I’ve been in denial about this for a while. “My cars aren’t holding me back at all,” I’d convinced myself for years. “If I wanted to, I could sell them all tomorrow.” Recently it’s become clear that this just isn’t true, as has been proven by my move to LA, which should have happened months ago but hasn’t yet due to an anchor made of tons of American iron. So I come to you asking for advice on how to move past this.
The truth is, I’ve been wanting to leave Michigan for years, but what happens is: 1. November rolls around, things get cold, and I tell myself “I’m out of here.” Then 2. I fly to Germany or Hong Kong to be with my family for Christmas, and stay over there for a month working remotely. 3. I get back, spend a few months in cold Michigan and then the sun comes back out in April. 4. Weather is absolutely perfect from April through October, and car culture thrives. My enchantment with Michigan swells. 5. I vow never to leave Michigan. 6. November hits again. 7. Repeat.
[Ed note: Right before the pandemic I had dinner with David and our bud Aaron Foley and pleaded with him to move. I offered to buy one of his cars. Anything to make it happen. It didn’t work. Then during the pandemic we hung out in a junkyard and had the same conversation. Next week I’m going to make him get an apartment. Just tell him to sell all but two of his cars for everyone’s sake – MH]
This has been the cycle for about five years. My upbringing as an Army brat has built within me an insatiable desire to move every year or so, and yet I’ve staved off this urge by traveling so often and for such long durations — I was just in Australia for a month earlier this year, I was also in Germany and Italy, plus I see my brother in Hong Kong relatively frequently. But I don’t know that I can push this off any longer, mostly because the long-term future of The Autopian depends on me being in LA and working with our talented behind-the-scenes crew out there.
So I have to go, and in truth — as a single dude who feels a little out of place in suburban Michigan, and who’d like to try listening to the buzz of a bigger city for the first time in his life (I’ve only ever lived in small cities) — I want to give it a shot. The problem is these beautiful mechanical anchors:
- Jeep J10 4spd stick: Store in MI (?)
- 1966 Ford Mustang auto: Drive to CA
- 1992 Jeep Cherokee auto: Store in MI (?)
- 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Sell
- 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Tow to CA
- 2000 Chevy Tracker 5spd: Sell
- 1958 Willys FC-170 3spd stick: Tow to CA
- 1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle 3spd auto: Sell
Let’s go through them one by one. Each car has a poll below it; I’m eager to hear your recommendations (it might make sense to read the whole article before going back and voting).
1985 Jeep J10: Store In Michigan Or Drive To California
I love this truck with all my heart, but I don’t think it’ll make it through emissions inspection in California, mostly because all the smog stuff has been ripped off. I could fuel inject it using a Jeep 4.0-liter cylinder head, then throw on a 4.0 catalytic converter and hope the shop doesn’t care that I don’t have an air pump on my accessory drive. But I don’t know that this will work; California has a “visual” inspection, so even if my now-fuel-injected truck is cleaner, it’d likely fail. Logical? No. But such is life.
“Sell it,” you may now suggest, but I can’t. It’s the greatest truck on earth, and I can’t let it go. It’s true mechanical perfection in my eyes. As of now, my plan is to store it somewhere. Or maybe take it to California. I haven’t decided.
1966 Ford Mustang: Drive To California
Is there a place where this vehicle would be more at home than in southern California? Answer: No. I’m daily driving this. I have some security concerns, so I’ve purchased a GPS tracker and a “club” steering lock. I hope those do the job; I’ll also make sure to park it in a garage whenever I can.
I’ll likely drive this on weekends as my free Nash Metropolitan will be my true daily driver that I take to work and park on the streets without worry. I doubt anyone wants to steal that.
