Poll:- life better now or in 1959?

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
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And there it is (above)...a jen-yew-wine 1958 Lloyd, made in Germany. (It's some old ad I found on the Internet)...cool? Nope, ugly but cheap and dependable.
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
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Vancouver Island

That's a neat little car. I like it.
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
39
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BC
I read what the government tells the newsmedia.

Well, at this end of the country you can't go to a specialist without your MDs referral.

Nowadays you could die before you know what's wrong with you anyway. I am sure most people died of legionnaire's disease before it was figured out. Same with AIDS, a lot of cancers, HPV, Ebola, NF, etc. A lot of those weren't even around in 1959. Personally I think a lot of it's due to the massive amounts of polluting materials we've let loose in our environments.

...and possibly a deterioration of immune systems due to all the wonderful "progressive" food that the friendly folks at Kraft, General Mills, Kellogg's, Nestle, and all the rest of the industrial food giants have crafted for you over the past 30 or 40 years. (Not to mention the fast food joints, Pepsi, Coca-Cola...well, the list is long)...
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
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48
BC
Kind of reminds me of Les's uncle's old car (1956 Nash Neopolitan):

Well, they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder..ha, ha. The old Nash Metro was a very good little beast...used to see them on the street all over the place.
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
39
48
BC
That's a neat little car. I like it.

So did I. I eventually sold it to a local farmer who wanted a "beater" for running errands around the farm and out to the fields. Got $100 for it (only paid $50 originally) but I did invest some money in it along the way...3 paint spray bombs (about $6) to deepen the ugly reddish-salmon color. For all I know, the little bugger might still be out in the wheatfields of Manitoba somewhere!

Reason for selling? Wasn't cool enough...I had to have a Ford Cortina (English) which looked a bit "cooler" but didn't last that long. And it had nothing to do with my driving! :cool:
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Well, they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder..ha, ha. The old Nash Metro was a very good little beast...used to see them on the street all over the place.
ok Metropolitan then. I don't know why I call the thing by an iscream, but oh well. :D

Metropolitan:


Neopolitan:
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
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Nakusp, BC
Kind of reminds me of Les's uncle's old car (1956 Nash Neopolitan):


Nash Neapolitan was a way cool looking car but it had to short and narrow a wheel base for such a heavy body. A bugger to corner at speed I would think. Never had the pleasure of driving one but always thought it looked top heavy.
 

AnnaG

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Jul 5, 2009
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I had a school chum that had a Vauxhall Epidemic for a while. Kind of a stodgy looking plain thing. It was a fun little thing, though. It was an older model of this thing:
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
39
48
BC
Nash Neapolitan was a way cool looking car but it had to short and narrow a wheel base for such a heavy body. A bugger to corner at speed I would think. Never had the pleasure of driving one but always thought it looked top heavy.

You would think so (top heavy) but a buddy and I used to "borrow" his granny's Nash Metro and do all kinds of weird things with it (like high speed u-turns on gravel country roads) and it handled amazingly well. Never even had an accident. With that particular car!
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
39
48
BC
I had a school chum that had a Vauxhall Epidemic for a while. Kind of a stodgy looking plain thing. It was a fun little thing, though. It was an older model of this thing:

My sister had one of those! It drove (almost) like a sports car. Really a fun little unit, I agree...
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
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Nakusp, BC
My first car was a British Ford Console, three on the tree, four banger, built like a tank. It died in a blaze of glory when my brother cut a 55 Chrysler Imperial stretch limo in half with it at 60 miles an hour. We ended up half way through the back seat of the limo. My brother lost his front teeth. Nobody else was hurt.
View attachment 1228

That would be me at 19 in the driver's seat.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Les's first vehicle looked like this 1956 Willys truck:


He says it could almost climb trees and the ones it didn't climb it mowed down. lol Only things he didn't like about it were the vacuum driven wipers and the heater box was missing, so you got heat year round from it. lol
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
39
48
BC
My first car was a British Ford Console, three on the tree, four banger, built like a tank. It died in a blaze of glory when my brother cut a 55 Chrysler Imperial stretch limo in half with it at 60 miles an hour. We ended up half way through the back seat of the limo. My brother lost his front teeth. Nobody else was hurt.
View attachment 1228

That would be me at 19 in the driver's seat.

What? No airbags? How about shoulder belts? Nope. What a cool car. Built out of real materials like steel. Too bad about the Imperial stretch limo and the Ford though. I had a couple of those "blazes of glory" but nothing quite as spectacular as that. Whew!
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
39
48
BC
Les's first vehicle looked like this 1956 Willys truck:


He says it could almost climb trees and the ones it didn't climb it mowed down. lol Only things he didn't like about it were the vacuum driven wipers and the heater box was missing, so you got heat year round from it. lol

The term "built like a brick sh*t-house comes to mind.
 

SirJosephPorter

Time Out
Nov 7, 2008
11,956
56
48
Ontario
Er, did I miss something here? You must have some high-powered insurance policies down there in Ontario. My coverage doesn't include mechanical problems that occur because of something other than a car accident. I think Mowich was talking about non-accident fixes.

These days most new cars some with three year bumper to bumper warrantee, some of them offer six years bumper to bumper warrantee. You didn’t have those in 1959. If you buy a used car well, there are used car warrantees.

Seven years is about as long as I keep a car. After that it is out of warrantee and repair bills start mounting up. So it is time to get a new car.

But unless your car is a real clunker, I don’t think you have to worry abut huge repair bills.
 

wulfie68

Council Member
Mar 29, 2009
2,014
24
38
Calgary, AB
Seven years is about as long as I keep a car. After that it is out of warrantee and repair bills start mounting up. So it is time to get a new car.

This is incredibly subjective.

I know people that put low mileage on their vehicles, give them the regular servicing as per the manufacturers and they last forever. I know others who put more miles on, or don't keep up on the maintenace as well, they change vehicles a lot more frequently. It all depends on how much use you expect and how much effort you are willing to put into upkeep.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
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Vernon, B.C.
This is incredibly subjective.

I know people that put low mileage on their vehicles, give them the regular servicing as per the manufacturers and they last forever. I know others who put more miles on, or don't keep up on the maintenace as well, they change vehicles a lot more frequently. It all depends on how much use you expect and how much effort you are willing to put into upkeep.
Well, that's right, I think the best formula is probably to buy one two years old maintain it properly and keep it 15 years or more. You can do a lot of repairs on a vehicle just for the cost of the P.S.T. and the G.S.T. on another vehicle.
 

YukonJack

Time Out
Dec 26, 2008
7,026
73
48
Winnipeg
For anyone on this thread to express an opinion, prove that you are old enough to have a say, based on your own experience 50 years ago.