Comments about "Garage Queens"

[Ediron]

Re: Broken Wings - January 2012

Gee when I first joined the site I though a Garage Queen was a wife or girlfriend who wouldn't help wax the T-Bird anyway

[hayjulz]

Re: Broken Wings - January 2012

[QUOTE=Ediron;464577]Gee when I first joined the site I though a Garage Queen was a wife or girlfriend who wouldn't help wax the T-Bird

Guess that means I have a Garage King

[Gobird]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

This is all I have to say on this subject. For the first 4 years ours was an everyday driver up north in the snow and salt in the winter. We put around 40,000 on it back then with everyday driving and going to almost every TBN event that came along. After retiring and moving to Fla. it's now, what I call a garage queen. Even with that we have added over another 40,000 miles on it just going to TBN events. We now have a total of 83,000 miles on Misty Blue and we don't regret one mile we have put on it.

People buy cars for different reasons. We bought ours to drive. What you do with yours is your business but it just seems ashame to waste this car leaving it sit in a garage all the time.

Mine will be with me till the day I can no longer drive or I'm dead so future value means nothing to me.

[merlot4]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

Mine is a daily driver, with its attendant pluses and minuses, but I would certainly like to keep the miles down so that I will have longer to enjoy it. Everyone has their own reasons for their car's use which is how it should be.

[2K2BIRD]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

Wow, Spence that was your 11,000th post!

As for the subject matter, our car has never been a daily driver. I could count on one hand the number of times it has been parked at the hospital we work/worked at in the 10+ years we have owned it. Likewise, I rarely take it out just to cruise around town. I'll bet 98% of the 81,600+ miles on Jewel have been made on road trips to the 60+ Thunderbird events we've been to or other fun trips with TBN friends. Those miles and smiles are priceless.

As a result of those wonderful trips our Jewel doesn't have a perfect paint job anymore and her windshield has a few dings, but oh, the places she has been! She's touched 48 states, 7 Canadian provinces, 27 national parks/monuments/recreation areas and been to the beaches of the Atlantic, Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. She's also been on the tracks at Bristol Motor Speedway (3 times), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2 times), New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Nashville Super Speedway and Hallet Motor Racing Circuit. She's been Thunderbird of the Month five times primarily because of the scenery she has been photographed with.

Along the way we've had a few repairs that had to be dealt with and we're on our 2nd battery and 3rd set of tires, but when you divide all the expenses by 10 the cost per year has not been great at all. In fact if you factor in the purchase price with those expenses the cost per year of ownership is miniscule compared to the joy, entertainment, and friendships we have had. Like Spence said, her value after we are gone is irrelevent.

I'm fine with anyone that likes to leave their T-bird in the garage for whatever reason. Ours is most of the time and I enjoy just looking at her in there as well. But, these cars are so much more fun driven and when they are not I feel sorry for the owners that are missing out on the good times they could be having with their cars, interesting places and good friends.

That reminds me we need to pack for our next TBN event in a few days in Ft. Worth - it's only about a 600 mile round trip for lunch. Not bad after the 1600 mile one we made for lunch last weekend.

[Ediron]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

I have a feeling a lot of T-Birds are not "Garage Queens " by choice.A lot of owners live in the North and Mid west were the winter weather makes driving a hazard.Me I live in S.Florida so my Merlot does get used but not as often as I would want.I've clocked 28K since buying it and my Cadillac is turning 50K so I'm almost supporting a lot of gas companys on my own.

[Gobird]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

Paul, never thought about post count for years now. Don't think I'll ever catch Dot and Frits is catching up to me.

[007Cruiser]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

Mine has been pressed into daily service this week as the Caddy is in the shop. Pam's having a hard time getting in and out of it now but it's still fun.

[MikeB]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

I have a feeling a lot of T-Birds are not "Garage Queens " by choice.A lot of owners live in the North and Mid west were the winter weather makes driving a hazard.:

Absolutely true. I will not subject my Bird to,all the salt and snow and,enjoy it the other three seasons. My car, my choice. Can't wait to get it out of storage in late March, early April. Also looking forward to Nashville.

