I’ve been in denial about this for a while. “My cars aren’t holding me back at all,” I’d convinced myself for years. “If I wanted to, I could sell them all tomorrow.” Recently it’s become clear that this just isn’t true, as has been proven by my move to LA, which should have happened months ago but hasn’t yet due to an anchor made of tons of American iron. So I come to you asking for advice on how to move past this.
The truth is, I’ve been wanting to leave Michigan for years, but what happens is: 1. November rolls around, things get cold, and I tell myself “I’m out of here.” Then 2. I fly to Germany or Hong Kong to be with my family for Christmas, and stay over there for a month working remotely. 3. I get back, spend a few months in cold Michigan and then the sun comes back out in April. 4. Weather is absolutely perfect from April through October, and car culture thrives. My enchantment with Michigan swells. 5. I vow never to leave Michigan. 6. November hits again. 7. Repeat.
[Ed note: Right before the pandemic I had dinner with David and our bud Aaron Foley and pleaded with him to move. I offered to buy one of his cars. Anything to make it happen. It didn’t work. Then during the pandemic we hung out in a junkyard and had the same conversation. Next week I’m going to make him get an apartment. Just tell him to sell all but two of his cars for everyone’s sake – MH]
This has been the cycle for about five years. My upbringing as an Army brat has built within me an insatiable desire to move every year or so, and yet I’ve staved off this urge by traveling so often and for such long durations — I was just in Australia for a month earlier this year, I was also in Germany and Italy, plus I see my brother in Hong Kong relatively frequently. But I don’t know that I can push this off any longer, mostly because the long-term future of The Autopian depends on me being in LA and working with our talented behind-the-scenes crew out there.
So I have to go, and in truth — as a single dude who feels a little out of place in suburban Michigan, and who’d like to try listening to the buzz of a bigger city for the first time in his life (I’ve only ever lived in small cities) — I want to give it a shot. The problem is these beautiful mechanical anchors:
- Jeep J10 4spd stick: Store in MI (?)
- 1966 Ford Mustang auto: Drive to CA
- 1992 Jeep Cherokee auto: Store in MI (?)
- 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Sell
- 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Tow to CA
- 2000 Chevy Tracker 5spd: Sell
- 1958 Willys FC-170 3spd stick: Tow to CA
- 1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle 3spd auto: Sell
Let’s go through them one by one. Each car has a poll below it; I’m eager to hear your recommendations (it might make sense to read the whole article before going back and voting).
1985 Jeep J10: Store In Michigan Or Drive To California
I love this truck with all my heart, but I don’t think it’ll make it through emissions inspection in California, mostly because all the smog stuff has been ripped off. IÂ could fuel inject it using a Jeep 4.0-liter cylinder head, then throw on a 4.0 catalytic converter and hope the shop doesn’t care that I don’t have an air pump on my accessory drive. But I don’t know that this will work; California has a “visual” inspection, so even if my now-fuel-injected truck is cleaner, it’d likely fail. Logical? No. But such is life.
“Sell it,” you may now suggest, but I can’t. It’s the greatest truck on earth, and I can’t let it go. It’s true mechanical perfection in my eyes. As of now, my plan is to store it somewhere. Or maybe take it to California. I haven’t decided.
1966 Ford Mustang: Drive To California
Is there a place where this vehicle would be more at home than in southern California? Answer: No. I’m daily driving this. I have some security concerns, so I’ve purchased a GPS tracker and a “club” steering lock. I hope those do the job; I’ll also make sure to park it in a garage whenever I can.
I’ll likely drive this on weekends as my free Nash Metropolitan will be my true daily driver that I take to work and park on the streets without worry. I doubt anyone wants to steal that.
1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Sell
What you’re looking at is the most perfect Jeep Grand Cherokee on earth. It’s the first model year with a five-speed manual and manual windows and locks. It’s not only the lightest Grand Cherokee in history, it’s also the most reliable, and it’s the best off-road platform. Hopefully I can find someone who understands the rarity and value of what I consider the ultimate Grand Cherokee, as I’d like to get as close to $10 large out of this 130,000 mile, rust-free Jeep as possible. If not, I may have to keep it, which would complicate things.
1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Tow Or Drive To California
Of course, I’m not going to sell all of my “Holy Grail” manual Grand Cherokees. I plan to keep the rougher 1994 model that I bought for $350. Why hold onto this one? Overly pretty cars are a pain in the ass to maintain, and this one being a bit rough around the edges will give me more peace-of-mind. Plus, I’ll feel less guilty when I put a mild lift and bigger tires on it; I’ve heard off-roading in California is pretty damn good.
