Keep it on the road

Well, I asked for it and you let me have it. I wanted to know how many of you use vintage vehicles as your daily drivers. We got a nice initial response, complete with photos.

But you threw me a bit of a curve: All but two of the first batch of submissions focused on old trucks.

I guess I should have known. Trucks are not just cool, they are handy and they don't ask to be babied.

I sort of forgot that and recently sold my beloved little Subaru Brat to a friend. It didn't take long for me to realize we really needed a little truck to help with chores, so we now have an older Ranger pickup in the lineup.

We would like to see more daily driver stories from readers. They don't have to be about trucks, they don't have to be restored or pristine. They just need to be earlier than 1980 and something you use for regular transportation.

Send me a couple paragraphs explaining what you've got and a good picture or two. You can email me at mberry@wichitaeagle.com or send me hard copies addressed to: Mike Berry, Wichita On Wheels, Wichita Eagle, 820 E. Douglas, Wichita, Ks., 67202. If you need your photos back, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Okay, here we go with our first batch of daily drivers.

Friend and co-worker Pattie Knauff sent us the following information about Erika Weber-Sprinkle, who drives a 1970 Chevy 4X4 half-ton pickup with an 11-inch lift and a 350 motor to work every day. She calls it the "Bear Claw."

Erika, her husband and a good friend rebuilt the truck. Even though the lifted truck doesn't have air conditioning and she gets horrible gas mileage, Erika says she would not trade it for anything — "It's easy to fix, easy to troubleshoot and the tax value is 12 cents!"

She painted it herself because she likes the primer gray. All the mechanical work is done by Erika and her husband. It doesn't have to be hooked up to any computer to see what is wrong with it — they just use a Chilton's manual.

Mike Hennesy of Mount Hope wrote, "My old truck fits the bill as a dependable source of regular transportation when I can not ride my Harley. She handles the 60-mile round trip for work with ease. And it is just plain fun to drive. I get a kick out of the clunk of the clutch and the slight grinding when dropping into first.

"She is built like a tank, but runs like a deer down our old country roads, city streets or highways. The best part of this F-100 is anyone who can shift through the three speeds on the column can handle most of the maintenance on the 223 in- line 6-cylinder. Who does that anymore?

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