84 Years Old and Still Driving His First Car

This fella bought his 1926 Model A Ford in 1936 for $10 when he was 15 years old and is still driving it today.

84 Years Old and Still Driving His First Car

TO keep a car running for many years, change the oil every 3,000 miles, says Clarence Cleveland Curtiss. His advice is not new, especially for anybody who owns a 1990 Buick, a 1980 Chevy or even a 1964 Volkswagen.

But Mr. Curtiss, 84, of Shelton, has followed the advice with the first car he ever owned, a 1929 Ford Model A; it has 200,000 miles on it and still runs.

Mr. Curtiss said he was 15 in 1938 when he bought the car, which sold for $400 when new, from a Derby man for $10. It was during the Depression.

“He was out of work, and he was hungry,” Mr. Curtiss said. “I drove it for a year with no license, and the day I turned 16, I got my license with this car.”

Mr. Curtiss has made one major upgrade, installing a Hudson Terraplane engine in 1940, because, he said, “I raced kids home from high school with it, but there were a couple of cars I couldn’t beat.” That allowed it to go more than 80 miles an hour, compared with 55 m.p.h for a standard Model A. “Then I could beat them all,” he said.

He says he has restoring kits for the car but just can't bring himself to restore the car.

He also says that he:

takes his Model A to 12 to 14 car shows a year. Signs on the doors proclaim it as his first car, and the handwritten story behind it is taped to a side window. It has won 14 trophies.

“It’s always the worst-looking car at every car show, but it always wins trophies because of the story behind it,” he said.

They sure did make 'em better in the old days!

Good old American engineering!

[edit on 22/8/07 by Keyhole]

wow thats a pretty big feat!

i've only been driving for 4 years and ive gone through 2 cars

he must take really good care of that thing, not to mention be a great driver

What a great story, man I wish I still had my first car.