What happens when an obsessed car enthusiast who was convinced he’d die alone meets the girl of his dreams, gets married, and has a child? Well, he finds himself both overjoyed and in a bit of a predicament, with far too many cars that…kind of don’t work for his lifestyle anymore. Why am I speaking in the third person? I have no idea, but I got zero sleep last night, so please bear with me as I talk about my current automotive dilemma now that most of my cars no longer work as daily transportation.
Over the past few weeks since welcoming my child, Delmar (not his real name), I have been driving around almost exclusively in my wife’s Lexus RX350.
Look, I’ve reviewed her 2017 RX350, and it is truly one of the best crossover SUVs money can buy — it rides great, it’s powerful, it’s spacious, it’s reliable, and on and on. But while it’s an impressive machine for how well it performs its intended function, it doesn’t exactly stir my soul. OK, I’ll say it: It’s a bit boring, and I’m starting to go crazy.
Obviously, complaining about driving a luxury SUV is very much a first-world-problem, but you know what I mean here. I’m a car-nut who is used to daily drive a 1965 Plymouth Valiant, a 1976 Postal Jeep, a 1992 Jeep XJ, a 1948 Willys CJ-2A, more recently a BMW i3S, and on and on. To go to a literally-beige Lexus crossover is a bit soul-crushing.
Anyway, I think it might make sense to go through my current collection of cars and evaluate their utility now that everything has changed for me and “my life is over” (as the young folks say).
1985 Jeep J10, 1989 Chevy K1500 Silverado
Let’s hop right into my biggest dilemma at the moment. I own two pickup trucks, and I cannot justify that, so I need to whittle it down to one.
On one hand, I have my 1985 Jeep J10, which has always been my dream truck. On the other hand, I bought a 1989 Chevy K1500 on a bit of a whim back in January because it was such a good deal, and you know what? It’s actually a great pickup. I think I’m comfortable saying that it’s much better than the J10, objectively speaking.
But that J10 purchase was never really a rational buy. I picked it up a decade ago because I think it looks badass, and also: It’s a bit of a relic of a bygone era. It’s got a carburetor, manual locking hubs, a true bench seat, a four-speed on the floor, a stamped tailgate, and a regular cab layout with an eight-foot bed. It is a truck’s truck.
The K1500 doesn’t have a carb, manual locking hubs, a stamped tailgate, or a regular cab, and its bed is only 6.5 feet long. But man is it a great daily driver; it rides like a cloud, its throttle body-injected 350 V8 fires up and generally runs quite smoothly, offering good power. And, crucially, it has two rows of seats.
That’s my concern with my J10: With only a single row of seats, does it really make sense to keep? I mean, I get that I don’t need space for my whole family in my daily commuter, since I’ll be driving to work alone, but the J10 isn’t my commuter — it’s my classic weekend cruiser and Home Depot runner. And for that, is it realistic that I’ll be just driving around all by myself without my wife and kid?
Should I keep the Chevy so I can take them with me, even though the J10 is clearly the cooler truck? I don’t have the answer.
[Editor’s Note: I guess we’re not talking about this? I’d have thought that could make this choice easier, but what do I know? – JT]
BMW i3S
The two daily drivers in our household are the Lexus and the BMW i3S, and that may make you wonder: “Why not just drive your beloved i3S instead of the Lexus?” It’s a fair question, especially given that the i3S is actually quite a safe car, having scored excellent marks in IIHS crash testing.
The issue is that the i3S is really not the most ideal family car. The big thing is that the infant car seat only just fits, and what’s more, getting the child in and out of that seat — especially when parked next to another car — is a huge pain in the ass. You end up getting stuck in this weird space between the rear door and the front door that needs to be open to release the rear door.
The overall interior volume isn’t bad — the entire continent of Europe has raised families in much smaller cars — but relative to the Lexus, the i3 is a pain in the Arsch for loading/unloading a baby.
I still plan to keep my i3, because I’m hoping once that seat becomes front-facing, it’ll be easier to install/remove young Delmar; plus, the i3 is the ideal one-person LA commuter. But there is part of me that wonders whether I should make sure all my cars can easily fit the whole family, or if it’s OK to have one or two that don’t.
Growing up, my dad had a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee as his commuter, and it only seats five, while there were eight in our family. We had a Chevy Astro as well, so I think having one car that easily fits everyone and one that doesn’t is OK. And again, once that seat can flip around, maybe it’s fine.
