# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380 "2022-09-28T11:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 419
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8364 "2023-12-02T16:28:33Z")
I could have gone back another decade if the poll had said “vehicle” instead of “car.” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8365 "2023-12-02T16:45:37Z")
I can thank Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI for my many Model T rides. mmm ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8366 "2023-12-02T17:01:10Z")
I’ve ridden in a lot of vehicles that are very old. The Mount Washington cog railway was opened in 1870, and the cars looked original when i rode it. Lots of cast iron and mahogany. The [Sophie C](https://cruisenh.com/blogs/news/u-s-mailboat-sophie-c-returns-to-lake-winnipesaukee), which delivers mail on lake Winnipesaukee was launched in 1945 and is still taking passengers around the lake, along with the mail. The [Hershey Park “Comet”](https://www.hersheypark.com/explore-the-park/rides/comet/) was also built in the 40s. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8367 "2023-12-02T17:17:43Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The Mount Washington cog railway was opened in 1870, and the cars looked original when i rode it. I rode on trains starting in the 1950’s; I have no idea how old the train cars were. How long do those usually stay in service? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8368 "2023-12-02T17:23:40Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I rode on trains starting in the 1950’s; I have no idea how old the train cars were. How long do those usually stay in service? Typically decades, and if kept in good repair, potentially longer. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8369 "2023-12-02T18:58:27Z")
I didn’t think about trains. The engine at Tweetsie Railroad was built in 1917, I’m sure the cars were built in 1957 when the park was opened, though. ETA: Never mind. The poll specifies “cars”. I assume the intent is automobiles. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8370 "2023-12-02T19:03:17Z")
If we’re counting trains, the steam locomotive I used to drive at the zoo was built in 1905. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8371 "2023-12-02T20:44:26Z")
FYI, @engineer_comp_geek very very kindly made a Discourse adjustment to the SDMB so that polls no longer default to public. They rock!!! You can still make a poll public manually by switching on “Show who voted” when building a poll. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8372 "2023-12-02T20:55:39Z")
Oldest car I’ve _owned_ was my 1995 Saturn. Oldest car I’ve driven is a tie between the 1988 Buick that was “my” car in high school but legally belonged to my parents, and the 1988 Isuzu pickup that was our work truck at my summer job as a groundskeeper. (Even though the poll specified “cars” I assume pickups would count, too, not that it would affect my answer.) I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually driven a car with a carburetor. I have never known having to pump the accelerator before starting a car. When I visited Cuba I rode in a 1957 Chevy Bel Air taxi and a 1957 Buick Special taxi. I’m pretty sure those are the oldest cars I’ve ridden in. Of course like most old cars in Cuba I’m sure they had more modern engines under the hood. If we insist on only including cars that are completely original, I vaguely remember riding in some old American sedans that were probably from the 1960s when I was in preschool in the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8373 "2023-12-02T21:07:22Z")
I remember my parents owning a VW bug when I was like 3 - 4 years old. They were so frugal I’m sure they bought it used, so that would be at best a 1965 bug (I was born in 1962), but probably quite earlier vintage. That’s undoubtedly the oldest car I’ve ridden in. Earliest car I’ve owned was a 1972 Chevy Nova. And a 1972 Pontiac Catalina, total land barge. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8374 "2023-12-02T21:29:45Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually driven a car with a carburetor. Hah! I know where to stick the screwdriver in the carburetor if the car won’t start! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8375 "2023-12-02T22:21:35Z")
The oldest car I ever personally owned was an early 1970s VW Beetle, which my father bought for me, while I was in high school, from a friend for a very small amount of money. We realized, after we bought it, that it needed way too much work to make it really roadworthy, so I wound up never driving it very far, before we sold it again (to someone willing to do the work to fix it properly). The oldest car I ever personally drove was a 1969 Jeep Wagoneer, which belonged to my parents, and which I drove regularly during my senior year of high school. That was a rusted-out beast, with a non-functional heater (great fun in Wisconsin winter!), and which got ~10 MPG. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8376 "2023-12-02T23:08:18Z")
My dad was a big Car Guy his whole life. At various points in my childhood he had a ‘39 Chevy, a ‘47 Dodge, and a ‘59 Corvette. I rode in all of those but was too young to drive them. When I got my license, he let me drive his ‘67 Mustang, which was awesome. The first car I actually owned was a ‘79 Citation, followed by an ‘84 Oldsmobile, a ‘96 Sable, a 2002 Sebring, and a 2013 Prius. And I’ve driven various new rental cars in the past couple years. So one way or another, I’ve got every decade from the 1930’s to the 2020’s covered. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8377 "2023-12-03T00:29:55Z")
Re: “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”: The song certainly isn’t about a “sweet young girl.” If it’s about anything at all, it’s about a trip through a surrealistic landscape (which may or may not be an acid trip). The song was inspired by [a drawing made by John’s preschool-aged son Julian](https://popculturereferences.com/seeing-the-actual-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-drawing/), or at least by the title of that drawing. I am doubtful that Julian had LSD in mind when he came up with the drawing or its title. I find it quite likely that John noticed the initials and was influenced by them in writing the song, but it’s not impossible that he was just riffing on the surrealistic whimsy in the title itself. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8378 "2023-12-03T05:49:06Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > She told me she’d turned my seat’s heat on. I hated that feature. My brother owns a Tesla and it has electric seat heaters. I was thinking it was decadent luxury but then I considered, if you haven’t any waste engine heat to tap into it makes more sense to heat the seat rather than the air in the cabin. The oldest car I’ve driven is also the oldest one I’ve owned, my grandfather’s 1950 [Chrysler Windsor](https://thumbor-production-auction.hemmings.com/820x545/585813/img-6609.jpg), the same age as me. Mine was gray. The oldest I’ve ridden in was a neighbor’s [Ford Model N](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_N) he had restored. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8379 "2023-12-03T06:28:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Re: “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”: The song certainly isn’t about a “sweet young girl.” If it’s about anything at all, it’s about a trip through a surrealistic landscape (which may or may not be an acid trip). > > The song was inspired by [a drawing made by John’s preschool-aged son Julian](https://popculturereferences.com/seeing-the-actual-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-drawing/), or at least by the title of that drawing. Yep. Not about drugs, sometimes you have to trust the author. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8380 "2023-12-03T12:50:22Z")
Eh, i believe it was inspired by the drawing. I also believe that the author of the song was thinking about LSD when he wrote the lyrics. It’s unusual for any artistic work to be about just one thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8381 "2023-12-03T13:50:37Z")
Am I alone in that none of the perpetual superpowers appeal to me? mmm ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8382 "2023-12-03T14:03:55Z")
They’re not supposed to be particularly appealing. Polls about regular superpowers have already been done to death in the thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8383 "2023-12-03T14:21:23Z")
I’m surprised tha a) there are so many gunmen motivated to force random people to take part in internet polls and b) so few people watched _Succession_, one of the best shows of recent times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=418) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=420)