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According to You: Classics That Make Good Daily Drivers
I had a feeling that our readers’ answers to this question about daily drivers would be fraught with conflict about the definition of a “classic” vehicle. Sure enough, our divergent thoughts did come to light, but we still came up with a great list of cars and trucks that many of us would be thrilled to drive on the daily.
So have a look at our readers’ choices, and help us fill in the blanks with your selections. There are plenty more vehicles worthy of inclusion, so I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments section!
Responses have been edited for clarity. — Ed.
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Woody Wagons and Deep Thoughts
paul m: It is all about your definition of a classic and here I differ from most. To me a true “classic” is a car that was unique, a trendsetter, that set the stage for others that followed and imitated it. Granted, this definition is somewhat vague and open to interpretation, but not just based on age. Even there it depends. What’s the difference between an old car and an antique one? What about the overlap in technology? Some vehicles soldiered on for years on the same basic platform, slowly evolving. Can you make a distinction there?
Off the top of my head, I might choose a Country Squire or Colony Park wagon, 1989 or so. That seemingly fits the bill here. Each model is built like a tank, powered by an old Windsor but fuel-injected for easy startups on cold mornings, still not too junked-up with computer everything. They have enough modern “power” conveniences to be comfortable. The faux wood paneling is vintage/dated but not old-woody-antique, for better or worse. One of those gets my vote, as long as the twin-sump oil pan or rear seal isn’t leaking (though I did do a “hack mechanic” repair on one that worked just fine).
DUB6: I agree that “classic” isn’t about age, but the rules set forth by most(including the author of this article) often set 25 or 30 years as the point where just about any ol’ thing automatically qualifies. Classic should mean something more distinctive than just “old,” but we’ve gotta play by the rules we’re given.
Compact Trucks
norm1200: Sajeev, my choice as a daily seems to fit your parameters. Although there will be plenty to disagree, my ’90 Nissan 1-ton Hardbody fits the bill (um, my bill – sorry). It has a seven-foot bed, V-6 with sequential port fuel injection, five-speed transmission, A/C, power steering. Heck, the front brake pads have over 150,000 mi with about 25 percent left before the grind begins.
It’s certainly not as roomy as a Suburban, but I’d bum a ride if going out with others. Granted, this is not my only vehicle as I rotate others as a second for leisure driving. How much do I drive the Nissan? I’m retired and still put 10,000–15,000 miles a year on it.
Any Older Truck/SUV/Van?
TG: I have six vehicles with five on the road, and I try to rotate through them fairly regularly, so “daily driver” really doesn’t accurately describe any of them. The one I drive the most is my ’12 1 Series. My ’72 F-350 makes it into the rotation a lot more than I thought it would, but with low gears and no overdrive, it’s kept to the back roads.
George P: I want my old ’61 Econoline back.
Texas Neil: My daily driver is a vehicle I love, a 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser FZJ80. I have other vehicles that are much newer, but the LC is my go to.
DUB6: If I only get one vehicle to suit as many needs as possible, it’s gotta be a pickup truck. Four doors are allowed here, so I can haul some passengers, and if the back seat folds away for groceries or the dog, that’s cool. I want V-8 power and A/C for towing and trips. If you require 25 years old to meet requirements, I’m guessing a 2000 Dakota SLT would be my pick.
Desmond G: I daily drove my NA 1.6 Miata for 16 years, and while the car itself was fairly reliable and usable for my needs, it became very stressful to drive something that small (and that I cared for that much) in modern SoCal traffic. I was always worried that another driver would destroy it.
Now my daily is an ‘02 Z71 Suburban. Not a classic yet, but I definitely enjoy using it for everyday driving. I’m just not bothered by very much behind its wheel. Traffic, poor road surfaces, suboptimal weather, bad drivers — meh, not that big a deal. I don’t even worry about shopping carts.
El Camino
danny: I daily drove an ’84 El Camino for about a year, and my only complaint was that it didn’t have overdrive. It was easy to maintain, comfortable, and cool.
The Final Oldsmobiles!
