Driving My Old Car

Originally recorded sometime in September, 1998. This video was recorded with an old, hand-me-down VHS camcorder, on a worn out VHS tape, left to sit in a warm room for several years, until transferred at low bitrate onto a VCD (Video-CD). So if the camera wasn't potato enough, between the VHS and VCD, and now YouTube compression, this is as good as it gets folks. Also the audio on the camcorder was monaural, so you'll only hear it out of the left channel. This is a follow-up to the previous video. The car is a 1981 Chevrolet Citation, 4-cylinder. My first car, and it was beloved. I still miss it. My friend xjoe81x (http://www.youtube.com/user/xjoe81x) was lucky enough to get his grandmother's old car as she was not any longer able to drive. In this video, I get into my old car, do a cold start, and drive to pick up xjoe81x. I REALLY miss having a carbureted vehicle. This was a cold start, and it barely turned the engine twice and it was running. Warm starts were even more fun--it was as simple as tapping the key and the engine is running. Sometimes I'd tap the key too fast, and the starter would engage, the next piston would start compressing, but I'd let go before the distributor would hit the next wire, so no spark in that cylinder, and no fire. The engine would actually roll backwards to decompress that cylinder. Then I'd try again and it would go. But that starter didn't even have to turn the engine's flywheel a full revolution, it was just a smidgen, just enough to make the next cylinder pop, and it was running. Practically INSTANT. Almost like a "free start" on a Model T Ford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIKGI5qTc_I My car now, no matter how warm the engine is, requires the same cranking time each and every time. There are no free starts. Too bad.

Added 12 Jul 2026