1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Sell
What you’re looking at is the most perfect Jeep Grand Cherokee on earth. It’s the first model year with a five-speed manual and manual windows and locks. It’s not only the lightest Grand Cherokee in history, it’s also the most reliable, and it’s the best off-road platform. Hopefully I can find someone who understands the rarity and value of what I consider the ultimate Grand Cherokee, as I’d like to get as close to $10 large out of this 130,000 mile, rust-free Jeep as possible. If not, I may have to keep it, which would complicate things.
1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd: Tow Or Drive To California
Of course, I’m not going to sell all of my “Holy Grail” manual Grand Cherokees. I plan to keep the rougher 1994 model that I bought for $350. Why hold onto this one? Overly pretty cars are a pain in the ass to maintain, and this one being a bit rough around the edges will give me more peace-of-mind. Plus, I’ll feel less guilty when I put a mild lift and bigger tires on it; I’ve heard off-roading in California is pretty damn good.
The issue is that this Jeep is still far from being roadworthy. I swapped the guts from that rusted-out Holy Grail in Wisconsin that I wrote about years ago, but there’s still a lot to do before this thing can move under its own power. I could fix it over the next month or so and then drive it west or I could tow it and wrench later.
1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle: Sell
Oh man, this Jeep is one of my biggest regrets. It ran when I bought it, I removed a cylinder head to extract a broken exhaust stud, then I flew to Germany for a month. When I returned, I saw some surface rust on the cylinder walls, so I pulled the engine and honed it; I figured I’d swap the rings and bearings while I was at it, but sadly I could never get the motor back together properly. So I bought a rebuilt engine, which seized.
Honestly, the fact that this machine has been sitting for over five years is a result of only one thing: my own stupidity. I am ashamed, though I am twice the wrench I was back then. So should I fix it and then sell it for some heavy coin? Or do I sell it as is and give up the five grand delta?
This is a tough one for me because, if I’m anything, it’s a cheap bastard.
2000 Chevrolet Tracker: Sell
I should never have bought this Tracker, though I’m pleased with how far it’s come. I’ve fixed the crankshaft damper, cleaned the interior, bondo’d the huge dent in the quarter panel, installed junkyard all-terrain tires, fixed a few electrical gremlins, jerry-rigged a fix for the four-wheel drive system, and swapped out all the fluids. This thing is beautiful now, and I even have a buyer willing to throw me $3,000 for it. Not quite my $3,500 asking price, but close.
First, I’m taking it off-roading tomorrow (you’re all invited). This will be the second time I’m off-roading a car just prior to sale; the first time, I filled the engine with water, then that water froze, and when it thawed, I learned that my crankshaft bearings had been wiped. (You may recall my article “My 1948 Jeep’s Engine Is Ruined Because I Am A Dumbass”). I hope nothing similar happens this time around. I really shouldn’t be off-roading this thing before sale, but come on — I did all this work to this thing; I have to see how good it is in the dirt, right?
1958 Willys FC-170: Tow To California?
I want to do an EV conversion soon, and I really think this FC is the ideal candidate.
Could I just buy one on the west coast? Yes. That’d make my life easier. But look at the pedigree this one has!:
1992 Jeep Cherokee: Store?
This one’s a tough one. The Jeep isn’t in great shape at the moment; I flooded the rear diff, so I need to replace the axle. Plus the cooling system needs some work — likely a new radiator. These aren’t huge jobs, but they’re not nothing, either.
I suppose I COULD bring this Jeep out to California, or I could store it, or I could sell it. But this is my very first car. Should I sell the Jeep that started it all?
This Is Complicated
So I want to keep the 1992 XJ, the J10, the 1994 ZJ, the FC, and the Mustang. I could just bring all five of those, and sell the rest. There should be plenty of space to store these machines on the Galpin lot that Beau has so graciously offered up. Maybe I could tow the FC with the J10, then drive everything else out. Or I could ask an automaker for a big-ass heavy-duty truck and a car-hauler, and just tow the whole fleet out.
Or I could sell the original XJ and the FC, and just take the J10, 1994 ZJ and Mustang. Then I can find another FC out west and cry myself to sleep every now and then missing the ’92 OG.
