Insurance and repairs cost a lot? I doubt it. Model A parts are pretty cheap, lots of stuff is reproduced and the repairs are quite easy. These are tough bugger cars designed to be maintained by their owners.
As for the insurance, it says the owner owns a couple dozen cars and he mostly drives this one to shows. That stated, he probably has collector car insurance, which is very inexpensive as long as the value of the car is relatively low (like it is for a Model A like this). As long as he only puts a couple thousand miles a year on it, collector car insurance is the way to go. Probably $200 / yr or so. I own the same 1965 car (worth about $10K ... likely similar to his Model A) I owned in high school (25 years ago), and I collector insure it for about $200 a year. No big deal.
The guy sounds cool and I'm glad he has a great-grandson who understands the family-history value of the car. Hopefully he will someday take care of it as well as his ggf.
Nah they knew how to build 'em back then. Probably breaks down less. Even when he does have to pay to have it fixed he can spend some of the money he saved for not having bought a in nearly 70 years.
My daily drivers are pre-1973 vehicles mainly because they're cool, but also because they're cheap and easy to fix and dirt cheap to insure. It's one of our driving culture's best kept secrets. Oh, and mileage? Comparable to most modern cars (and yes, that's shameful). One could argue that they pollute more, maybe, but I'll wager that the development and manufacture of the five to seven cars a single 30-year-old car could replace pollutes much more.
Thing about those motorheads--most of them don't have car payments.
He is far ahead of the game in insurance and repairs with not having new car payments, easily. I drive a vintage car and have no monthly payments at all, parts are a bit expensive when I need them, but new cars need repairs as well. Hats off, wonderful story, may he keep the car running a long time yet. Also, I love the fact that he drives it, its a car, not a museum
Just from the looks of him in the photo, I'd say he's in better shape than most 84 year olds. I know some 60 year olds that ought to have their licenses taken away (quite a few 30 somethings as well!), and also know a couple of 90 year olds that I'd trust driving all day. It all depends on the individual.
The Model A was a bit over-built by today's standards. But they do have their quirks that keep their owners on their toes. I had a neighbor who was a mechanic from way, way back, and one of the few who still had some of the specialized tools for working on the Model A. All kinds of them were going in & out of his garage, mostly for the things the owners couldn't do on their own. That's the thing with driving an old car; you learn pretty quickly what it takes to keep it running, and get to know the thing pretty well.
As for the insurance, it says the owner owns a couple dozen cars and he mostly drives this one to shows. That stated, he probably has collector car insurance, which is very inexpensive as long as the value of the car is relatively low (like it is for a Model A like this). As long as he only puts a couple thousand miles a year on it, collector car insurance is the way to go. Probably $200 / yr or so. I own the same 1965 car (worth about $10K ... likely similar to his Model A) I owned in high school (25 years ago), and I collector insure it for about $200 a year. No big deal.
The guy sounds cool and I'm glad he has a great-grandson who understands the family-history value of the car. Hopefully he will someday take care of it as well as his ggf.
Thing about those motorheads--most of them don't have car payments.
The Model A was a bit over-built by today's standards. But they do have their quirks that keep their owners on their toes. I had a neighbor who was a mechanic from way, way back, and one of the few who still had some of the specialized tools for working on the Model A. All kinds of them were going in & out of his garage, mostly for the things the owners couldn't do on their own. That's the thing with driving an old car; you learn pretty quickly what it takes to keep it running, and get to know the thing pretty well.