Not me personally, but dad bought the '70 GT6 new, and I still own it. Close as I got. I've only been driving for 23 years, so it's not technically possible that I could have driven a car from brand-new to classic yet...
Not me personally, but dad bought the '70 GT6 new, and I still own it. Close as I got. I've only been driving for 23 years, so it's not technically possible that I could have driven a car from brand-new to classic yet...
Does buying a 82 Z28 new count? It getting its 4th engine and maybe a 5 speed swap, which would be the third trans this summer. I'm going to probably go from 4:11s to 3:73s too.
My dad bought a 69 corvette off the line and still has it.
Haven't had any car longer then 10 years myself but my dad bought me a fiberglass corvette bodied gocart just before I was born and I still have it 36 years later.
We have had the Datsun 1200 since 1984, it was just am old car then. My wife has forbidden its sale. Most of my other cars rarely make it past the 10 year mark......then my ADD kicks in (the actual kind not the automotive kind) I think I am going on year 14 with my 76 YZ125 and about 16 on the 63 Honda 90
Tom
Got my 96 Impala SS new on April 12th 1996. 137k later, I might call it a classic. My nephews do. Little jerks.
I worked on the Triumph 40 years ago and have at least part owned it for 35 years. Of course it's a little like my grandfathers hammer. The handle has been replace 3 times and the head twice, but it's still my grandfathers hammer!
I'm not sure I've ever owned a car much over 3 years. I'm just past that point with my DD, but I'll probably be selling it soon :(
I would like to keep the next DD I have for 5+ years. Switching cars is tiresome.
If bikes are fair game, I bought my '84 Honda Sabre "new" (It was a demo model with 300 miles.) in November '84.
At 65K miles now, it looks terrible but runs great! ...and still gets 52mpg.
(Probably not considered a "classic.")
I could never afford a new car, but I've had my Corolla for almost a decade and my Samurai for almost 7 years now and I don't think I'll be selling either any time soon. I only sold my first car, which was a hand-me-down and a total POS.
If I could afford a new car I would've replaced the Corolla with a Toyobaru within the last couple of years.
I haven't bought anything new that was worth being a classic until I bought the V, and I've had that less than a year. Almost every other car I've owned was destined for 'old crap' status regardless of age. It's only recently that I've had the philosophical shift to buy cars that are good enough to become classics.
My dad didn't buy it new, but the 73 Opel GT he bought in 1981 is still in his garage (in pieces). My personal longest is our MPV, bought new in 2003 and I drive it daily. Doubtful that it'll make it to classic status though.
I haven't. The car that I've owned the longest is my Mini which I bought in 2004, but the car was by no means a new car at that point. Of my current cars, the oldest car that I bought new is my MSM miata, which is a 2005 car. I doubt I will keep it until it is a classic, but who knows.
The closest in my fleet is my '03 TDI wagon. I special ordered it and took delivery at the end of 5/03. It currently has 329K miles. Hard to say if I'll keep it until "classic" status since I haven't been able to find the enthusiasm to get it running again.
Never kept a car I bought new for longer than 8 or 9 years. There have been a few I bought used I kept for longer. An 81 K5 Blazer I bought in 83 went to the junkyard after being t-boned by someone running a red light in 97, drove it 14 years. Its replacement, a 95 F150 I bought in 97 and sold a couple years ago. I think 2011, 14 years again. In 93 I bought a 1980 Yamaha Xs650, 13 years old at the time. Now considered an antique and still in the corner of my garage although I haven't ridden it in years.
Edit: My 1970 Opel GT was bought new by a friend of the family in Nov 1969, dad bought it around 1982. Gave it to me in 1993 and I've had it ever since. 21 years.
mazdeuce wrote: I haven't bought anything new that was worth being a classic until I bought the V, and I've had that less than a year. Almost every other car I've owned was destined for 'old crap' status regardless of age. It's only recently that I've had the philosophical shift to buy cars that are good enough to become classics.
It wasn't new, but you do have a money printing press in the the Grosh, AKA a 964
Not since new, but I've owned my '83 Rabbit GTI since 1988. That was about 100,000 miles ago, and it's had antique vehicle plates on it for 6 years now. It still makes me smile and is a blast to drive.
We still have the 1973 MG Midget that my wife bought new, just before we met. It was her first new car, which took us on our honeymoon and, much later, to my first SCCA Solo Nationals. We put well over 100,000 miles on it. It has been stored (indoors) since the late Eighties, since we got to a point in life where it didn't really meet our automotive needs but we didn't want to part with it. (We tend to remember the good stuff and overlook how tiny, uncomfortable and unreliable those cars were.) I have been pondering what to do with it: Spend the money to restore it? Do just enough to get it back on the road? Sell it? Turn it into a race car? Start a museum? Maybe just leave it as a "barn find" for future generations?
In reply to Duke:
[Purple]Newark is in Joyseeeeee, and it smells like ass.....which is strange for being the arm pit of america.....[/Purple]
I wish we still had purple text for sarcasm....
not even close. the longest ive owned a vehicle is now tied between my 79 capri and my 81 marquis spare parts build that I no longer own and the 78 wagon I have now. 3 years Just about every vehicle I buy was new before I was born.
You'll need to log in to post.