I don’t know what the answer is. But I need to come up with something soon.
Easy answers:
1. Keep Mustang. As noted by someone else, it’s the most California car you own, and a family treasure. A keeper.
2. Sell everything else.
You will need the cash in LA, and these rustbuckets are — LITERALLY — keeping you from moving. Free yourself from material bonds, and start fresh in the West. There were be so much there to keep you occupied, you will never have time (nor should you) to work on rusty stuff back in Michigan.
Sorry if this sounds harsh. But you know, deep down, what you need to do.
J10 – sell. It’s a great truck but if you can’t get it emmissions compliant what good is going to do you sitting in a shed somewhere? Unless of course California is a short term thing. Sell it and get an emissions exempt truck.
Mustang – no brainer, drive it out and enjoy it.
’92 Cherokee – a bit harder. I’ve sold all of my “first” vehicles that I swore I’d keep forever. Eventually they all became what yours appears to have become. Neglected, always on the list but never at the top. I’m not sure I regret selling mine, I do miss some of them a lot, but it was the right decision. If you want to keep this then move it up the priority list. If you can’t, time to cut it loose.
93 Cherokee – The nicest vehicle listed here? It’s clean, a perfect starting point for your offroad build and would be the perfect backup daily, and travel rig. Keep that thing.
94 Cherokee – We know you like the daunting tasks and the impossibility of bringing back something so far gone but with so many other things to focus on why is this the Jeep you want to hang on to? Sell it.
Tracker – sell obviously.
FC-170 – You pulled off a miracle getting this thing mobile again, quit while you’re ahead. Sell it. Find something else to EV convert. The J10 perhaps?
Golden Eagle – I feel your pain in not having gotten this one finished, this is by far my favorite vehicle in your fleet, but you don’t seem as attached to this as some others so take advantage of that at let the next person get this glorious beast back on the road.
In summation, what this leaves you with is your classic California cruiser and semi daily (Mustang), you’re quirky project daily (Nash) a holy grail, work on it as you go, do everything backup daily/tow pig/travel rig/offroad adventure machine/build project. (93 XJ), potentially a longer term, sentimental offroad project beast (92 XJ), and enough cash and spare time to buy something much cleaner to start with for an EV project. That sounds like a pretty solid fleet to me.
You’ve written about this move in terms of being a big step toward a new you. They’re great machines, but they’re the past. Change requires–and rewards–commitment. Sell them all. Break your chains, not because the links are defective, but to free yourself. There will always be new, interesting machines. But for every anchor you refuse to cut, the possibilities of a new horizon narrows.
Came here to say the same. Sell ’em all and start over with west coast cars.
I was surprised at how aligned we all are. David, keep in mind that you can also donate vehicles to charities. One I have experience with is donating a 1997 Lincoln Continental to habit for humanity
Two questions:
– Can you keep the J10 on Michigan rego, thereby avoiding a smog test?
– How urban do you really need to be in California, can you live a few hours away from Galpin in a smaller community?
The smart thing to do is keep the mustang and the FC and sell everything else. Then, as others have said, you can acquire a new fleet of non-rust buckets in SoCal. I know it may be hard to part with your first car or the holy grails, but its like dropping your keys in a volcano. You just gotta let some thing go, man.
I would simply stay in Michigan. The Midwest is the most underrated part of the country. For as annoying as winter gets, I can’t imagine living somewhere that doesn’t have real changes in seasons. How boring. The lower cost of living is obviously nice too. Not being privy to the internals of the site, I can’t say why you feel you need to be out there, but the current results speak for themselves positively, and remote work is the future.
If you simply have to go, I’d take only the Mustang and leave the iron oxide behind forever.
