They don’t make them like they used to…
We love classic cars and all their little quirks, especially since driving one teaches you to appreciate the good and identify the bad of modern cars. A perfect example of the former was plainly exposed in the UK when a father and son tried fording a creek in the UK using their 1929 Morris Oxford. Instead of just cruising through the water like today’s crossovers or even compact hatchbacks, their British classic struggled.
Off-roading a Ford Model T isn’t a joke, as you can see here.
As you can see in the video here, the water wasn’t even a foot deep so you would think even a classic vehicle could ford it without problem. After all, back in the day there was less infrastructure so one would have to cross water like this fairly often, especially in jolly old England.
Even if that’s true, this Morris still had problems. After getting almost all the way through the water, the Oxford slowed to a stop as steam belched from underneath the chassis. Then more steam spewed out of the tailpipe, which is never a good sign.
Undeterred, the father climbed out onto the running board and opened the engine cowling on his side. Asking his son for a rag, he got to work. Unfortunately, the video cuts off there, but we’re assuming he eventually got the water-logged engine running smooth again and was able to make it the rest of his way. If not, that’s what tow trucks are made for.
Half of the fun of driving a classic car, especially a pre-war model like this, is experiencing what life was like back in the day. Car owners had to be amateur mechanics, making many a roadside repair. While classics today use much better tire technology, back in the day flats were also common which was why many automobiles back in the day have two spare tires mounted prominently for easy access.
With how much more reliable cars are these days, so many drivers don’t know how to change a flat, check their fluids, or even get out of the interior if the battery dies. It’s pathetic how soft we’ve become thanks to better technology.
