Winter... Do You Leave Them Untouched?

[WCP]

To answer your original question, I figure that you can leave a car sit unmolested for one year but no longer, without risking a stuck valve or two. Moisture from combustion is the enemy.

[Lenny R2]

I start my Avanti once a week also my 62 Champ pickup let them run 1/2 hour. I have the Champ
on jack stands so I can leave it in 3rd gear. The Avanti is power shift so I think parts are turning inside.

[jackb]

.....unless I've got a real nice car (like this '62 wagon)..... I always drive my Studes at least 2-3 times a week. I try to wait until the salt is washed away (like today-driving rain). I think (I could be wrong) that moving parts need to be moving and if they don't they don't....How many here put salt on their driveway ? If it is just water or snow... what's wrong with slowly driving around, turning the wheels stop to stop (esp. PS), hitting the brakes several times (Springs, rubber, cylinders>>)heater motor, etc, etc,...?

[DEEPNHOCK]

Personally,
I like to go out and charge up the battery...pull the coil wire....and crank'er for about 15 seconds (or until I see the oil pressure gauge rise).
Then, after a nice charging, put the coil wire back on.... Turn off the shop light and go read crazy things on the forum.

[Kurt]

I put mine away just before the first bad weather. This year that was around Thanksgiving. I do not start them during the winter unless they are going to be moved to the shop for repairs. I usually don't get them out until mid to late March. Again, it just depends on the weather and road conditions.

[SN-60]

I think that life is too short to put My favorite cars away from one to six months.....I drive My '83 Avanti everyday, and the 'show' types are driven every chance I get. (when the roads are clear)

[DEEPNHOCK]

I think that life is too short to put My favorite cars away from one to six months.....I drive My '83 Avanti everyday, and the 'show' types are driven every chance I get. (when the roads are clear)

I respect your right to do what you want with your car... Really do...
But...
Will you cast off your '83 when you are through with it?
My reason for saying that is...
We get so used to having the cool stuff in the here and now.
Everything seems so normal... In the here and now.
But what about 40 years from now? What about 50 years from now?
Your '83 might seem the perfect 'daily driver', and it could well be.
But subjecting it to a slow, painful, chemical death by sodium derivatives seems ..kind of historically wasteful.
While an '83 might not compare to a '63, it still has merit as an unusual limited production specialty car.
It's not quite the same as...say a Ford Taurus of the same year.
BTW... I feel the same way about newer Avanti's suffering the same fate...
While I respect Ron's right to choose what he wants for 'Ava', his Avanti...
It makes me sad to see a nice 'rare' car like that subjected to the abuse of todays road salt...just to have some personal enjoyment of mushing it around in the snow.


I'd have to say the same thing to see a '57 Chevy out in the slush like that today....and I know they built millions of them 'in the day'.
Just doesn't seem very preservation oriented to do that to a collector car.
Just an opinion...

[DrDon]

Gotta go with Jeff on this one. I hope that mine last forever- one was my grandfather's and it would be great if my grandkids could still enjoy it.

[SN-60]

I respect your right to do what you want with your car... Really do...
But...
Will you cast off your '83 when you are through with it?
My reason for saying that is...
We get so used to having the cool stuff in the here and now.
Everything seems so normal... In the here and now.
But what about 40 years from now? What about 50 years from now?
Your '83 might seem the perfect 'daily driver', and it could well be.
But subjecting it to a slow, painful, chemical death by sodium derivatives seems ..kind of historically wasteful.
While an '83 might not compare to a '63, it still has merit as an unusual limited production specialty car.
It's not quite the same as...say a Ford Taurus of the same year.
BTW... I feel the same way about newer Avanti's suffering the same fate...
While I respect Ron's right to choose what he wants for 'Ava', his Avanti...
It makes me sad to see a nice 'rare' car like that subjected to the abuse of todays road salt...just to have some personal enjoyment of mushing it around in the snow.


I'd have to say the same thing to see a '57 Chevy out in the slush like that today....and I know they built millions of them 'in the day'.
Just doesn't seem very preservation oriented to do that to a collector car.
Just an opinion...

Well, using an Avanti for everyday transportation is really a bit different from using a '57 Chevy...or an all steel Studebaker for that matter, because, as we all know, the Avanti bodies laugh at salt. The frames are a different story, but as I've explained in other posts, there ARE ways to make them last. Now I've been driving My '83 year round for twenty years...and believe it or not THERE HAS BEEN NO DETERIORATION OF THE FRAME AT ALL. I have replaced the troughs in the car....TWICE! But......the main reason I drive it is because I really ENJOY driving it.....Wherever I go people want to talk about the car....You must know how that is, owning that nice Coupe Express...The difference is, I experience the fun of Studebaker motoring EVERY DAY....And My '83 Avanti has NEVER let Me down...it's really just an 'OLD FRIEND'!!

[Spannerbird]

It's your car, do what you will with it. Other people aren't paying for your cost of ownership on them, so their opinion really doesn't count, unless they have solid, documented reasons for why you shouldn't drive your car in some condition. I would drive my Ford more if the weather here wasn't so unpredictable. I leave for class and it's clear, and when I'm halfway to my destination I see the clouds overhead, and the temp drop by I swear, 20 degrees. Then about half an hour later it begins to snow. None of this by the way was on the weather report. Weather reports are nearly useless here anyway. It says it's going to be clear for four days, and then two days later it snows, or does something which wasn't stated in the report.

[DEEPNHOCK]

It's your car, do what you will with it. Other people aren't paying for your cost of ownership on them, so their opinion really doesn't count, unless they have solid, documented reasons for why you shouldn't drive your car in some condition. I would drive my Ford more if the weather here wasn't so unpredictable. I leave for class and it's clear, and when I'm halfway to my destination I see the clouds overhead, and the temp drop by I swear, 20 degrees. Then about half an hour later it begins to snow. None of this by the way was on the weather report. Weather reports are nearly useless here anyway. It says it's going to be clear for four days, and then two days later it snows, or does something which wasn't stated in the report.

I agree...
Nobody has the right to tell anyone what to do with their own property.
But... Nobody can stop anyone from expressing their opinion.
If someone wanted to buy the Mona Lisa and finger paint over it... That is their right.
But if they make that choice, they should expect comments from others.
And if someone were to buy the Mona Lisa, and protect it and let others look at it.
They should also expect comments.
The only difference is going to be what kind of comments they receive.

[BobPalma]

Good points in #26, Jeff.

This thread has a wild card no one has addressed: The fact that there is every imaginable climate reality among the various posters.

What might be appropriate for a hobbyist in the northern Michigan peninsula on February 1 simply wouldn't wouldn't make much sense to a hobbyist in Phoenix AZ on the same day, or the same time of year. BP

[Bob Bryant]

Like BP says I only start my car if I can allow it to warm up, thoroughly. In about ten days it is supposed to be fiftyish here in the coastal area. If it is I will drive the Avanti for the first time since November.

[SN-60]

I understand folks that tuck there cars away when the temp drops below thirty and the road gets slick....I do this Myself with My '63 & '85 Avantis, and My '55 President Speedster. I guess I'm just fortunate that I found a good Avanti twenty years ago that was already a daily driven car, didn't pay a whole lot of money for it, made improvements to it and maintain it, and now I'm able to enjoy Studebaker motoring everyday. There really is nothing like it, and I feel kind of bad for Studebaker owners that feel they are unable to do that...for WHATEVER reasons!

[Hawklover]

In the NE I will drive the car yr round, except if it is snowing, or salt still remains on the roads.

Heck drivin a Stude in the dead of winter is fun, it allows one to see if the heater core is actually leaking:-)