If, however, your presence in CA is absolutely necessary to get rid of the “older comments” annoyance, the random “awaiting moderation” for some comments, and getting an edit button implemented, then by all means go, and you can borrow my car trailer if it’s helpful 🙂
seriously. the older comments button has to go.
Agreed. It’s a jerk of a button.
*Read Headline*
Myself: Man I hope David gets out of the shithole city and moves to a better…..oh…oh no….
Sell the Mustang, keep three Jeeps. There are sooooooo many Mustangs out there already, and it will pay for the move plus shipping the Valiant Ute to California (I assume it was saved…).
Option E: Don’t go to LA. Look, I’m not a right wing talking point bleeting guy, but that place is F’d from a real estate supply/demand perspective. Crappy houses that would be condemned and torn down in other parts of the country are closing in on millions of dollars if they’re remotely near anything cool, OR, you find affordable housing far outside of LA and spend a hellish amount of time stuck in the world’s worst traffic jam.
Like… why? Can you ELI5? With today’s ability to work from anywhere, how does moving there benefit you? You will no longer have money to spend on car parts, it will all go to rent. Not that it will matter, because you won’t have room to work on anything either. Even parking spots cost money.
I like Cali weather, and I appreciate the fact that WHEN I VISIT, I see lots of cool cars all over the place, mainly because nobody can afford fucking housing so they’re blowing their income on their vehicles since owning property has become a pipe dream.
I think you should:
Option E: Get a Turbo Minivan or something like you have in Germany, and set it up as a work anywhere camper. Get solar on the roof, DC to DC charger, decent lithiums, 12v fridge, propane cook stove, and keep your place in MI. When the weather gets bad, road trip around the country, visit car people all over the place besides just Michigan or Cali, and create content from places that aren’t covered as well. What’s the drag strip scene like in Louisiana? How about street racing in Miami? You could hop around, crash couches offered from Autopian readers, and wander the earth, like Kane in the kung-fu.
Fuck moving to LA. Place is interesting to visit but I sure as shit would not want to live there, and wind up renting forever.
One of his original plans for the zj was to turn it in to a world touring overlanding rig.
Only way moving to LA makes sense is if he can live at beau’s shop. Hopefully they have a shower there.
Sell everything (except the mustang) and start fresh, the cars down there will be much cleaner and better starting points for these project ideas.
Keep the J10 – Store in MI. Sell everything else including the Mustang. Buy yourself a local beater in LA that has already made inspections. Boom. You’re done.
Or you could just not go to LA. I’m sure you and the other Autopian heads can make it work with you living in MI.
As someone of a similar age and car situation (8 cars and 1 short bus, trying to escape Upstate NY to the South)
I would say
>Keep the 92 Cherokee and restore – first cars are something to be cherished
>Daily the mustang in California
>Store the J10 as a Michigan vehicle
>Bring the 350$ Holy Grail Jeep to California as an offroad project/ second backup driver
> Sell everything else.
Then find another EV conversion candidate in Cali?
This might be the answer.
Spot on w/finding a different conversion vehicle when the time comes.
IMO, anything that doesn’t have sentimental value (like a first car, brother’s Mustang, or a car in good shape that makes you warm inside to drive) should be treated as a commodity. If it doesn’t run, you’re not out anything by selling now and finding anther one when the time is right for the EV conversion. Heck, you’ve even experienced first hand that the cars often find their way back to previous owners. Unless you see sitting as your fleet as a BoT-based 401k strategy, having too many projects means playing whack-a-mole and never truly getting to enjoy that special car properly.
There’s lots of cool cars out there, and moving to LA will open to door to a rust-free world made by more than just three midwest corporations.
Jason
as a Fellow Lover of Jeeps AND a HATER of the Cold
I don’t question your Sanity on Owning so many Cars
I DO Question your Sanity on your Choice of LA to move to
Arizona, Texas; South America Even
BUT LA ???!!
Change Counselors !!!
Think about what will pass CA emissions standards. Just the mustang. get rid of the rest
No issues with smog on the FC.