[Editor’s Note: Personally, I think an i3 is a completely fine baby car. Well, the getting-trapped-in-the-doors thing sounds annoying, but I took my kid all over the place in my ’73 Beetle, and it had half as many doors! An i3 is many orders of magnitude better than that, especially safety-wise. But the Beetle wins for helping to keep your baby smelling like gasoline, oil, and horsehair. – JT]
Jeep YJ, Ford Mustang
So we’ve talked about the trucks and the daily-driver, but what about my classic cars that are a bit less utilitarian — my Sunday cruisers? To me, the fact that these can fit a child (once he’s older) means they’re in the clear. No, I can’t drive these far on the freeway like I used to, because they’re not safe, but if baby-Delmar wants to cruise around town in the YJ old Mustang, I bet he’d love it! (My old CJ-3B will hopefully have found a new home by then).
I don’t really see any issue with keeping ’round-town classics that can fit a family. It’s just the J10 that has me worried, because there’s no second row. [Editor’s Note: It’s a bench seat in the J10! We’ve had three people in there before! I was even in the middle! Elise (NHRN) and Delmar (NHRN) could all cram in there! Just you know, it’s maybe not the safest.– JT]
Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ 5-Speed, Diesel Manual Chrysler Voyager
There are two vehicle that I’m a little worried about, because they’re not really ’round-town-cruisers; their best trait is that they’re great road-trippers. Do I think it would be loads of fun to drive 35 mph in a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee five-speed or a diesel manual Chrysler Voyager? Not really.
At least with the Mustang you get a nice sounding V8 and a totally different driving experience than you’re used to, and with the YJ you get open-top fun. But the ZJ and minivan? They’re great on the open road, or in the case of the ZJ, overlanding off-road.
I’d love to keep them both, because they’re amazing machines, but if I can’t regularly drive them with my family on the freeway, I’m not sure how useful they’ll be.
Then again, how much of car collecting is really about usefulness. I mean, none of this is rational; should I even be trying to rationalize it? Yes, yes I should. I’m a family man now and I have responsibilities. Frivolities need to be curbed! Right?
[Editor’s Note: I disagree with that above sentiment entirely. Some people love to tell new parents that kind of thing (I think they just get a perverse pleasure at seeing new parents’ faces go ashen when they get told they’ll never have fun again) , and I suspect David has heard it plenty. But it’s bullshit. You don’t need to curb frivolity, automotive or otherwise. You just need to involve the kid in it, because they’ll love it. There’s no right way to be a parent, and every kid is different, but I’d counsel, as a fellow dad, to keep the cars he likes, because a happy parent is a good parent. – JT]
It’s time for another holy grail.
All of these are great cars, and you love/d them for different reasons in one stage of life. But people aren’t static and having a kid is a big shift. It’s fine to embrace that new challenge and let your love of interesting cars come along for the ride.
Keep the J10 – it carries a lot of sentimental value for you and will never be easily replaceable. The Mustang is great for Sunday cruising and is your brother’s anyway.
Then sell everything else and go on the hunt for the DT family man holy grail. What’s the car that has interesting engineering like the i3, can be used for some light trails like the YJ, can tow more than the J10 if needed, and still makes a reasonable commuter, all while offering you modern safety for your family? Or what’s the best combination of those traits?
There are lots of interesting cars from the past decade and a half or so that will be perfectly safe and check a lot of the boxes. Maybe revisit your desire for a modern Wrangler? Find a cool Landcruiser or GX? Learn as much as you can about various hybrid systems on offer in CUV’s and SUV’s of the last decade? Or maybe you jump in a new direction like you did with the i3 and start checking out cool family wagons or other enthusiast alternatives to the CUV/minivan?
He did put a deposit down on a Scout w/Harvester but at this point it will be a while before he can actually bring one home.
Time to get a YJ with the “Family” roll cage!
Or just swap one in to your current YJ.
I started my will it baby journey with a 2013 FIAT 500 Abarth, thanks to Jasons article on the old site. We used to drop baby in the backseat through the rear hatch. Now kiddo rolls with us in the YJ or the Maverick.
Safe, fits everyone, truck… sounds like its gladiator time. Perhaps 4xe gladiator time.
I have a little bit of insight as I’ve have a YJ and have had 2 seat cars with toddlers.
