Practically Used Homestead Wheels

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Why? A new car depreciates 20% as soon as it leaves the lot and it falls another 10% or 15% each year thereafter. After five years and 80,000 miles, the value of a $20,000 vehicle (that we paid double for) is only $4,500. But it's a tough habit to break; the new cars have all those new features, snazzy styling, and the neighbors just got a new sports utility with fourwheel drive and that "new car smell." But the neighbors are also never free of car payments.

In contrast, Ben Perkins makes a good living and (with a slide-in camper in place of the wrecker) goes to Florida every February in a truck that has cost him less to buy used and to maintain himself over 30 years than what most consumers shell out in any one year to buy new.

You or I can still get the truck that Ben drives: a low-mile, rust-free, four-wheel-drive '50s militaryspec pickup just out of government storage and running fine—but these days, it'll cost $2,500 to $4,500.

For the same or less money (a lot less if you shop hard, dicker harder, pay upfront and in cash) you can buy a younger, more conventional car or truck that will be more reliable, better looking, cheaper to operate, sturdier, and safer to drive than any modern vehicle. Plus you or any corner gas station mechanic can fix most problems using reasonably priced parts stocked by any NAPA or Western Autowho will also sell you "new car smell" in an aerosol can.

Indeed, if you pick the model and year carefully, your vehicle can be worth more at the end of five years than when you bought it. Many '50s to '70s cars and trucks are (or soon will be) appreciating in value. Get ahold of the Old Cars Price Guide and JC Whitney parts catalog—on newsstands or by mail (see "Sources") and go old-car shopping.

State of the Art

American vehicles of the late '60s/early '70s are examples of a technology at its peak—design and engineering refined over a half century was as simple, sturdy, and foolproof as it ever got. Weighing two tons, made of sheet-steel panels on steelI-beam frames, with cast-iron engines and forged steel axles, they are 70% to 90% sturdier and safer than a modern car. A case in point: In city traffic, a Suzuki Samurai darted out in front of the 1973 Mercury Marquis station wagon that a neighbor bought for $300. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and insurance paid for damage to the vehicles. The 20-year-old Merc's left front bumper and fender were pushed in, but not enough to bother fixing. Impacted at the side, the $12,000 Japanese model folded like a book and was declared a total loss.

Old cars also win in performance, beauty...and class. A good friend who commutes from a city job to his country home got fed up with monthly payments, so he sold his Mazda RX7 and bought a 1970 Cadillac DeVille convertible. It is over 17 feet long, has gleaming white paint, a white top and white glove leather interior, and is "loaded" with power everything. Like all GM "Big Block" V8s, it averages 11 miles per gallon (mpg) whether going uphill pulling a trailer or downhill with a tailwind. And despite spending more (but not much) for fuel, his maintenance bill fell by half and his insurance bill and auto-excise taxes by 900 (he doesn't bother insuring the car against damage, fire, or theft). It only has 75,000 miles on it and cost $4,500, cash.

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