excellent (and $$$) "agreed value" (not "stated value") insurance policy. I can give you the number for my agent if you'd like a quote.
I absolutely love using the '67 as my daily driver. I don't know if I will ever purchase a more modern vehicle for my main use. However, I have a couple of luxuries at my disposal that make this kinda easy for me.
First, my wife will always have a modern car, which will always be reliable, comfortable, have AC and be better on gas mileage for those long road trips. Living in SoCal, you WILL take long road trips, because there's just so much to see and do here. Taking them in a classic Mustang would be even better, but my wife prefers comfort over cool.
Second, I have a motorcycle that I can ride if the '67 is ever out of commission. In my 8 years and 80,000+ miles of daily driving the '67 in L.A., it's really only been out of commission a couple of times for major projects. It sounds like your '69 is pretty much complete (as much as complete can be), so you should be fine. In any event, and regardless of the Mustang, I would highly encourage you to get your motorcycle license. It is the best form of transportation in L.A. because you can use the carpool lane on the freeway, you can lane-split to get to the head of every traffic light on the street, and you can park almost anywhere you want (which is priceless in L.A.!).
Lastly, as long as you have a good insurance policy, don't even let things like theft, accidents, vandalism, etc. bother you. They don't bother me one bit at all, and it's not nearly as bad as this forum may indicate. Things like hood locks, wheel locks, cut-off switches, etc. may help (I have them), but I've never really encountered a problem out here, and I take the '67 EVERYWHERE, good and bad.
Oh and the valet guys here will love you. At the Beverly Hills Hotel they like to keep my Mustang up front, and they park all of the Porsches, BMWs and Bentleys in back! Love it!
When you plan on rolling into town, post something in the SoCal forum here and we should all get together for a proper VMF welcoming!
Cheers!
I absolutely love using the '67 as my daily driver. I don't know if I will ever purchase a more modern vehicle for my main use. However, I have a couple of luxuries at my disposal that make this kinda easy for me.
First, my wife will always have a modern car, which will always be reliable, comfortable, have AC and be better on gas mileage for those long road trips. Living in SoCal, you WILL take long road trips, because there's just so much to see and do here. Taking them in a classic Mustang would be even better, but my wife prefers comfort over cool.
Second, I have a motorcycle that I can ride if the '67 is ever out of commission. In my 8 years and 80,000+ miles of daily driving the '67 in L.A., it's really only been out of commission a couple of times for major projects. It sounds like your '69 is pretty much complete (as much as complete can be), so you should be fine. In any event, and regardless of the Mustang, I would highly encourage you to get your motorcycle license. It is the best form of transportation in L.A. because you can use the carpool lane on the freeway, you can lane-split to get to the head of every traffic light on the street, and you can park almost anywhere you want (which is priceless in L.A.!).
Lastly, as long as you have a good insurance policy, don't even let things like theft, accidents, vandalism, etc. bother you. They don't bother me one bit at all, and it's not nearly as bad as this forum may indicate. Things like hood locks, wheel locks, cut-off switches, etc. may help (I have them), but I've never really encountered a problem out here, and I take the '67 EVERYWHERE, good and bad.
Oh and the valet guys here will love you. At the Beverly Hills Hotel they like to keep my Mustang up front, and they park all of the Porsches, BMWs and Bentleys in back! Love it!
When you plan on rolling into town, post something in the SoCal forum here and we should all get together for a proper VMF welcoming!
Cheers!
Joined
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2,790 Posts
You should talk to my insurance agent then. In fact, it's the only way they will insure a classic for daily driving. It's not cheap and you need an appraisal, but it's worth it.
Joined
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2,790 Posts
It's a Chubb Masterpiece policy. You need to actually talk to a Chubb agent in order to learn more about it for classics, as the company doesn't do online quotes like the cheapo ins co's do. https://www.chubb.com/personal/insurance.jsp#/Automobiles
I pay more per year than my wife does on her near-new BMW, but I prefer to drive the '67 every day over something new. Knowing my arse is covered gives me peace of mind to drive the '67 every day, rain or shine.
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