He’s on to something!

’61 Caddy Coupe de Ville.

“I hadn’t ridden in a big mid-century luxury car in a long time, and had forgotten how roomy, comfy, smooth-riding and quiet these majestic machines are.”
That’s Jim Richardson, a regular monthly columnist in my Classic Car magazine.
“He’s on to something,” I thought.
The car was a ’61 Cadillac (pictured).
In an adjacent town is a classic Continental Mark IV for sale. Am I missing something?
I enjoy the car I have now, a 2012 Ford Escape SUV. It’s great for chasing trains. It’s All-Wheel-Drive with lotsa clearance, so can handle dirt-tracks.
It’s pleasant to drive, but not a ‘60s luxury-barge.
This has happened before. Many years ago I attended a carshow that had a restored ’36 Olds four-door sedan.

1936 Oldsmobile four-door sedan.

I was smitten — the cost of being a car-guy.
Oh, to return to life as it once was, or seemed to be. Not frenzied nor rife with madness.
That Olds had actual running-boards. Wide enough to sit on. Park your butt and watch the world go by.
Ya might get 60 out of that Olds, but it would be frightening. It was made for cruising at 35.
I attended another carshow that had a stock 1934 Ford sedan.

1934 Ford sedan.

The owner made a placard of all the safety-features it lacked. No padded dash, no safety steering-wheel, no seatbelts, no air-bags, no anti-lock brakes, etc.
(Although I could do without the airbags.)
He claimed he felt safer in that thing at 60 mph than his SHO Taurus.
It had a Flat-Head Ford V8, three-speed floor-shift, and the brakes weren’t hydraulic. They were activated by cable linkage.
NOT THIS KID!
Try to stop such a thing! I bet at 60 mph it would be assaulting your entire body.
Not long ago I encountered a ’49-Ford hotrod custom owned by a retired fellow bus-driver.

My friend’s 1949 Ford hotrod. (Photo by BobbaLew.)

I never drove it, but I sat in the driver’s-seat occasionally.
Its unpadded steel dash was waiting to smash my face.
The steering-column was a long one-inch rod waiting to impale my chest.
Seatbelts. Are you kidding?
It had a souped Flat-Head V8 motor, probably once capable of 100 mph.
That woulda scared me to death! And now I occasionally attain 90 mph on the Interstates passing trucks.
I set my krooze at 70 mph — and get passed. Do that in a ’49 Ford and be frightened.
Richardson says things about sofa-sized seats and arriving refreshed.
Maybe so. But I’m more inclined to think an all-day drive in a luxury-barge is still an ordeal.
You might be more comfortable, but “Are we there yet?”
Beyond that such a barge may get only 10 mpg. My E250 Ford van, a 460, got that. Regal to krooze in, but every 300 miles, 30 gallons.
A ‘60s luxury-barge might get 15, but that’s still exorbitant.
Richardson fails to mention someone else was fueling that Caddy.
But he has a point.
Cardom suffered with the demise of the luxo-barge.
Such a thing is worth considering as a collector car.
They’re not G-T-Os or Boss Mustangs, so are relatively cheap.
And usually well cared for — their original owners had the financial wherewithal.
Would I want such a car?
Probably not. I have my grandmother’s values.
A car is just transportation. I want reliability more than luxury. —Safety too.
For me two cars is ridiculous.

• I’m a railfan, and have been since age-2. (I’m 73.)
• For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester, NY, a public employer, the transit-bus operator in Rochester and environs. My stroke October 26th, 1993 ended that. I retired on medical-disability. I recovered fairly well.
• Richardson owns a Packard and a ’55 Chevy wagon.