The issue is that this Jeep is still far from being roadworthy. I swapped the guts from that rusted-out Holy Grail in Wisconsin that I wrote about years ago, but there’s still a lot to do before this thing can move under its own power. I could fix it over the next month or so and then drive it west or I could tow it and wrench later.
1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle: Sell
Oh man, this Jeep is one of my biggest regrets. It ran when I bought it, I removed a cylinder head to extract a broken exhaust stud, then I flew to Germany for a month. When I returned, I saw some surface rust on the cylinder walls, so I pulled the engine and honed it; I figured I’d swap the rings and bearings while I was at it, but sadly I could never get the motor back together properly. So I bought a rebuilt engine, which seized.
Honestly, the fact that this machine has been sitting for over five years is a result of only one thing: my own stupidity. I am ashamed, though I am twice the wrench I was back then. So should I fix it and then sell it for some heavy coin? Or do I sell it as is and give up the five grand delta?
This is a tough one for me because, if I’m anything, it’s a cheap bastard.
2000 Chevrolet Tracker: Sell
I should never have bought this Tracker, though I’m pleased with how far it’s come. I’ve fixed the crankshaft damper, cleaned the interior, bondo’d the huge dent in the quarter panel, installed junkyard all-terrain tires, fixed a few electrical gremlins, jerry-rigged a fix for the four-wheel drive system, and swapped out all the fluids. This thing is beautiful now, and I even have a buyer willing to throw me $3,000 for it. Not quite my $3,500 asking price, but close.
First, I’m taking it off-roading tomorrow (you’re all invited). This will be the second time I’m off-roading a car just prior to sale; the first time, I filled the engine with water, then that water froze, and when it thawed, I learned that my crankshaft bearings had been wiped. (You may recall my article “My 1948 Jeep’s Engine Is Ruined Because I Am A Dumbass”). I hope nothing similar happens this time around. I really shouldn’t be off-roading this thing before sale, but come on — I did all this work to this thing; I have to see how good it is in the dirt, right?
1958 Willys FC-170: Tow To California?
I want to do an EV conversion soon, and I really think this FC is the ideal candidate.
Could I just buy one on the west coast? Yes. That’d make my life easier. But look at the pedigree this one has!:
1992 Jeep Cherokee: Store?
This one’s a tough one. The Jeep isn’t in great shape at the moment; I flooded the rear diff, so I need to replace the axle. Plus the cooling system needs some work — likely a new radiator. These aren’t huge jobs, but they’re not nothing, either.
I suppose I COULD bring this Jeep out to California, or I could store it, or I could sell it. But this is my very first car. Should I sell the Jeep that started it all?
This Is Complicated
So I want to keep the 1992 XJ, the J10, the 1994 ZJ, the FC, and the Mustang. I could just bring all five of those, and sell the rest. There should be plenty of space to store these machines on the Galpin lot that Beau has so graciously offered up. Maybe I could tow the FC with the J10, then drive everything else out. Or I could ask an automaker for a big-ass heavy-duty truck and a car-hauler, and just tow the whole fleet out.
Or I could sell the original XJ and the FC, and just take the J10, 1994 ZJ and Mustang. Then I can find another FC out west and cry myself to sleep every now and then missing the ’92 OG.
I don’t know what the answer is. But I need to come up with something soon.
David, enjoy Michigan in the pleasant 2/3rds of the year, enjoy your travel in Germany, and snowbird in LA with short term furnished rentals for the remaining three months per year.
Evaluate how often you really need to be in LA and look at hotels/long term stays, short term rentals, etc. The increase in house costs for a permanent living situation in LA would cover quite a number of flights and hotel rooms each month when you need to be out there.
Personally, my entire career over the past 11 years has been remote and travel. While it’s great to get work teams together, and there is no replacement for in-person interaction, it is far from a necessity on a day to day basis in the current tech environment.
Maybe keep the Stang. Maybe.
Sell everything else.
You’ll find much better versions of everything in CA, and letting go of all of the MI vehicles will give you the opportunity to broaden your yet to be devloped CA junkyard.
It’s a shame there’s not a BURN option
Just keep the Mustang, everything else will never be drivable enough for California, and you’re ultimately just either storing something that you’ll never return to, or you’re moving trash from one box you aren’t going to open to another. Having moved more than once, and having boxes in my garage that haven’t seen light in at least a decade, please don’t do this to yourself. Sell them to someone that can have one as their only project and bring some new life to them. I would love to have that J10 here in Texas
David, as a SoCal OC/LA native, I can safely say there’s no reason to take most of these to California. The 5spd complete Jeep, and the Mustang are viable, but you’ll be able to find nicer replacements here for all of it. The downside is that those replacements may cost a bit more than whatever you can find in Michigan.
