Driving Around

A look down the road

Photo by Stephen Cook on Unsplash; All other pictures, text, and errors by: Chris Breeden

As we’ve pointed out before the best way to experience old cars is to drive them on old roads. The problem you tend to find is that as time goes on, old roads are reworked into modern roads. They lose their bends and twists, their sudden elevation changes, and their character. Maybe most importantly, they lose the things that sprang up beside them over the course of their existence.

Hunt Brothers Garage. Located on Highway 41 in Manchester, Tennessee.

If you have ever driven or ridden in an old car you have probably noticed the reactions you received while on your trip. The reaction I find most interesting is the people who look confused by the sight of an old car. Their surprise shouldn't be that comical to me, but it is. In fairness, an old car sitting at a traffic light in a shopping center is as about as removed from its original context as it gets and the experience of seeing one is different.

Life through the windshield of a 1954 Ford F100. Progress meets another old road.

The experience is out of the ordinary, for most people. The experience is special. Special is good. Out of the ordinary is good. Different is good. While I like driving my old car on old roads, driving one on new roads can be fun too, if for no other reason than to see how people react to their own surprise!

ABOVE: A railroad overpass just outside of Normandy, Tennessee. A bridge over Garrison Fork between Normandy and Wartrace, Tennessee. The Old Mill in Rock Island State Park, Rock Island, Tennessee.

But for me, nothing takes the place of driving a vintage car along a well-worn ancient road. Seeing a journey unfold as it would have in the past, puts a person in the footsteps (tire marks) of those that came before. It can be easier to understand their perspective and how they lived their lives. And a lot of our fascination with the past is about that kind of understanding.