There seems to be a continuing discussion over how much a "Rod" (read that as Street, Hot, Rat ,or Classic) should be driven. I was just on Hamb reading a thread on car shows and trophies. "...only real cars are driven.." and "....gold chainers, trophy whores and trailer queens never drive their cars cause their afraid to..", are some of the many comments I've read.

Which bring the thought to mind "What does it really cost to drive our cars"?

Take insurance for instance. I have the Willys insured through Condon and Skelly along with our other two "classics" only because the premiums are 1/3 that of everday insurance. The full coverage premium on the Willys alone is a lot more than for my new Ford pickup through my regular insurance, and that is for restricted use on the Willys. If I did want to drive it to work everyday, (between the price of gas at 4 mpg + the cost of insurance), it really does cost a small fortune. And with restricted use insurance if I'm in an accident they may or may not pay depending on whether I was in the wrong driving situation.

So, as owners of street rods (toys) what choices do we have?
Don't drive them at all?
Don't worry about having full coverage (or any) insurance altogether?
Bite the bullet and spend what it costs and enjoy it?
The hambers would "say nobody twisted your arm to run a blown big block or have a fancy paint job to worry about"?
On the surface it seems to be a very valid argument. After all we chose to spend the kind of money we did on our cars in the first place.

So how much does it really cost to drive your car, whether it be a small block roadster, or a 632CI GTO? And how much do you really drive it?
John