Radials that resemble the originals — whitewalls, red stripes, raised lettering on the sidewalls — are available from online sites and specialty tire retailers.
Careful, though. Pre-1975 wheels aren’t safe with radials, warns the Specialty Equipment Market Association, a trade organization for sellers of auto accessories. Radials can cause older wheels to crack because the tires put pressure on the wheels differently than bias-ply tires do, SEMA says. So your classic might need new wheels designed for radials.
Steering
Compared with today’s rack-and-pinion power steering, the steering on a classic will feel less precise and might lack power assist.
The big steering wheels in older cars gave drivers leverage over non-power-assisted steering. If you prefer a smaller steering wheel, you’ll give up the leverage and could find it hard to turn at low speed. You might not be able to swerve around a problem.
It’s possible, though ambitious, to replace the entire steering mechanism with a version of modern rack-and-pinion power steering. That’ll give you better control and minimize driver fatigue.
Headlights
The sealed-beam units on older cars don’t throw as much light as the later halogen headlights, or the high-intensity discharge (HID, aka xenon) lights.
Replacement kits are available for some models that swap the old lights with halogens or HID lights without changing the appearance.
Back-up cameras
Not all fans of classics — McCall included — like them. Drivers start to think they don’t have to look around before backing, the argument goes.
But a 2010 government report said that 210 people die every year and 15,000 are injured in backup accidents. About 31 percent of the deaths are kids under age 5 and 26 percent are adults over 70.
Federal regulations say that all new vehicles must have back-up cameras starting in May 2018.
You have many choices for retrofitting a back-up camera system. They include license plate frames with back-up cameras unobtrusively built in; systems that pipe the camera images to your add-on navigation unit; and multipiece rigs with several individual cameras and add-on driver view screens.
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