Short of a minivan or Tahoe, infant seats don’t fit great in ANY car. I had a 2007 Subaru Outback for bringing my daughter home from the hospital, and it BARELY fit the Diono rear facing infant seat. There are manufacturer-approved foam pads that will angle up the rear-facing seat a bit so it doesn’t smack into one of the front seats, but that only helps so much.
Some people put the infant seat in the middle rear seat, but that makes it harder for the front seat passengers to reach them, and it’s more of a reach to get them in there. We always put the carseat on one of the outboard seats.
Thankfully, the infant seat phase goes by pretty quickly, then you’ll be on to the rear-facing seats which are generally a bit easier to fit in the car.
We had an Outback and 2nd-gen Honda Insight when we had an infant. Both cars were boring, but safe, and they had tons of cargo space.
When the kid hit toddler age, I sold the Outback and got a YJ. A rear-facing car seat fit perfectly on the rear bench, the passenger seat pivot mechanism makes getting to the back with the top up super easy, but if the sides were off, I could get the kid buckled from the outside, which was even better. The bench position between the rear wheels makes a handy shelf for keeping kid stuff. I installed a small console with a drink and snack holder.
When the kid is old enough for a front-facing seat, Miatas are great. Kids love them, you can easily disable the passenger airbag, and my kid’s seat fit perfectly into my NB. Years later, she still talks fondly about the Miata rides with dad.
Hmm, for now, the i3 with suicide doors should work for daily operations that doesn’t involve a lot of stuff, like a doctor’s visit.
Minivan/Wagon/7 seater SUV time has come. Or big sedans (5er, E-class and sorts since you got used to BMW and Lexus luxury), they work relatively well, when you only have one kid. Two or more excludes the sedan, specially if you plan to travel.
I have kids and migrated from a 7 seater SUV, which had plenty of space, to a sedan, because I like the style, and now every time we travel I play tetris to fit the lugage in the trunk.
Now I am considering going back to the 7 seater crossover/SUV, just because I don’t like to argue with my wife that she is packing too much stuff for only a weekend.
I would say limit yourself to the things you want to drive and enjoy being in/working on/investing time into/etc.
The i3 as you said is a great commuter and it can haul the baby, is it a little difficult? Sure, but just park further back for an open spot and get those extra steps in.
The pickup trucks, that’s a difficult one. You should have a run around town, parts hauler truck but which one do you value more? The rarity and simplicity of the J10 or the comfort and civility of the Silverado? That’s your choice to bear, but I’d argue the Silverado will be a headache in the long run (transmission and now water pump issues).
The Mustang you keep. No question, that’s been in your family and fleet and will be a great treat for your child to drive to Prom or on a First Date in many years from now.
The YJ? It’s a personal choice, but you have the Grand Cherokee for off-roading too. However, the GC will be a full build that will take time and money to get right. You’ve got a kid and your family now that will take that as well. You might have to move around other projects, what’s your priority on that front? If I were you, I’d sell the YJ, take the funds and build the ZJ Grand Cherokee into your perfect, family hauling, off-road vehicle.
The Diesel Voyager is the toughest one. On one hand, this would be a perfect family vehicle (crash test standards not withstanding). It’s a van, easy to get in and out of and you can remove the rear seats to haul stuff when needed. However, it’s a diesel in California with hard to find parts and no safety anchors for a baby seat, so you’d be waiting 4-5 years to possibly use it as a family hauler. I’d say this is the one to sell, as much as that sucks to say.
Torch is absolutely right, you can maintain your fleet and still have fun with your old cars. Wrenching with your child will be one of your greatest pleasures and passing down skills and stories is invaluable in a child’s life. If you decide to sell any, post them here!
Don’t ask us, listen to JT. He knows the truth of it. Its all in the last paragraph. – signed, Dad of two teenagers.
The proper vehicle for family man David is the Jeep WJ Grand Cherokee. It has most of the stuff that appeals to Jeep man David (inline 6 with low range transfer case, solid axles, etc) but has things like semi-modern safety systems and child seat anchors family man David needs while not causing cheap bastard David to have a stroke.
Except for the exploding gas tanks that have killed kids and actually terrible by modern standards safety ratings
David, I’m (mostly) with Jason. You could easily throw a baby seat in several of these and not every vehicle needs to serve every purpose. A single-cab pickup can be something you use for pickup things. My dad had a single-cab Chevy stepside when I was growing up and used it for the things he needed it for. Until I was old enough to just sit in the middle (or the bed), it just wasn’t used for driving with children.