Also, keep in mind that junker, project, or just a pile of old rust cars isn’t always welcomed out here, though it does depend on your area. HOA’s and NIBMY neighbors can be headache inducing at times. My neighbor called the city on my S13 I was parting out, just to give you an example. That alone might make it tough to move everything unless you find a place with a three car garage and a driveway that matches.
OK, we’ve done our part. David, it’s time for an update to announce your plan(s). However, just know that if the plan is to store ANYTHING, then it’s the wrong plan.
And here’s an LA-based J10, in case you need incentive: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3214093888852419/
My opinion is sell/scrap them all except the Mustang and the FC. Drive the Mustang, and get the FC shipped. I’d still love to see an EV-swapped FC, and I doubt you’d be able to do much else with it in CA to be honest.
David –
Seriously!!!!!!
I’ve been there more times than I want to admit! And I’ve always lost…..
Sell them all!!!!
FWIW, I’m a lifelong Michigander and a 40+yr automotive engineer.
Sell all of your vehicles for whatever you can get for them. NOW
DO NOT plan to tow anything West.
You absolutely need to make a clean break – NOTHING you choose to move from MI to CA will make sense to you in 3-5 months. CA vehicles have much better prospects…..
Best of luck in whatever you choose!!!!!!!
Keep the reliable XJ. Keep the Mustang.
Sell everything else.
If you’re going to move, make it a clean slate and don’t bring any iron oxide with you.
Sometimes the things we have can blind us to the opportunity cost of missed future opportunities.
Each car you keep is one less rust-free southwestern project you have space for.
Store the J10 and the Mustang in MI and start fresh. Each car you take w/ you to CA is going to be a different type of anchor keeping you from finding a place to live. You’ve had no issues finding fun projects in Germany and Australia, CA will be no different!
We sold off our fun cars (probably the cleanest e30 and NA Miata you’ll see) before our move out west from Tennessee and it ended up being a good thing. Moving to AZ opened us up to new places to enjoy cars, and it turns out that those two wouldn’t have been a great fit here anyways.
Good luck man, can’t wait to read about what is next.
As a midwesterner transplanted to California, here’s where I land.
If you NEED to bring one of them, bring the Stang because it’s smog-exempt, tho gas prices will be a shock when you move here. There are people above me talking about how terrible the CADMV is, and there’s some truth, but in a lot of ways it’s easier than other places I’ve lived (MI, IN, CO). I bought a ’68 C-10 Suburban and did the whole transfer of title, registration and tags online. Never set foot in a DMV. You could re-engine the J-10 with something more modern, but I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Now, the FC? That you should bring out here behind a U-haul and sell it to me when you get here.
Since you’re an army brat, and you seem to have no intention of permanently living anywhere, why bother setting up residency in California? Sure, you’ll spend a chunk of your professional time there. But that’s transient, it doesn’t mean you must live there full-time. Why put yourself through getting your fleet California-legal when you’re not going to stay there long-term?
Or are you now renouncing your nomadic way of living?
I’m gonna live there for a period of time. It needs to be the home base now.
In that case, add me to the choir of folks saying to get rid of all the rust buckets. As you hinted at, the clean ZJ is rarer (I.E. easier to sell) in Michigan than it would be out West. Also consider the non-trivial cost of driving/towing/shipping each car out there.
Keep the Mustang, if it fits your plans, but the rest of them should be easy to replace once you get out there.
David recently trusted me enough to let me take the J10 pick up for a quick spin around the block.
Can confirm. It is indeed The Greatest Truck in the World.
The only car worth taking is the Mustang.
Dude C’MON. Look at the pictures of the two 5 speed Cherokees again.
We love your wrenching articles and are rooting for you in all your endeavors, but you’re going to keep TWO Cherokees with issues, one of which is not in good shape at all, and sell the ONE that is in great shape AND roadworthy?
Hang on to the stock parts when you lift it and put paint protection film on the nice one if you’re that worried about modding and off roading. Problem solved without another year of wrenching to maybe get them both ready to go.
The biggest problem you’re up against is the astronomical cost of living out there. Getting a place with a garage with enough space to store tools and work on cars is going to be difficult. Getting a place that also has space to store even more cars is going to be nigh impossible. If I were going to pay the massive premium to live in LA, I would want my project cars to let me do some wrenching and some getting out and enjoying the incredible weather, landscapes, and driving roads out there rather than chaining me to the garage every weekend.
