5 Reasons Every Car Enthusiast Should Own A Beater

Us car guys tend to like shiny new cars, love to wax and wash cars so we can see the paint glisten; so we can smell the leather and that new car smell. What if I told you that you can also have fun by driving a car that has more rust then steel and is worth less than a new flat screen TV? Sounds crazy right? Allow me to explain why a beater isn’t as bad as you think it is.

One: It can become a project car and teach you about car repair/restoration.
Chances are, you’ll be forced to learn how to fix a car with a beater, it can be educational. You can learn how to temporarily patch a leaky radiator, rebuild an engine or transmission and learn all the uses of duct tape and zip ties. If you want someone fixing your car would you rather have it be someone who only drives brand new cars for 8 years then sells them or someone who’s only driven beaters? I’d go with the beaters guy.

Two: They’re cheap.
This one is a little obvious, but who says you have to spend a lot of money on cars? You can get some decent cars for under $2,000 USD. Ford Crown Victoria, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota Land Cruiser, Ford Mustang, etc. Some of the best things in life are relatively cheap, see if you can go find some great deals on the Internet.

Three: Beaters have character.
It seems as if the most legendary cars on the internet are pieces of crap. The million mile Lexus, the General Mayhem, the Rotsun, the Bluesmobile, Herbie, and so on and so forth. These cars have a personality, and many stories to back them up. Most beaters have the honor of being given a nickname like “The Green Machine”, “The Macho Grande”. New cars may have character, but they haven’t experienced anything yet. Some people drive their beaters for as long as they can because they love all the idiosyncracies the car has.

Four: Beaters are meant to be driven hard.
Say your drove and crashed two cars: one was a beater Crown Vic and one was a brand new Mustang. Which accident would you be more ashamed of? The Mustang of course, that’s why not as many people fully enjoy newer cars. We’re scared of the concequences of having to pay for the repairs for a 40 grand car.
Meanwhile on Roadkill, David and Mike have thrashed on cars for more than a dozen episodes, why? Because they’re beaters, WHEN the cars break, they’re practically worthless anyway so it doesn’t really matter. Some of the best moments behind the wheel can be going balls to the wall fast in a 2 grand Honda Civic on an old dirt road, bottoming out the suspension on all the potholes and jumps.

Five: Roadkill, Haggard Garage and 24 Hours of Lemons.
These shows and events center around and celebrate the beater car. 24 Hours of Lemons is the exact opposite of the 24 Hours of Lemans. At Lemans, people are consuming champagne and caviar while watching millions of dollars worth of carbon fiber, magnesium and aluminum driving on a world famous circuit.

24 Hours of Lemons is people chugging cheap beer and barbecue food while watching duct tape, zip ties and rust driving on a backwoods circuit with the entire racing lineup being worth 50,000 dollars TOTAL. Practically all of us can participate in the 24 hours of Lemons, that’s the beauty of it. The costs of participating are a LOT less compared to what it costs to do the Gumball 3,000. That’s what makes stuff like this fun, it’s relatable; so go out there and do it.