Dharma: Oldsmobile’s last generation of sedans. Intrigues, Auroras, and Aleros for the win!
Taurus SHO
Mike C: I’d like one of my SHOs back, one of the red ones. I am daily-driving an ES350 2007 Lexus now—think it fits the description. Excellent build quality with 175K on the clock, runs like a watch and looks like new. Do miss the Park Avenue Ultra that was its predecessor—a couch on wheels. Got my license in its spiritual predecessor, a ’70 black deuce and a quarter, many moons ago.
I agree that a ’90s-era car is the best mix of good running gear and not too much tech to break. First-gen ABS is about it.
Just Make It Cheap, Old, Interesting
Salguod: Since 2016 I decided to drive something cheap, old and interesting. Since then, these have been my dailies (all manuals): 1996 BMW 318ti, 2002 Acura RSX Type S, 2002 BMW 325Ci, 1998 Porsche Boxster. The latest is a 1991 Stealth Twin Turbo, acquired in January. I dailied it for a couple weeks, but it’s got to get a timing belt replacement before I drive it more.
Dailying old, interesting stuff, you need a backup vehicle. That’s why I have a 329K-mile 2001 Tundra.
Lincoln Mark Series Coupes?
SEVND2: Luxury coupes have always appealed to me, so how about a late ’80s/early ’90s Lincoln Mark Vll LSC? Sporty, classy, elegant, and can carry some of your friends.
Jackson: Lincoln Mark VIII. Reliable, fairly quick and excellent ride. I consider it a “modern” car, but the reality is the last one made is almost 30 years old. Another under-the-radar car.
Grab Bag
Scott C: I’d like my 1994 Chrysler LHS back. Comfortable, roomy, great gas mileage. Great in any weather.
Steve R: I’ve had many classic BMWs but for a fun car to drive that is perfect for daily life, it’s hard to beat the VW GTI.
Scott E: Mercury Marauder is my daily driver. Badass, rare, bulletproof.
Mags56: My ’67 VW convertible would be welcomed back with open arms.
Slow Joe Crow: Since I don’t actually drive much, a first-generation VW Scirocco like I had in the ’80s would be fine. If I drove more a Citroen CX or XM to waft me along in hydropneumatic bliss.
Leo B: 1996 Nissan Laurel and a Toyota Majesta are my daily drivers. Both have 230-hp straight-sixes.
Roger K: BMW E39 M5!
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I drove a 1987 Shelby GLHS for many years and it was great when I was young and the wife had an S10 pick up. She sold the truck and bought an Alero, and I realized I can’t survive without a pick up. I also like the Dakota. I bought a 2002 4×4 Sport brand new, then when the kiddo came along I bought a ’08 Ram Quad Cab, which is huge, by the way. Sold that last spring and bought a beautiful 24K mile ’08 Dakota Laramie 2WD ext cab with 6 foot box, 4.7L auto and every option available. It even has a limited slip diff. My wife and I both love it. I thought winter snow would be an issue, but I found that I can load the bed with tubs of books for ballast and it goes just fine. If the weather is really bad we take the ’05 Grand Cherokee.
Cheap, old, and interesting… I’d go with that
I still enjoy the Panther platform Crown Vics- the P71 police package cars (detective version without the rubber floor mats and puke on it blue cloth seats please!) are solid and reliable- cheap to fix (they made about 11 million of them) and good to park anywhere without worry. Have even made a few into race cars for Lemons/ChumpCar- boats but fun!
sounds like me personally
TG, for me that would be the 1994 Suzuki Sidekick 4-door, 4WD, MT.
Cheap, Old, and Interesting, mine lasted 18 years.
I got My license on an 84′ Country Squire, My father traded between Squires and Colony Parks every two years! I love the panther platform cars! They are serviceable and old enough to be interesting! If you purchase an 88′ or 89′ note that the Check engine light is for everything! Those two model years that light was the ONLY light for all of the vital signs of the engine.( No dedicated oil light). The other thing to watch for is the optional inataclear heated windshield ( worked great until it got a chip) a real nightmare to replace! Other than that, they are great. Also a panther platform, the two door crown vic or Marquis ( rare, made from 79′ till 87′, equipped with a 302, those cars were awesome!!
