1st Mar 2019, 21:51
Talking about road salt and rust makes it sound like you are in a northern climate with seasonal change. Down here in the south there's a pretty good amount of 25 year or even older cars on the road. Not just Panthers, but you'll also see Park Avenue/LeSabre (or anything with GM's 3800 series 1,) Suburban/Tahoe, Expedition/F150. And of course for import fans, the Camry and Accord. All the brands that were and still are known for reliability. Take care of them, they'll take care of you.
1st Mar 2019, 22:00
Many you live in an affluent area where people buy new cars constantly like we buy new pairs of socks. The reality is many of the non specialty older sedans do in fact exist. They do not need recycled any more than late models (foreign and domestic) that get in accidents and are considered easily totaled today. Even with what appears at times as modest damage. It did not appear as tongue in cheek as you thought. Many took exception to the comments as it’s untrue. These cars were well made and many are still on the road.
2nd Mar 2019, 00:47
Very well said. I like older cars myself, but there comes a point when it's time to move on.
2nd Mar 2019, 20:16
And the beauty of it all is you can own both new and your favorite preserved luxury older model at the same time. Even if taken out of the garage once a month or so. Thee's the option to tag it as an everyday, anytime car. Or you can look into insuring with collector car insurance which is very inexpensive under 2500 miles annually and exempt the tags. Keep it clean and there's no reason it couldn't be one of many 50 plus year old safe cars on the road vs a mere younger 25!
1st Mar 2019, 01:48
8 Feb 15:47 here: I find it hard to believe so many took that comment literally. It was in fact 'tongue in cheek' and no I don't see 25 year old Ford Panther cars broken down daily.
The truth is, I don't see many 25 year old cars on the road at all these days because most have probably been recycled by now. Ford Panther cars were a great line of cars as were the GM C,B, and D body cars. But everything gets old and eventually ends its service life. As motor vehicles age, parts fail frequently (this includes parts that owners take for granted like steering columns, wiring, hood latches etc..). Corrosion from road control salt along with nature eats away at the entire car which causes body seals to fail resulting in interior water leaks, broken rusted wires, body rust, frame rust you name it. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong at any given moment so it's simply not wise to try to daily drive a 25+ year old vehicle unless you don't mind breaking down.
You can daily drive any car as long as you like, as long as you keep dumping money into it to keep it on the road. It'll be a huge waste of money and the car will never be worth what you put into it; but hey it's your money, spend it as you like. I'm sure there are some die hard YUGO fans out there still driving around in one just to prove a worthless senseless point.
BTW junkyards and auto recyclers across the country are stock full of old Ford Panther cars, so used parts are easy to come by and the cars that get shredded hopefully get turned into new Fords or new Ford parts for you diehard Panther fans.