'Sno Problem

The CarPort emanates from southern Connecticut, where winters are typically mild and snow melts between storms. This year, however, we've been plagued with weeks of every-day snow, and many of us are suffering from cabin fever. Steve McManus reports that even Kentucky has been snowbound. His family and his '31 Hudson, seen here, long for warm weather so they can go touring.

This causes me to wonder about old cars and snow. When our old cars were new we didn't hesitate to drive them in snow. We had no choice, if we wanted to go anywhere. It snowed plenty in Worcester, Massachusetts, where I spent my college years. My 1957 Studebaker braved the weather without trouble. In New Jersey, where I was born, my parents kept their Model A outside, and when they needed to go out wielded the business end of a shovel.

The venerable Stanley Steamer could travel in snow. While researching my book The Stanley Steamer - America's Legendary Steam Car, Stanley Museum archivist Jim Merrick and I discovered plenty of Stanleys braving the winter wilds. Even at the beginning of the 20th Century cars would go out in the snow, as did this American Berliet taking actresses Agnes Cain Brown and Lillian Hudson to New York's Majestic Theater for "The Rose of Alhambra" in 1907 (thanks to Andy Watt and PreWarCar.com).

Why don't we take old cars out in the snow? In two words, road salt. Snow is just crystallized water, and will wash off harmlessly. Salt, which melts snow and ice, also makes a nifty electrolyte, which eats metal. My Studebaker eventually died of it.

This past Sunday, Spring came to the northern hemisphere. Soon we'll be able to take our old cars out for exercise. There's only one complication. In New England, Spring is also known as "Mud Season."

Some of these Stanley photos are from The Stanley Steamer - America's Legendary Steam Car, recently awarded the prestigious Thomas McKean Memorial Cup by the Antique Automobile Club of America. The book, which has over 500 additional historic photos, can be ordered here.