Classic is at least 25-35 years old…but not just the age…even though a car like a Pinto or a 90’s Olds Acheiva meets the age requirement, they are not a classic!
Classics have designs, character, personalities…that make them classic… It’s like saying a Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, AMX are muscle cars…when they are in fact, “Pony cars” from the Trans-am race history.
Not a single CLASSIC in the bunch.
True that
Agreed.
Yup
Thank you Rich for making the point about Mustangs, AMX, and Camaros being pony cars, not muscle cars, as they are so often mistakenly grouped in with. They are all great, fun to drive classics, but not muscle cars. Chevelle, Torino, Cyclone, GTO, Cuda, Charger, Challenger, Road Runner, Olds 442, Buick GS, even the AMC Rebel, those midsize cars with large displacement, and high performance engines were the real muscle cars. Also, too often mistakenly grouped in are some full size cars like the Pontiac Catalina 421, and sports cars like the 427 Corvette. C’mon, the Corvette is America’s sport car.
You just lumped the cuda and challenger, which are pony cars, with the muscle cars
Maybe with a 318 or 340. Beyond that they’re muscle.
A ‘Cuda or a Challenger is a pony car – economy body with large motor. A Charger or Road Runner is a muscle car – midsize body with large motor. I have even heard 300’s referred to as muscle cars. That is incorrect. A full size car with a full size motor may be muscular but is not a muscle car.
You have nailed it!
E-body Cuda/Challengers were not economy bodies; unlike the (economy) A-body Cudas through 1969, they were a cut-down B-body. In terms of marketing, the E-bodies were pony cars, but mechanically they were somewhere in-between.
When the first Chrysler 300 and later 300 LETTER CARS were muscle cars, there were NO intermediate or compact cars made by Chrysler, Ford, of GM. Of course, by 1960 and later, that changed as compacts and intermediates appeared.
Tell someone with a 440 or Hemi Cuda they’re not muscle cars.
I disagree with pony cars not being muscle cars. Anyone who has driven a big block Mustang or Camaro would likely agree. Granted, the small block iterations of both of these cars were far better-balanced drivers, but the big blocks were brute force. The Challenger/Cuda were Mopar’s answer to the pony car and the 340 versions were very good handling cars for their day. Put the 440 or the Hemi in it and it becomes undeniably a muscle car. The AMX is the exception to the rule. Their 390 weighed nearly the same as the smaller displacement engines and were very respectable performers in a straight line as well as around the corners. It may be better, in my opinion, to define a muscle car as a vehicle whose main intent was going fast in a straight line.
So a ’69 Mach 1 Super CobraJet isn’t a muscle car? Hmmmm…..
Agreed. This is more of an “old car I used to drive” discussion.
My daily driver later in college was a 1991 camaro (this was around 2007-2010). Not a classic at the time, but that generation had been around since ’82. Most recently, my 1987 jeep was used for my short work commute any time it was warm out and not raining.
Yes Randall you are correct. To make a long short. I got an ENGINE light after driving a long time on a hot day. I suspected overheating though the car wasn’t. -‘ but it could be oil pressure or ‘ – a mother worries. Fortunately it came on right at a rest area exit. After checking all the usual suspects and cursing all that is holy, I started her back up, quickly pulled the temperature sensor wire off – the idiot light went off – back on,back on. After, just a matter of that long, long wait to cool back down and go the last ten minutes home with the heat on full. Even though I’d done regular flushes it was an old radiator (though not green) and replacing it solved the problem._ The TV cable on the AOD is another story. The weak link in the chain but easily re-engineered for a few dollars BEFORE it becomes an issue.
I live in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, the largest gated community in the country. The vast majority of our 16,000 residents are seniors. You wouldn’t believe the number of early 2000s Buicks running around here, usually beige. My father had one, too, which he drove until the state of Florida pulled his license at age 97 (thank God).
If you had told me that Pontiac would disappear before Buick, I would have bet you money. In the 90’s, white hair seemed to be a prerequisite for owning one. I figured their market would literally die out.
