How do I convince my mom to let me get an old car or truck?

Well, having a steel frame is super-nice. I drive an 88 Crown Vic, and in a head-on collision, any modern car is going to be squashed like a bug on my grill.

That said, repairs are expensive and annoying, and there is a good chance that the part you need isn’t going to be available anymore. I’m lucky in that there were so many of my model and year made that parts are fairly plentiful, but if you’re talking about getting a 60s pickemup truck, you might just be SOL.

If a nice, well made, easy to maintain car is available, take it. There will be more time to play mechanic with Daddy when you’re able to make your own runs to Autozone.

The truck we are currently looking at is a 62 Chevy Apache with practically no rust.. It does not have an engine, so it would be easier to fix up. Do y’all know of anything I could tell her to convince her?

Also thanks @Seek_Kolinahr for the response already:)

Actually it’s probably better if you had Dad talk to Mom. Sounds like he is the lead on this project, and would be driving it until you get your license. Good thing is parts for those old trucks are easy and very interchangable. All you really need to watch for are the expensive stuff like body panels, interior and frame. Everything else is off the shelf. There is no making that truck safer, it is made of real metal and is probably as safe as anything on the road. The only mod I might suggest would be modern seatbelts. Anything more would kind of spoil the coolness of an old Apache.

Welcome to the collective.

I think your desire to fix up a classic truck is really neat. What, specifically have you and your dad got planned to make it safer? List those out on a piece of paper.

Tell her how much the project means to you. Think about letting your dad convince her. Don’t keep nagging at her (she is likely to say no then just to shut you up). Give her some time to think about it.

Be patient.

Do you have car museums or classic car shows in your area? Perhaps taking her to one of those would help.

Click and Clack say “Don’t do it”. I’ve heard numerous calls in which they advise young drivers (those most likely to be involved in a wreck) to focus on safety.

You can try to convince her it is an investment and you will be learning a skill as well as bonding with your father.
Promise you will not make a mess in the house and will always wash your hands and take off your greasy clothes and shoes before entering the house. You could even volunteer to do the laundry.
Based upon your age you are very likely to get into an accident. Sorry.

@jenna I would let daddy buy the truck and work on it with you and give it to you when it’s finished. But LuckyGuy brought up a good point. Odds are you are going to get in an accdent. You’d be crushed to do all the work and then hurt the truck. Get a car your mother likes, with airbags and the like when you get your permit or license. Learn to drive and then take out the truck. My father loved restoring old cars. He had a ‘46 Pontiac, a ‘37 Ford, and a bunch of other cars in various states of repair. We’d spend hours together working on them.
And welcome to fluther.

I’ll agree with those who suggest to get a contemporary car for transportation, for safety and reliability.
Even when it was brand new a decades-old vehicle wasn’t nearly as reliable as a modern car.
Besides seat-belts you probably won’t be able to retrofit many modern safety features.
Rebuild the old truck/car as a hobby with your dad and don’t take it on the road except for show.

You could always agree to replace the standard seatbelts with a 5 point belt harness. I believe these are actually safer than airbags.

@Seek_Kolinahr the steel frame is actually less safe than the modern cars. The new cars are designed to crumple and absorb the force of the impact from the accident. The force absorbed by the crumple zones is force that is not transferred to the occupant of the vehicle.

@WestRiverrat Good point about the steel frame. In a crash the car may seem to have come through in better shape but for those same reasons you were exposed to more violent forces.