Some passion for the everyday car
What's your situation? Do you take it easy on your classic car and let an everyday car do the main work? In other words, when it rains, hails or snows, the reliable everyday car has to do the job, and when the weather is glorious, the classic car is allowed out in the sun? Or are the feelings for the new and the old car about the same? Or - even more interesting - is the everyday car cherished and cared for to such an extent that it may one day switch to the status of a collector's car?
It is clear that the everyday car should generally receive at least the same careful care as a classic car. This applies at least if a high level of reliability is required. Or to put it another way: if you want to arrive, you should also look after your everyday car.
However, I used to have a different philosophy. A great classic, for which I spared no effort and no work, stood in contrast to a crate that had been brought over the controls with the last of my strength and whose last life I still used for my transportation purposes. The motto was: "Drive until the next inspection".
Of course, these cars would all be classics today, first and foremost certainly the 1984 Citroën 2CV, bought in 1993 for 450 francs by a young mother who saw the thin-walled vehicle as a safety risk for herself and her baby. Six years and around 120,000 kilometers later, the chassis sagged and after many salty winters, the rust had done its job on my Döschwo.
The Citroën BX Break with a 1.6-liter engine that followed was one of those Swiss versions with the dreadful, electronically controlled carburetor, which not only stole almost 20 horses from the once 92 hp engine, but also all joy from the driver. It was stopped by the wheels grinding on the rear wheel arches because the swing arm bearings were hopelessly worn out and replacing them would have cost twice the current value of the car. The subsequent Xantia turbodiesel, whose clutch was hanging by a thread at some point and which had to go over the Jordan because of the absurd price demands of the brand with the double angle for the corresponding spare parts and a hole in a strut dome, was the last representative of this type of car in my fleet.
I replaced it with a brand new Fiat 500 from 2007, a car from the very first weeks of production of the model. At the time, I was more than unsure whether this would be a short-lived lifestyle car or something with substance. Buying it meant a new chapter in my life - I was buying a new car, which had never happened before.
I shortened the maintenance intervals of 30,000 kilometers specified at the time and had a service every 20,000 kilometers. In addition, I only allowed the car to run at moderate engine speeds for the first 5,000 kilometers and always tried to warm up the engine properly before the 1.2-liter was pushed hard in view of its modest output of 69 hp.
And because I had a trailer coupling fitted - which meant I could use up the money left over from the Xantia - I had this and all the suspension parts carefully sprayed with body wax. After one winter, the very thinly spray-painted towbars in particular are a thorn in my side. The same applies to the front wishbones and the rear twist beam axle. Thanks to a few extra francs spent on a few cans of spray wax, the Polish Italian still looks quite respectable from underneath.
The first stop after the handover from the Fiat garage owner was at a stationery shop, where I bought a logbook. Every liter of petrol I've filled up since then is neatly recorded. And the car currently has 291,500 kilometers on the clock, but now I've reached the last page of the booklet, the reason for these lines. When the booklet is full, I will add up everything, the number of liters and the price paid for it. However, the oil consumption is still barely measurable - and there has only been one breakdown. But even that didn't stop me from driving home. Only the gearbox is slowly getting a little noisier, but the synchronization is still perfect. The Fiat will be 20 years old next year. Perhaps I should consider whether it should be allowed to switch from everyday car to classic status at some point. It certainly deserves it!
