What is your definition of a "daily driver"?

[pbrown]

I've had lots of people ask if my car is to be a "daily driver".

That has me thinking if my definition of a daily driver is the same as everyone else's.

Is there a black and white delineation between a "trailer queen" and "daily driver?

Or does there exist a line that has to do with "fixing things to be as original" as opposed to "fixing things to be more functional"?

Phillip

[JoeHall]

No black & white lines anywhere on that subject in Studedom (or many other places for that matter). Its all just different shades of gray :

[Commander Eddie]

For me, when asked that, I think of driving it to work every day. I guess a broader definition would be whether you take it out of the garage and drive it more than just to cruise-ins and club tours. Say, a trip to the market now and again or for an occasional Sunday drive (if you can afford the gas).
I sold my modern ride and depend on my '50 Commander or '61 Champ to get me to work every day. I wish I saw more Studebakers on the road with me.

[Blue 15G]

To me, the term "Daily driver" means a car being used almost every day or at least on a very regular basis. I don't think it has anything to do with whether the car has been updated with more modern components than stock.

And I agree with Commander Eddie, I wish we saw more Studebakers fall into this category.

Dave Bonn
'54 Champion Starliner

[showbizkid]

If you have to carry regular auto insurance because Classic policies are too mileage-restrictive... it's a daily driver.

[Pat Dilling]

When I think of a daily driver it is a car that is used for general transportation; that is to work, to the store, on the vacation trip. It's one that you rely on for day to day transportation. As Dave said I don't think modifications are relevant to the daily driver definition. Also there is a lot of "in between" space between a daily driver and a trailer queen. My 53 is not a daily driver, but it is far from a trailer queen. Clark also makes a good point about classic car insurance. Most of them require that you have another car for daily use.

[plwindish]

I'm sure that many of our cars could be daily drivers, but we owners are more prudent with the use of our vehicles. I for one am not going to subject my car to a 64 mile round trip daily commute on a very busy road (I-80 in the Chicago-land suburbs) with many idiots playing checkers and hop-scotch with cars and trucks going 80 mph. My car is very capable of doing the commute, but I choose not to run the odds of another idiot wrecking a limited edition classic car.

[Tom Bredehoft]

Being retired I don't drive daily. Good weather permitting (no snow, no need for AC) my '55 LC is my choice, but cost per mile, (.25 vs .11) limits me to into town shopping. (20 miles round trip.) Its' my daily driver.

[StudeRich]

As everyone has said there is no fine line between "Show Car" and Daily driver.
I think of daily drivers a bit different than most of you have stated, I think of the paint and Interior as being a bit worn from use as opposed to "perfect" show condition. I am sure everyone has a bit different opinion and variations in between, and that is Ok.

[alex54]

I would also offer the term "driver". I've seen this term used in other car forums. Its for a car that is not a show car, but also not driven every day. This describes my '54 perfectly. I've brought it to work, even to the grocery store. But I run it only about 1 or 2 times in a two week period. I did drive almost 1k miles the first week I had it, driven every day. Now I average about 50-100 miles every 2 weeks.

[rodnutrandy]

I thought I was building a daily driver, but when done , it was too nice to drive every day. That being said, My street rods in past have become daily drivers if our original daily drivers went down. My wife was asked one time while driving our 33 Willys coupe if I new she had it out ! Her Grand Am was down getting a warranty engine at the time.

[Carl Purdy]

I don't think of mine as daily drivers. This year. +or- a few miles.
4900 miles on the 49 2R
300 on the 51 2 door
30 on the 56 wagon.

[JoeHall]

As everyone has said there is no fine line between "Show Car" and Daily driver.
I think of daily drivers a bit different than most of you have stated, I think of the paint and Interior as being a bit worn from use as opposed to "perfect" show condition. I am sure everyone has a bit different opinion and variations in between, and that is Ok.

I would offer that the condition of a driver is based largely on a person's resources. For example, if I had the money, I'd have bought the black 56J on ebay recently. Upon hitting my driveway, it would have been transformed into a driver

[jackb]

...I would define a daily driver as a Studebaker that has a Brand-X as a backup vehicle....just in case....

[JoeHall]

...I would define a daily driver as a Studebaker that has a Brand-X as a backup vehicle....just in case....

I was thinkin of a daily driver, as one whose backup vehicle is another Studebaker