[qruml23]

Re: Broken Wings - January 2012

What's with all the derogatory comments about the "garage queens" and their drivers? A lot of us probably have great reasons for not having a lot of mileage on their Tbirds including the following:
1. We are retired. The Tbird is not a daily driver.
2. We have multiple cars in the family - some with more cars than drivers.
3. We have other cars in the family that are as much fun to drive as the Tbird.
4. We try to spread the mileage among the vehicles.
5. We can't carry much in a two seater with a small trunk.
I spot envy in that the "garage queens" will be around a long time in good condition, when the high mileage cars will be over-the-hill. I know one thing and that's I'm a pretty good driver as I have driven and owned at least one "performance" type of car for every one of the years since I was age 18.

6. This car is mostly used during the summer in Canada (6 months a year)

[pinkilee]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

Am I reading this right? The garage is supposed to be for my car and not laundry/boxes/storage? hmmmmm

[jerrym3]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

I just passed the 20k mark on an 03. Don't know if that qualifies as a garage queen or not.

I try to drive it once per week, weather permitting, and I don't store it for the winter even in north Jersey.

But, taking a multi day, long trip would mean going solo, as my wife doesn't care for long car jaunts. That might be good for the first day, but solo dining in strange cities doesn't appeal to me; I did enough of that when I did a great deal of business travel.

So, I'm more or less confined to local pleasure driving, which then has to be shared with my Galaxie.

And, I still am hesitant to take her out for local errands unless I'm going someplace with a large, mostly empty parking lot.

[JAB02LHS]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

Am I reading this right? The garage is supposed to be for my car and not laundry/boxes/storage? hmmmmm

And no missing X's!

[toysax]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

Wow, Spence that was your 11,000th post!
As for the subject matter, our car has never been a daily driver. I could count on one hand the number of times it has been parked at the hospital we work/worked at in the 10+ years we have owned it. Likewise, I rarely take it out just to cruise around town. I'll bet 98% of the 81,600+ miles on Jewel have been made on road trips to the 60+ Thunderbird events we've been to or other fun trips with TBN friends. Those miles and smiles are priceless.
As a result of those wonderful trips our Jewel doesn't have a perfect paint job anymore and her windshield has a few dings, but oh, the places she has been! She's touched 48 states, 7 Canadian provinces, 27 national parks/monuments/recreation areas and been to the beaches of the Atlantic, Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. She's also been on the tracks at Bristol Motor Speedway (3 times), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2 times), New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Nashville Super Speedway and Hallet Motor Racing Circuit. She's been Thunderbird of the Month five times primarily because of the scenery she has been photographed with.
Along the way we've had a few repairs that had to be dealt with and we're on our 2nd battery and 3rd set of tires, but when you divide all the expenses by 10 the cost per year has not been great at all. In fact if you factor in the purchase price with those expenses the cost per year of ownership is miniscule compared to the joy, entertainment, and friendships we have had. Like Spence said, her value after we are gone is irrelevent.
I'm fine with anyone that likes to leave their T-bird in the garage for whatever reason. Ours is most of the time and I enjoy just looking at her in there as well. But, these cars are so much more fun driven and when they are not I feel sorry for the owners that are missing out on the good times they could be having with their cars, interesting places and good friends.
That reminds me we need to pack for our next TBN event in a few days in Ft. Worth - it's only about a 600 mile round trip for lunch. Not bad after the 1600 mile one we made for lunch last weekend.

I really like your atitude about going to lunch. Any time you can enjoy friends and good food, who counts the miles.

[lasuvidaboy]

Re: Comments about "Garage Qeens"

One thing I notice is the daily drivers I see are generally very well cared for. Rarely have I seen a dirty or damaged 'Bird on the road here in So Cal. I drive and enjoy mine every day and always get comments on how pristine it looks. If it wears out, there are plenty low-mileage ones to replace it with.