You’re also moving away from the land of rust. I have a feeling a new project that is at a better starting point is going to pop up sooner than later.
I love David like a brother I never met, but I feel as though he might have a small case of Imposter Syndrome. In which he doesn’t feel like he deserves nice things, needs to sell all the “good ones” for money and make do with whatever is left. I only mention this because I occasionally struggle with this sensation. It’s a tug of war that actually pulls both ways for me, though. Who knows, maybe I’m just painting my own perceptions onto his actions.
As someone who sold his truck because it was too nice to let Cleveland winters kill it and then bought a shitty version of it and spent too much fixing it to be half as nice I feel this.
David…..
Long time reader, first time commenter, that’s how important this message is for you.
I was born in Southfield MI so I know and appreciate the need to move out of southeast Michigan….with a quickness…and never return. That being said, there are certain realities of SoCal that you need to be prepared for. For starters: California is not a gearhead friendly state. In fact it’s becoming more hostile to people who like to wrench on project cars, or just older cars as daily drivers. Yes, there is car culture there, but it’s going to cost you an a$$load of money to live that life out there. Hopefully this website is paying you three times as much as your former employer paid you because to live in SoCal, you will have to make A LOT more money in order to afford the gear head life out there, not to mention things like food, fuel, housing, property taxes, electricity, HOA fees, renters insurance, homeowners insurance, etc.
It won’t take very long for you to meet your new nemesis out there: The California DMV, and it’s equally despicable cousin, the California Air Resource Board (CARB). Between the two, get ready to become intimately familiar with both if you drive anything older than 10 years of age. Smog inspections, DMV inspections, the higher cost to insure your car (if you live in LA County, bring lots of lube if you need full coverage…), and the multitude of other Cal DMV nuances that you will soon grow to loathe. If you ever decide to buy a pickup truck out there, sit down before looking at what yearly registration will cost you (I had a 2002 F-250SD with a gas engine and they charged me $400 a year just to register the thing. That doesn’t include smog inspection, gas, insurance and upkeep costs! Diesels are even worse). If you can tolerate the drive into LA each day from Kern county, live there. Lower cost of living, to include car insurance prices. Just avoid east Bakersfield like it’s the plague.
On your current fleet, SELL EVERYTHING but the Mustang. You’ll probably end up like that guy you reported on before up in Northern MI who had to sell all of his 100+ project car fleet at a loss, but it’s a necessary evil. It’ll cost you more to ship those hunks of rust in your driveway out there than what any of them are worth. Throw the Mustang on the back of a Penske truck, and regroup once you’ve settled down in LA. If you plan to live in an apartment out there, check to see if they’ll even allow you to have more than 1 car on the premises, to say nothing about wrenching on it out in the parking lot. That, or make friends with someone who has a big backyard you can park your cars at. Storage fees out there are through the roof as well, especially one large enough to park a car inside.
Good luck man. I mean it. You’re a brave man for moving to California in this day and age. No doubt you will pass more folks in moving trucks heading the other way as you head in. California has some good things to it, like food, outdoorsy activities, and the televised police chases in LA never get old to watch. I get it; in your line of work, it’s the place to be. Willow Springs raceway out in Rosamond is a historic track that I visited frequently that I’m sure you will visit soon! Aside from that, it is an expensive, soul sucking dystopia that I was happy to put in my rear view mirror a few years back. Take the money from the sale of all your vehicles, buy yourself a Prius like a good Californian transplant and get acclimated with all that I have stated above before you go crazy with the used vehicle purchases out there.
I get the smog inspection part (it’s why on Shitbox Showdown I pretty much turn up my nose on anything from the 80s), but what are these “DMV inspections” of which you speak? I’ve lived in SoCal all my life and have registered twenty cars here over the years, and never had to get one inspected by the DMV. I had to go to the smog referee after I swapped a 1993 Chevy Caprice drivetrain into a 1987 Jag, but other than that my only interactions with the DMV have been renewals and transfers, most of which I either do online, via mail, or in the local AAA office. Even if I got a fix-it ticket for a busted light or something, a visit to the local CHP office would get that checked off and taken care of. I’ve even titled and registered cars with nothing but a bill of sale. Sorry you didn’t have such a good time.
I’ve lived in Orange County my entire life and it’s nowhere near as bad as you’re making it out to be, nor did you factually represent various aspects. What DMV inspections are you referring to? There are only two, international imports, and rebuilt titles, which wouldn’t have any bearing on Dave. There are no other inspections.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand wanting to get out of MI (I’m actually about 10 miles away from you), but why L.A.??