I worked as a valet in a casino about 10 years ago, whenever I saw a Buick driving up, I knew there was probably a “gray hair” driving it (I myself was in my 60’s, so I was no spring chicken!). A lot of these Buick drivers thought $1 was a sufficient tip, if I got a tip at all!
For someone on a “fixed income”, young or old, those Buicks are reliable, only take 4.5qts of oil at an oil change, and get “the gas mileage of a much smaller car” on the highway. Comfort, luxury, and ECONOMY are a great mix. AND GM built a LOT of them! They have a “cult following”, similar to Hondas and Toyotas.
I drive a Volvo V0-R wagon with a 6 speed every day. Plenty of room for groceries, passengers, great for road trips, too. Plus, it’s fun and unique. More people comment on it than any of my other cars!
cheap, old, interesting- yes. But Classics? Not by a mile.
I concur.
We have a 1987 F150 4×4 that I bought from the original owner just over 7 years ago. The former owner was a California gov’t agency, so it had a great history of fleet maintenance and experienced pretty light duty for a fleet vehicle. We live in a northern rust-belt area, so trucks like these are seldom seen in this condition. It gets lots of attention when we take it out (gets stored November-March) as it’s a great 20 footer – original paint and interior, just minor scratches and dings.
We don’t get too fussed about driving it around as it isn’t a show vehicle, so we actually use it a lot in the nice weather. It’s the most real enjoyment I’ve had out of a collector vehicle in my almost 40 years of owning them.
My 21-yr old X3 3.0 six-speed manual or my 22-year old SWB Silverado with a T56 six-speed.
My 2000 Mazda MPV minivan with the second row seats removed and a plywood floor covering everything behind the front seats serves me well as an everything vehicle.
Surprised to see the LHS, Taurus SHO the final Oldsmobiles?
The LHS was a good car. I agree roomy and able to take all weather. At the best 21mpg I could get out of mine. I drive an hour one way daily. Accord with a manual transmission or Camry pre CVT.
The SHO was expensive when new. It was a Ford and known for issues. Given the rarity today its more of an anomaly seeing it on the road. The engines are fragile and specific Yamaha parts unobtanum. Heck seeing the final Gen Taurus on the road is rare. Not a good daily. A Dodge Neon SRT4 waaay better. Viper seats to hug you and not as bulky on the inside or out.
The final Oldsmobiles. Wasn’t aware of final editions but it is certainly a GM thing to announce these one of a kind collector plates that will become an heirloom for generations. I understand the Mitsubishi EVO FE as it was a genuine super car you could buy if you were lucky to be able to get. The last Oldsmoiles really sucked. They were boring and of low quality and a clone of other vehicles already made by GM. But hey. Seat covers and tape stripes make wow. I cannot remember the last time I saw a 200’s Oldsmobile on the road.
Missing from the list in my opinion. 1993-1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Very durable and many killed only by cash for clunkers and rednecks.
1992-2000 Honda Civic, 99-2000 Honda Civic SI EM1. Honda CRX SI
To Scott C and your LHS, be ready for transmission failure. Had to replace ours twice.
Hmmmmm… I bought a new 94 LHS back then… drove it 120k miles over 9 years… had no trans issues and it got 27 mpg on level ground at 70…. The seats were deluxe and it was very roomy with a huge trunk too… It also had excellent winter capability. Replced it with an 04 Nissan Maxima…. very different… !
My ‘87 GMC Sierra 1500 is our daily. I bought it from the original owner with 67,000 miles on it. Redid body, suspension, new battery, some EFI sensors, serviced engine& trans (305/ TH400) and it is dead nuts reliable and very fun. Halfway done the interior and it needs better exhaust- but we pick away at it as we drive it.
Our Model T roadster is NOT a daily but my son wishes it was!
My ’97 GMC Sierra 1500 is my daily in the summer. Short box, 5.7 Vortec, Foose wheels, tonneau cover, loaded with all options available in 97. Runs like a top. Lots of people asking if its for sale.