I do think that paring down the fleet is a pretty reasonable goal, though. Just to ensure you are able to keep them all running and don’t let them sit and deteriorate. But don’t limit yourself to the practical family haulers only.
Realistically, with a fleet your size, you could have mostly impractical vehicles. As long as each of you has access to a vehicle that is practical for hauling the kid as needed whenever the other is away, you’re good. If that means that you don’t have the road trip vehicle as a daily driver, fine. If it means hauling lumber isn’t a family activity, you can still go grab some lumber alone.
You don’t have to become someone else because you are a dad. Just be a good dad and still be David Tracy.
Torch speaks truth. The only curbs on frivolity that naturally should occur with having a kid would be time and money. I expect you will be devoting more of both of those to the kid and wife, thus reducing available resources for your frivolity. But Torch and I seem cut from similar cloth. I’ve carted my kids around in vintage cars often. They ride sideways in the jump seats of my 80s Datsun trucks and love it.
And in the end, you can combine frivolity with family car. You can get fun and 4 doors if that is what you decide you need. Add a Wagoneer so you keep the J10 vibe and have more doors. Replace the King Cab with a Quad Cab Chevy instead. Buy another Valiant.
As I have stated before. Don’t give up passion just because of adulthood. I do not believe the best parents are those who give up all of themselves to become the physical reflection of the childs needs. Keep something back for yourself so you stay YOU. A little time wrenching. A proper enthusiasts car that makes you smile, even in family duties.
I drive a Saab 92x. I got it because it fit the family needs. I got a wagon, turbo, manual, all for me. Then I lowered it. Yet it still does commuter and family duties just fine.
What you have might not work, but there are version of them that will. Go get those.
I also want to ad, there will be many people who phrase advice so that it makes you feel bad if “SAFETY” is not your one and ONLY deciding factor. Ignore them. Safety is important, but it is not the only consideration, even once a parent. If safety is your only consideration then you better buy Delmar a helmet and that baby seat that comes with built in air bags. But one cannot live life purely by fear of what might occur.
Also, Elise’s opinion matters more than any of ours.
Ditch the Red ZJ and the Voyager right off the bat, ZJ needs way too much and the Voyager is rare but that doesn’t mean it’s worth it. Keep the XJ for fun, Mustang for sure. As for the trucks, my opinion, sell the 89 and put all the funds to fixing up the J10. It’s cooler and rarer. Neither is really up for the task of daily workouts but a clean J10 earns major Dad points when you go on your weekend Home Depot/Lowe’s runs.
For daily drivers though, stick with the i3. I managed to survive with a Tacoma and two rear facing car seats for years. Not ideal but for short trips you’ll manage just fine. And as he grows, can start getting thinner seats that help a lot.
I babied 2x in a Geo tracker. I would take almost any car you got over that.
And JT nailed it perfectly.
I think you’re just going to change the type of cars you own for a while. Most parents go through this. Maybe the Cherokee would work with enough work. Maybe something like a stick shift Tacoma or FJ would work. Maybe you settle for an X3 or X5 for a while (it will break enough to give a bunch of content).
The I3 is fine for a while, but do you really want cheerio crumbs and stains from throw up and whatever you put in the bottle that he decided he didn’t want anymore (right before he decides he did actually want the bottle and starts screaming)?
I haven’t seen this asked, but as a fellow baby parent, what style of car seat are you using? Because we have two and they fit different cars. Also you haven’t talked about fitting a stroller in any of these, and that takes up even more room.
I won’t tell you what to buy, but we have a Honda Odyssey, and as a van guy I am so happy with it. But I can also tell you that it is boring compared to our electric car.
I second the recommendation to scope out if a smaller car seat is available. I mean, I got through the rear facing years with a Mazda2, although it was strictly a 3-seater for that stint. Still, kids are expensive, and if a smaller seat is available, that’s cheaper than taking a bath on the i3 and buying something else.
Isn’t there a way to isofix/adapt a baby seat into the middle/backseat of your i3? If so, it seems like it’d be fine for a baby, plus he/she would be in the geographical center of that carbon fiber cage!
The carseat is probably too wide. Even if it can be attached in the middle, then it has to have at least 1 inch clearance between it and the back of both the driver and passenger front seats. If it’s just behind the passenger, that’s only one seat that needs to be slid forward/have crappy legroom for an adult.
