It seems that anytime I pull up behind a nice restored classic car, I have to press my interior ciculation button. Haha. I know emissions requirements were more lenient back then, but I must wonder, what on earth did an entire gridlocked LA freeway smell like 40 years ago???
2006-09-19 15:25:33 · 7 answers · asked by PostGrungeJunky 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
This wasn't an environmentally charged question, folks! I am all for gas guzzlin pavement painting power. I was just curious because I had to roll up my windows driving behind ONE vintage car, I don't think I can comprehend every car on the road smelling like that.
2006-09-19 15:42:42 · update #1
That's a generalization because many antique cars burn cleaner than the new cars. You can find tests that prove it in the hobby magazines.
Design technology AND fuel formulations go hand in hand: many antique cars burn their original and now obsolete fuel mixtures better and cleaner than the fuel currently available because they were designed for them. Just like our new cars cannot run on fuel formulations made 100 years ago. Generally speaking, the octane was very much lower and varied significantly 100 years ago, Fuel was very much like lantern oil and/or kerosene. Getting a new car to run on kerosene is as difficult as getting an old car to run on methanol.
The antique car owner is always trying to find what adjustments will make their cars run with the available fuel. Sometimes it's an accomplishment to get them to even run at all.
2006-09-19 16:11:09 · answer #1 · answered by waplambadoobatawhopbamboo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The smells, the eye-watering smells of thousands of non-smog equipped, supercharged, cammed-up monster engines cruising along at 20 mph for miles and miles for a week at the Cruisin' the Coast car show every year is great! But only for that week -- can you imagine the LA freeway backed-up bumper to bumper for ten miles 30 years ago must have been like? GAG!
2006-09-19 17:21:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes this is why the gave these old gross polluters a historic licensed plate, and they do emit the worst of all emissions, this is the main reason they are not produced any longer, the gasses (will ) & can cause death , sorry for the harsh words but great question, take care p/s providing the cars your talking about run on gasoline
2006-09-19 15:33:32 · answer #3 · answered by Mechanical 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
older cars some times have carburetors with worn out jets
causing them to run too rich which makes them smell
2006-09-19 17:23:39 · answer #4 · answered by barry r 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they all used leaded gas, so the chemicals used in the past deposited in the engine is reacting with the unleaded gas of today
and there wasnt a very tight gas emision law back then so they really didnt care cleaning their exhaust
2006-09-19 15:31:31 · answer #5 · answered by cars_o_holic 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
that is the smell of raw, pure, energy, and horse power the way it was meant to be
2006-09-19 15:31:14 · answer #6 · answered by shreck 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yup, didnt have strict emmission laws back then.
2006-09-19 15:33:35 · answer #7 · answered by Eric 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