daily driver... just a dream or a reality?

I am seriously considering getting myself into one of these amazing cars. A friend of mine had a Vintage Spyder a couple years ago and he's not helping to disuade me from realizing my dream. Is it realistic to have one of these beautiful cars for a daily driver, or am I out of my mind?

Depends on where you live.
Although some owners use them as daily drivers (Do a search for comments by Vicki Viar on this site) a cold climate would make it very difficult. Imagine 35 degree air temp with a wind chill of 60 miles an hour. No heater or A/C. Most run without any tops although they are available. Very high air temps wreak havoc with air cooled engines.

Andrew,
Your friend no longer has his spyder for a reason... You might ask him why. These are wonderful cars but not good as daily drivers.

So here's my suggestion: Buy a tercel beater for a daily driver AND buy a spyder!!!

angela

NOT A DAILY DRIVER IN UK ( its always raining!)
Also unless you are a bit of a mechanic and good with spanners don't ues these cars other than fair weather/ leisure vehicles as you will curse them more than love them.

But having said that I love mine ( and my tool kit!

Magwa

I'm blessed to live in Manhattan Beach (10 minutes south of LAX)...the weather is beautiful pretty much year round. My friend who had the spyder goes through cars like changing underwear. Getting the cheap second car sounds like some great advice. Perhaps I should just be a little more patient. I've got a great running and very practical '04 Honda Civic that will be paid off in another 2 years.

It probably doesn't rain much where you are. Rain is about the only challenge but the top and side curtains fit well and if it doesn't rain hard you can even leave the windows out to keep from fogging up. I put my driver's side window in only one day this past winter and that was because I had misplaced my gloves.

You do have to keep screws and bolts and other stuff tightened more often than usual; there's a lot of vibration on parts. I haven't had any heat problems at all. Runs good in deep South weather.

And it helps if you're a small person. v v