Delmar? OK, I get left coast connection (though that one is Del Mar) and the whole “of the sea” meaning, but man, as an alias that sucks. Couldn’t you have picked one the Thunderbirds’ names as a fake out? Scott, Virgil, John, Alan and Gordon (named for America’s Mercury astronauts) were all right there! And their last name is Tracy, too! You could’ve digitally pasted one of their faces over the kid’s whenever he shows up in a photo. Could’ve been perfect. Oh well. I still want to see one of those Omoro Kinte raising baby Kunte to the night sky in “Roots” scenes with you and little Delmar. Maybe gather the Autopian tribe around you for that one and stand atop the the J10.
As to the car collection, keep ‘em all; the kid will love them like you do.
My bet was on Rust(y) or CJ
Yeah, those would’ve been more DT adjacent.
Minion.
The name is Minion the first.
Keep the Silverado, i3, and CJ
Give the Mustang to your brother, since its his.
Get rid of the rest.
You won’t/don’t have time for projects for a while. Family comes first, then your company. That’s going to take all your time anyway. Nothing to be sad about….It’s just how life works.
You have an interesting dilemma and similar to what most every car person has at some point or another. My current solution for needing to transport my significant other and the 3 kiddos (and 2 doggos) in our lives is a 2010 Toyota Tundra SR5 CrewMax. Before you give me crap for finding a truck that looks like a million other trucks on the road and only has a 5.5ft bed, it is cool/rare in that it has seating for 6 and a sunroof to boot! It is also plenty capable of towing either of my project vehicles (2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and a 1968 Ford Mustang).
Since I know you’re a car guy who will likely always have a project around of some sort, I recommend keeping a tow vehicle that can hold as many people as possible. I recently flat towed my Jeep to Moab and appreciated the comfort of my tow vehicle and the knowledge that it was much less likely to break down than the Jeep it was towing (no offense to my LJ!)..
Second Gen Tundras are so good.
The most practical (and therefore un-Autopian thing to do), IMO, is dump the truck and the i3, and get a… minivan. A Pacifica or Odyssey can haul pretty much anything that your Silverado will while also being exceptionally safe and comfortable. It’s not sexy, but if you have a Minivan and a mid-size SUV like the RX, you can justify having a fun car that is not reliable, safe, or practical.
First off Willis should have been the nom de plume instead of Delmar.
The Lexus should go to the person with Willis (not his real name). The other person can use the i3.
I thought the Mustang was you brother’s. I would keep the J10, it is a truck, it drives like a truck, and does truck things, plus easy to wrench on. Keep the YJ that can be your Sunday car. Convertible for the Sun, 4wD for light off-roading or camping, MacGyver had one.
Everything else, sell. You have a kid now take the money and run.
David I have similar thoughts on my mind. I’m getting married next year and hopefully kids sometime after that which means my next vehicle purchase is probably the last one where my only real consideration is what do I want to drive for the next several years, at least for daily drivers. My fun cars hopefully can stay, but for driving around family I will certainly want something safe and that won’t make my life miserable trying to fit everything in it.
Unless your wife is tall and legroom is an issue the i3 is perfectly adequate. Getting a baby out of any car too close to another is annoying, though I understand the unique door setup does make for it’s own challenges.
I think the bigger problem here is having to drive your family around LA. You’d be fine with what you have anywhere else that required less driving.
I might’ve said most of this over text, but you’re going to find that the simple act of moving a car seat from one vehicle to another is going to be enough to keep you from taking that “other” car/truck when the family needs to go somewhere. Not to mention that you’ll be concerned with crash safety and old car fumes getting to little Delmar, as well as wanting to virtually ensure that you’re going to get to your destination without breaking down.
You need your extracurricular vehicles to be reliable. Every little thing that they need wrenching on will be weighed against spending time with your little one in the little time that you have to do so. My recommendation is to keep the Lexus and i3 as dailies and whittle down to maximum 2 additional vehicles that you enjoy most, or for most different use cases. Keep them in decent shape and sell the others with the reward being not the dollars that you get for them, but the TIME that you get to spend with your family.
It may seem like Delmar doesn’t do much right now, but he’s going to have a ton of personality in another 6 months. In less than a year, he will be moving around freely and need constant supervision. In 2 years, he’s going to be running around and wanting you to do so with him. You’re not going to regret spending this time with him. It flies by. Soak it up!
David find the car that you can get comfortable with for family and work responsibilities. That is your base line. Then figure out what complimentary vehicles you need, and can afford, beyond it. For example, maybe its an electric four door vehicle (suv/car) for day to day but a truck and weekend vehicle would be nice to have.