Sell everything except the Mustang. You know the answer to these questions before you ask them you just don’t want to admit it, David. A Nash/Mustang driveway would be great. You’d have interesting cars and you wouldn’t be buried under so much rust. Once the Nash is sorted and re-manualized you could pick up another FC and electrify it.
*Insert thisistheway.gif here*
Nah, you’ve got it all wrong. Keep the nice ZJ, the FC, and the J10. Sell the rest. The ZJ won’t rust in Cali, the J10 you can keep on the road with Vermont tags, and the FC could make a unique trail rig.
Sell the Mustang right before moving to California? Do explain..
California is waaay overpopulated with Mustangs. Amongst classics, there is nothing less likely to cause interest.
I second selling it. He is holding it for a family member who lives in Hong Kong. He should either give it to his parents to care for as a family car or that should become the EV conversion.
The J10 would make for an interesting EV conversion. Then you don’t have to worry about smog tests.
IMO, I’d take the Mustang and the J10 to Cali, put your very first Jeep into storage in MI, and sell the rest. That would bring your fleet down to 4, 3 of them in LA, 1 in MI.
Repeat after me David: Storage is for suckers!
You’re paying somebody to let a vehicle you love, get eaten by rodents. That is what’s going to happen. You’ll let them sit for years and years, paying storage bills the whole time, and by the time you finally get back to them, they will be utterly and completely destroyed.
A good friend of mine put two ’61 Cadillacs, a ’70 Cutlass, and a ’75 Malibu into storage in a pole barn on a “friends” property about 20 years ago. He had moved, and he needed somewhere to stash them while he built a pole barn on his own new property. Life happened, and 15 years later when he went to pull them out of that pole barn, between the rodent damage and the fact that people figured out whoever owned those cars never came around so they started stealing parts off of them, all four of those once beautiful cars were thoroughly and utterly ruined.
My friend was completely devastated, obviously. I don’t want to see that happen to you. DO NOT STORE VEHICLES AND WALK AWAY FROM THEM!
Drive the Mustang, tow your XJ and one of the manual ZJs, and sell EVERYTHING else. Between that and the Metro, that means you’re already starting off with 4 vehicles, and the only one that doesn’t need a lot of work is the Mustang. That’s a big enough hole to dig out of!
Take what you can get for everything else, and move the fuck on. $3000 is a damn fine offer on a $3500 asking price for the Tracker, you should have already taken that person’s cash! You can buy another 4-speed manual J10 later. If you stay in California, you can buy one that will pass smog. If you want to do an EV conversion, buy something that isn’t more rust than metal, when you’re actually ready to start the process of doing an EV conversion. Don’t haul a rusty POS 2000 miles, just to sit on it for years. Lets be honest, you and I and everybody else know that’s EXACTLY what is going to happen. Hell, you already hauled it across the country once just to sit on it for years. Don’t do the same stupid thing all over again! Learn something damnit!
David, don’t you need the cheaper ZJ for the overlanding build (or did you give up on that, and I missed it)?
Exactly right! The cheap stickshift ZJ is this year’s MOAB project (and a future ’round-the-world overlander0.
If you can get that zj up to dd status then it can all but be your one vehicle you own.
David,
Keep 3, sell everything else.
Keep the Mustang, it is the most LA car you will ever own.
You obviously love the J10, so take it and do whatever it takes to get it properly smogged.
Take the FC since it practically killed you. You conquered it. Now make that thing your personal electric minion. LA should have everyone and everything you need for an EV conversion. And for once in your life, focus on one project car until you get it done! Should only take 2-3 years (OK, maybe 5-6).
Of course we know you are going to want a serious off-roader. But you’ll be in LA, so you are bound by law to have at least one convertible if you have more than one car there. There is only one convertible that would really make you happy. We know. So buy a rust-free Wrangler, put a bimini top on it and become one with the West Coast.
