@Smokin Joe
It ain't just Ithaca shotguns. When I first got out of the army I moved to Virginia Beach,VA,and could have bought a brand new ranch house with 2br,1-1/2 baths,and a carport in a nice neighborhood for 18 grand.
I went to look at and price a new GMC half-ton pu,and when the salesman told me "We can let you have that for $2400!",I asked him if he had lost his bleeping mind because nobody sane would ever pay that much for a PU.
Priced new houses or pu's lately?
Nope. I live in a house that turned 100 a few years ago, and all my fleet is at least old enough to vote and buy alcohol (which is a good thing, because they keep putting it in the gas). One of them is old enough to get Medicare...
New pickups have lots of neat gee whiz sci-fi stuff in them, but I like the basics, I don't want gadgets demanding my attention when I'm driving. All the dings and beeps and squeals are just a frigging nuisance.
I 'feel' and listen to the vehicle, and watch the gauges. I learned to drive by the seat of my pants.
I don't like anti-lock brakes, and about the only thing newer I like is fuel injection because the ride will start at 30 below, even without plugging the engine in (although I do, to get the (full synthetic) oil moving better quicker, and because it is easier on the mill). I use synthetic gear lube in the pumpkins, too. and should consider doing the same in the 4-speed for the Dodge with the slant 6, even though I rarely drive it in winter (2WD). It has TBI, and just doesn't start quite as easily as the 10 year younger Vortec 5.7s in most of the fleet.