The car culture in L.A. is HUGE. As was mentioned in today’s article about the Mercury Montclair Sun Valley, there’s an entire neighborhood that’s nothing but junkyards and taco trucks! The only annoyance about L.A. is that the cost of living is high. And sooner or later, The Big One is gonna bring it all down. And the annual wildfires have become a persistent pain in the ass. But otherwise, if you can afford the gas and a place to hang your hat (preferably with a garage and/or driveway), it’s the IDEAL place to be a car guy. There are nearly eight million cars and trucks registered in Los Angeles County, nearly as many as there are in the entire state of Michigan, but without the rust.
David, follow this old sage advice and just throw you hat over the wall…
https://denisehedges.com/throwing-your-hat-over-the-wall/
If your brother wants the Mustang, ask him to pay storage. Otherwise, keep the Mustang and consider it yours.
Sell everything else cheap. This is all full of rust and won’t pass emissions. Start from scratch. Only collect what you genuinely have space to keep. Blog about your projects here and then auction them off for charity here. Instead of a car hoarder, become a car flipper.
David, David, David.
As someone who has been in a similar situation to yourself several times over the years:
SELL EVERYTHING BUT THE MUSTANG.
THROW THE MUSTANG BEHIND A UHAUL.
USE THE MUSTANG AS A TEMP RIDE WHILE YOU FIND A NEW, ***RELIABLE*** DAILY DRIVER PROJECT THAT WILL BE RUST FREE.
Plain. Simple. Efficient.
Trust me when I say that moving with a vehicle of questionable reliability towing all your worldly belongings cross country is sketchy, at best- having driven a 1998 Toyota Sienna with 340,000 miles towing a 6×10 trailer, with the van full of 800 lbs and the trailer full of 3k pounds, and somehow making it from Cedar Rapids to Denver without breaking down by some small miracle… being broken down during a cross country move is not something you want to chance experiencing. It makes for great writing, but honestly, just save yourself this particular stress, and apply the money from selling your Michigan Collection towards other projects in your new home.
Agreed: repeat this mantra. “New life, new cars”
They are just machines. Their stories will always stay within you,
It’s funny you mention this. I’ve done two big moves, and within a year I’ve sold any car I’ve brought to the new place. Traits in a car that I loved in one location didn’t translate, or my interests changed and I wanted something different.
This is the best advice. Another Jeep project that is in way better shape and is way easier to work on will present itself once he gets out there. The other ones will just become anchors and suck up money having to be stored somewhere.
I learned a long time ago that when you move across country you will bring the problems in your head with you- you can’t move away from those. BUT: you can move away from a bunch of rusty scrap metal that would mostly be better served in the hands of someone with one project to focus on rather than 8. or your former 20 (all of which were classified as holy grails).
Just sell all the things. Start fresh. All of these cars, if sold, might be able to give you enough money to buy a new project, one that’s actually worth working on, one that will not challenge the strength of your latest tetanus booster.
Also: the reason the Holy Grail is so precious is that there’s exactly one of them. There’s not a whole series of holy grails that followed jesus around like leftover dixie cups. Just one. You can’t have 8 holy grails.
SELL IT ALL FOR PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR AND GO.
Dude. I feel you. I know this pain. But here are the facts, facts that I have taken far too long to accept as true [in my own personal form]: 1) You need to go and this stuff is holding you back. 2) You’re David Tracy. You can find gems like this anywhere in the world. People delight to huck things like this your way. You WILL find more you love just as much. 3) If you will just rip off the bandaid and dump everything, dirt cheap so it goes quick, you will hit the road to L.A. with such a tremendous feeling of lightness and excitement and you will feel so good about looking forward instead of back that you will lament that you didn’t do it sooner because it was totally worth it.
Normally I would say take the Mustang, but as someone who also fled the Midwest and discovered car culture because of Southern California, I think you will want to start from scratch. There are a million more projects with far less rust awaiting you here. Just sell it all and come ready. You’ll be back up to 8 in a month.
Agree. Southern California will have less rust. You’ll have more cars to choose from. Start fresh!
It isn’t easy, David, but I think it has to be done. Best of luck in trimming the bunch.
Store the Mustang if your brother will foot the bill, otherwise sell it in MI. The FC is a runner, let someone else enjoy it because aerodynamics is the enemy of any EV conversion. Sell everything else.
Take the J-10 to California because your soul needs a parts-hauler and your audience needs a hilarious and informative series of articles about your misadventures with postponing, dodging and then attempting CARB compliance.
Sell them all. Taking any of these from Michigan to the west coast will be like bringing your own sand to the beach.
My vote is to do the EV conversion on the J10.
Ooohhhh, didn’t think of that… This is the correct answer!