I’m thinking about trading cars. My beloved old SUV has more than 200,000 miles on it, and it’s beginning to rust. “It still runs well,” I told a friend, “but with that many miles, it’s only a matter of time.”
As I said those words I had a sudden flashback. It was 1953 and my dad was looking under the hood of our 1950 Ford.
“It still runs well,” he said, biting his lower lip, “but with that many miles, it’s only a matter of time.”
He was serious. The family bus had just turned over 24,000 miles, and he knew it was time to trade. He was so afraid it would conk out before he could get it to the dealer that I was no longer allowed to drive it on Friday night dates. Obviously, I thought it was time to trade, too.
Cars were different back then. We traded every two years. Except once a few years later when unexpected expenses dictated keeping the car longer. Horrified, Dad watched the odometer on his aging three-year-old Buick turn over an unheard of 25,000 miles.
He started riding the bus to work rather than risk a breakdown. The car sat in the garage for weeks, and we talked about it in whispers as Dad flipped the calendar pages, planning a new trade-in date.
Even though we kept cars for only two years, we loved and pampered them. We installed curb feelers that kept us from scraping the white wall tires against the curb while parking. We added fender skirts and an outside sun visor over the windshield. Then, since the visor kept us from seeing the traffic lights at intersections, we installed a handy optical device on the dash that let us see upward in front of the visor.
Then, to make sure the upholstery would still look new when we traded the car, we covered the seats with clear plastic seat covers that we ordered from the Fingerhut company in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Some dealers even offered free seat covers with a new car. I guess they thought clean upholstery would help the resale value when the car was traded in.
Then, almost overnight cars changed. Uni-body construction eliminated rattles. Refined engineering extended engine life. Radial tires and rack and pinion steering improved road ability. We started keeping cars longer.
A few weeks ago a guy in town was showing off his vintage 1950 Ford. It looked new. I asked him how it ran.
“Still runs good,” he said, “but with this many miles, it’s only a matter of time.” The odometer showed 26,000 miles.
