wrote:
> I realize Y2K didnt really amount to anything, but what car would you
> like to be in if a disaster scenario was unfolding and you had to
> travel across the country with few possessions and needed reliable
> transportation?
>
> The car would have to be
>
> -dependable
> -solid engine and transmission
> -easy to repair if something did go wrong
>
> On the same note, what spare parts would you keep in your car that you
> might want to have on hand? replacement thermostat, battery, spark
> plugs, oil filter, oil, transmission fluid, water?
>
> I had an 88 crown vic with a 5.0L that seemed to want to run forever,
> until I realized the cooling system was terribly corroded and turned
> green coolant brown even after having the system flushed. But it would
> run and run and if it overheated it would just chug and stall, and
> start right back up a few minutes later so you could drive it another
> mile. Then two or three freeze plugs went out and I gave up.

For a real "armageddon car" I would probably want something built
between the mid-late 50's until the mid '60s or so. Why? because
before then, there weren't many highways so cars weren't designed so
much for modern, high speed travel, and after that there started to be
electronics here and there, like in the ignition systems etc. which
might not be repairable in a true "collapse of society" type event.
Also an older car would be immune to EMP type weapons, should the worst
happen - even the radio might work (tubes, you know) even if there
weren't any stations to receive. Finally, there was a period in the
late 40's where engine designers thought that there would be great
breakthroughs in fuel technology that never actually occurred... they
apparently thought that 100+ octane fuel was something that would
become commonplace eventually, and spark ignition engines were designed
strong enough to hold 13:1 or higher compression ratios in anticipation
of this. Good examples of this would be the original Cadillac V-8 and
the very similar but smaller Studebaker V-8 that followed shortly.
Other early OHV engines were similarly stout, like the Olds Rocket,
Rambler 250/287/327, or the Packard 320/352/374 family, but by 1955
when the ubiquitous small block Chevy was introduced it was clear that
these fuel breakthroughs weren't going to happen so engine blocks went
on a diet and it was clear that ludicrously oversized bearings and
forged cranks only added weight, drag, and/or cost. Therefore later
engines are adequate, but didn't have the same factor of massive
overkill as the earlier ones. Sure, the later engines had better fuel
delivery systems (but swapping carburetors is easy) and better port,
manifold, and combustion chamber designs - but we're not talking about
drag racing here, we're talking about getting your butt around for as
long as possible after the collapse of civilization.

Yes, I do think about these things. Weird? maybe. Paranoid?
Probably not - I don't think this is really going to happen. I'm
running an "orange box" ignition in my Studebaker, but maybe I should
keep that original distributor on the shelf just in case...

nate