What would you guys think about daily driving a 1969 Camaro to work everyday? Assume that I can park it in a parking garage in San Francisco.

I am not sure of any other details, like if its an RS or anything. I just think that I may want to buy a '69 Camaro and it would be my only car for a while (hopefully for only 6-12 months, but quite a long time.

Is there any difference between driving one of these cars everyday versus driving an '02 SS Camaro everyday?

Please, no smart or sarcastic answers, because if I get a few people telling me that its not a good idea, then that's enough for me and I for sure will look for a newer car.

Thanks in advance!

 

i ain't touch'in this one!

 

actually..., hmm...... never mind.

 

Thats easy buy it drive it.If it is gonna be a driver condition car car why not.If your thinking of a very nice restored first gen I'd find it hard to drive in nasty weather. I wish I had another one that I could cruise to work everyday in.Of COURSE there is a difference between a first gen and an 02 .....not everone has a first gen

 

I agree with Michiganman, if its a driver quality car, drive it, everywhere. As for the differences in 69-02, depends on what has been done in rebuilding the 69, if its all stock, there will be night and day differences. The main difference though is, the number of people that comment on you driving up in a 02 camaro SS over a year will be between 0-2. The number commenting on your 69... you'll stop counting after the first month.

 

do whatever you want. you obviously aren't going to take a concours quality car and use it as a daily driver. that's what these cars (along with all cars) were built for. it's just that some of us have gotten too carried away with them, to be able to drive them everyday.

I wish my car was still a daily driver but it just isn't feasible anymore

 

First off it depends on the car you are looking at. If you got a 120 hours in block sanding for a perfect paint job you do not want to subject that to daily driving, if you have a car that all original and un-restored you would not want that as a driver. Due to cracks in seem sealer, undercoating and paints un-restored car degrade very quickly when converter to a daily drive. Of course this does depend greatly on where you live. So what you would want is a car that was restore with daily driving in mind. Cars can be built to be much better then originalwhen it comes to resisting elements.

Safety
Brakes- If the brakes have not been modified they are lacking big time. Every generation Camaro has gotten better at stopping. There was a pretty big jump in from 2nd to 3rd gen Camaro with braking and the 4th gen is the hands down rules the 60-0.

Handling
It takes a good bit of upgrading for a 1st gen to handle like a 4th gen

Crash surviving:
In a serious crash the car should act like a pillow until the impact endangers the driver then it need to be a solid capsule. The 4th gen does this very well. The first Gen, not so much.

So for safety without major mods a 4th gen can avoid trouble and if you do not see it coming you have a better chance of surviving a big hit.

Gas mileage: The best way to get a first gen gas friendly is to put a drive line from a 4th Gen in it.

So could it be done? Yes, as a commuter no way in hell I would do it. But if you are talking 5 mile trips in the desert why not?

 

WoW after reading that gorn I am selling my first gen

 

Oh I love this thread. Here's my opinion. Take it or leave it. I am restoring a 69 camaro to be my daily driver. It is going to bethe only car that I drive. At work it will sit in a parking lot for about 10 hours that we share with a chiroprator next door in the spot I park in now which is kindof hidden under a tree. I tore it apart...yes I...I would not let anyone else turn wrenches on her. I have a super cool body guy that is doing the chasis restoration. I will be building the 350 motor that will go in her as well as putting in the interior and all the outside trims. Putting a 700r4 trany in it to get better gas mileage. Going with your basic black interior, nothing fancy. Am keeping the drum brakes....yea yea I know what you are thinking.......wanna make a donation to the help orocker get some disc brakes fund?.....no, then stfu...........No it will not be a numbers matching car and no it is not to be a show car. I will show it off to my friends and look pretty dam hot driving it around and I will take very good care of it. It's going to have a very nice magnetic red paint job, but because it is going to be a daily driver we are not doing the flames. We have discussed this at length andthe fancy shmancyflame jobwould not be practical for a daily driver. grrr...But we are going to ghost in the side stripe. I mean come on...I go to Bally's 4x a week, the grocery story, all around town, you name it. I am putting power locks on it so as not to scratch it with the keys, but because of anything a plain jane paint job is what I need. I think I am more concerned with getting the right color than the flames.

So do I think it's practical to drive a 69 camaro to work every single day and have it as a DD? Yes I do but it's not a mint condition car. I dont need it to be. I am putting about $30K into it and it will be worth $40K when we are all done. Will I be in bad weather? No not really, I live in FL. Rain is a problem here and I am thinking that when it sits at home I will put a cover on it.

 

orocker if it will be sitting outside with a cover over beaware those cover's will wreck the paint. All it takes is a little brezze to rub on every corner. Best to stuff it in a garage if possible