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This time of year, many of us are preoccupied with the holidays and all the joys and stresses they can generate. Responsibilities regarding immediate family, extended family, friends, religion, shopping and finances, just to name a few, can all have an overwhelming effect. Some people enjoy every aspect of the season, while a few others loathe it, but most of the rest of us end up somewhere in between those extremes.
Here’s a thought you may not have considered that could instill some additional cheer. Have you considered including your vintage car(s) in your holiday plans?
I know it’s an unfair question for most of us in the northern climates. As I write this, it’s 29-degrees and sleeting outside, and the plows are lined up on Route 80 at the ready to spread their ice-melting compounds. Though I certainly appreciate not getting in an accident due to sliding on untreated ice, trying to wash off the mess they leave on my daily driver in an effort to ward off later rust isn’t any fun. And it’s not a situation that I’d subject a vintage car to. For this reason and more, most people in my area have packed away their pride and joy for the winter and few will ponder them again until springtime.
In the warmer states, there may still be some old car merriment to be had before the calendar changes, however. Driving it to the inevitable family gatherings or planning a Christmas or New Year’s party with your car club provides more opportunities to get in some seat time if weather is decent and the roads are clear. I don’t, however, recommend taking your collector car Christmas shopping, as I wouldn’t wish the fate of a mall parking lot on my worst enemy let alone a collector car.
Even if the snow is a foot deep outside and your car is wrapped up in a cocoon inside, adding auto-related items and tools to your gift list or even having ornaments that relate to it on your Christmas tree can be warm reminders of your favorite ride.
Now would also be a great time to start planning for the spring thaw. In moments when you prefer to escape from the festivities, make list of what you’d like to get done on your car before the show season arrives. Anything that you can complete over the winter if your car is accessible now, or in early spring if it’s not, will pay off with trouble-free miles of driving pleasure when the sun is warm and the ground is dry. “Is it too soon to talk about winter projects?” posted on October 31st 2014 can provide some ideas to get you started.
Though at first blush, this suggestion may appear to add stress to what can already be a hectic season, I have always found planning to be cathartic. Let’s face it, the reason many of us desired these memory-inducing machines in the first place was to use them as an escape valve to relieve some of life’s pressures. They evoke in some of us recollections of a simpler era when we were kids or teenagers riding around in the cars that our parents owned and/or seeing the cars we hoped we could buy someday.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t the era that was simple rather it was my perception of it. In many homes, there’s a staggering amount of security that comes with being a kid. Generally, the younger you are, the less you have to worry about. As long as family life is somewhat stable, most kids aren’t worried about keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. That’s what parents are for and most times, children don’t even consider those concepts because they have been so automatic in their lives.
My parent(s) go to work and come home each day; I go to school and come home each day; my parents support me when I need them (and even when I don’t); when I turn on the heat it gets warm; when I flip a switch the lights come on; when I’m hungry there’s food in the fridge and cabinets and when I need clean clothes I open the dresser drawer and they are there. I have a working phone and TV. That’s kids’ “normal.”
For them, wondering what was required to create and maintain that level of comfort and stability only becomes important as they get older and their responsibilities grow. With that kind of well-being, many of us wouldn’t mind going back to childhood or adolescence at times, but we know we can’t.
Consequently, some of us buy the cars we loved from that era to drive us there—recreating those warm and fuzzy feelings of security. Hence, owning, maintaining and driving these cars can be an escape, and I feel that thinking about them and planning for them, even during the holidays, can reduce rather than increase our blood pressure.
This season makes a lot of us nostalgic anyway, which dovetails perfectly with thoughts of our vintage vehicles. Look at it this way, when you end up at that family gathering and you have to make small talk with relatives or acquaintances you see at best once per year, you now have a topic of conversation to break the ice.
Talk about what you did with your favorite car this past summer and what you have planned for the spring. Since nostalgia is in the air anyway, chances are speaking of your classic will elicit comments regarding ones that they remember owning or desiring back when they were new. Since it may be family members with whom you are speaking, they may even recall your parents or theirs owning a car like it. Perchance some good conversation will make it easier to avoid the family squabbles…and Aunt Mary’s fruitcake.
from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1zcLEuC
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