Sell. Everything. Else.
Don’t forget the CA DMV’s non-op nightmare: once a car is registered in CA, even if it’s undrivable and in pieces in your driveway, you have to keep paying (reduced) registration or rack up fees that can exceed the value of a shitbox.
So the answer is to keep them all registered elsewhere?
“Don’t forget the CA DMV’s non-op nightmare: once a car is registered in CA, even if it’s undrivable and in pieces in your driveway, you have to keep paying (reduced) registration or rack up fees that can exceed the value of a shitbox.”
The cost to file as PNO is $21 and after that its $5 per year. That’s trivial.
https://ieshineon.com/faq/how-to-register-a-non-operational-vehicle-in-california.html
Yes, but if you don’t do that the fees aren’t trivial, as I said.
Sometimes not paying attention to stuff that is mailed to you has consequences.
Anyone who things the non-op system is a nightmare is either dumb or simply not paying attention. There’s the option to non-op it on every single registration renewal and is as simple as checking a box and paying a very minimal one time fee. I buy the argument that paying a fee to keep a car OFF the road is kinda BS, but when it’s so cheap and easy I have no sympathy for those who let registration lapse and are faced with major costs to re-register. Maybe pay more attention to government issued documents that are mailed to you.
Oh man, here’s a good story.
I bought a 986 Boxster at auction in California for the dealership I worked at In Seattle. Brought the car up here, sold it to a guy in California. He calls up after he gets it back and is all pissed because the car hadn’t been registered in CA for like 3 years, so he has to pay through the nose to get it registered.
I’m worried about my free Nash, which has been off the road for probably 10 years.
After a long enough period (especially for such an old car) the DMV seems to lose track of such things, and if you catch a sympathetic DMV clerk and turn on that Midwestern Tracy charm, they’re apt to ignore most of the back fees and register it for a song. I’m considerably meaner and uglier than you and they’ve done it for me.
I’m so sad you’ve given up on the Golden Eagle, to me that’s the best car you’ve got. I say keep the rare and interesting: keep the J10, the Mustang, the FC, and the Golden Eagle. Especially if Beau’s giving you a place to park the ones you can’t drive, I don’t see any problem. Unburden yourself from the rest, let them go. Don’t bother moving or storing the Cherokees, 90’s Cherokees are a dime a dozen. If you find yourself pining, you’ll just pick one up for $400 on Craigslist in LA and have a brand new project to write about.
Yeah the golden eagle is definitely the coolest jeep out of any of them, I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen one in real life.
In reality, I was never going to keep the Golden Eagle. It’s got an AMC V8 engine that I’m not to fond of, and of course, it’s an automatic, and I’m not a big fan of autos.
Absolutely stunning, though. That I’ll agree on.
Can you register the Nash in Michigan right now instead?
Yes, but will that be a workaround for when I do have to rego it in Cali?
(Also, what’s up Laurence).
G’day DT!
Would be worth asking someone with Cali DMV knowledge if this could work.
I know people who register trailers and some cars interstate here in Aus, such as in QLD or VIC to avoid NSW inspections.
Very rare for them to get hassled by police about it.
I wonder if registering the Nash out of state and then if you switched rego back to CA whether this would negate the non-op fees?
Keep the J10 – it’s super cool, useful, and not a common thing to see
Keep the Mustang – obvious things are obvious
Keep one of the Grand Cherokee’s – for a daily (or mayyybe sell it for a newer ride)
psst: the last poll appears broken to me.
Now for the pragmatic answer you don’t want to hear…
Sell (or even give away!) all that rusty junk. Once you move to The Land That Rust Forgot™, you’ll wonder why you spent your life dealing with rusty crap. That’s what happened to me when I moved from Michigan to the southwest.
Find a U-Haul or Penske truck and trailer to haul the Mustang one way. Whatever doesn’t fit in the box truck, sell or give away. A fresh start is the best start.