Terry Abrahamson`s car is giving him an image problem. His Hollywood agent has repeatedly warned him that his 1972 Impala convertible-a bona fide beater-is becoming an eyesore on the streets of status-conscious Los Angeles. Abrahamson, a screenwriter who lives on Chicago`s North Side, is unabashedly crazy for beaters. He also owns a home-based beater that he keeps here, a 1972 Catalina ragtop ”held together by rust and duct tape.”
”I call it the Love Boat,” said Abrahamson. ”My daughter calls it a piece of junk.”
Few cars provoke such conflicting emotions as the ubiquitous beater.
Everyone from motorists to environmentalists blames beaters for a number of ills, from air pollution to traffic jams.
Yet many who cling to the aging rust buckets wouldn`t dream of parting with their beloved beaters.
But peer pressure makes many owners reluctant to admit to driving a dilapidated clunker.
Defining the beater is a tricky matter. At what point does an aging car pass the threshold of beaterdom?
Generally, beaters must be at least 15 years old and have several rust spots, age-old Ziebart/Rusty Jones labels notwithstanding. Bumper stickers are optional, although ”Don`t laugh, it`s been paid for” seems to be a favorite. Peeling vinyl tops, skewed wheel alignment and drooping fenders are other tipoffs. So are license plates dangling by various types of wire. Many beaters are die-hard V-8s, one-time luxury vehicles turned victims of old age, afflicted with dings, dents and having the living headlights punched out of them.
Some beaters are hybrids of several old vehicles from various junkyards:
mismatched wheels, side panels that are a different color and cracked taillights held on by silver carpet tape.
The most popular body color for a beater seems to be a nondescript blend of muddied earth tones that don`t show the ever-present dirt. Common models are named after luxury getaways, such as Monte Carlo or Aspen.
Finally, a beater expects to be maintained to the point of reliability, not respectability. True beaters aren`t pampered or restored. They never spend the night in a heated garage.
Beater owners are a hardy bunch with a practical nature. While many undoubtedly drive the old cars out of necessity, a broad number own them by choice. Citing creature comforts and quick repairability, they contend the beater is the perfect second car.
”I love big old cars, especially their roomy bench seats,” said Abrahamson. ”These cars are drivable 99 percent of the time, and if there`s a problem on the road I can usually fix it myself.”
The 1 percent failure rate was nearly the vintage Catalina`s undoing. A little over a year ago, the car broke down when Abrahamson`s wife was driving in the left lane of the Eisenhower Expressway. She was eight months` pregnant. ”Somehow she pulled over, got out and climbed over a fence to get to the `L` station for help,” said Abrahamson. ”At that point, we figured it was time to get a new car.”
The Abrahamsons promptly bought a 1989 Saab convertible, but not as a replacement for the beater.
”Beaters are a good investment,” said Abrahamson. ”I figure that a $34,000 Saab drops in value when you drive it out of the dealership, while a beater car can be worth real money some day, if you restore it.”
Keeping that in mind-and the not-so-gentle urgings of his agent-Abrahamson has reluctantly ordered a restoration on his Los Angeles beater.
Chicago free-lance writer Nina Burleigh has the dubious distinction of owning one of the rare foreign-model beaters, a 1982 Toyota Tercel. Its main appeal, she said, was the $1,000 pricetag.
”I wanted a reliable junker that I didn`t have to worry about if I left it unlocked,” she said.
Shortly after buying the car, Burleigh lost her door key. She said she never thought twice about it until a security-minded restaurant valet, assuming he was being thoughtful, locked her doors for her.
”I didn`t get the car opened until 2:30 in the morning,” recalled Burleigh. ”And that was after spending $55 on a locksmith.”
The money might have been well-invested. Upon arriving at Burleigh`s car, the locksmith shooed away a young thug trying to steal her license plates.
A beater car is frequently used to ”save” a good car from such ravages as theft and fender-benders. The quintessential work horse, its missions are varied. One day it might be used to haul construction supplies to job sites;
the next, to ferry teenagers to a local hangout.
Oak Forest resident Steve Matushek said that of his family`s five cars, the one he drives most is his prized, tri-toned 1974 Pontiac Ventura.
”I always drive it to the train station,” said Matushek, a building engineer who commutes downtown daily. ”I leave it unlocked because I figure if someone wants to steal something, why break my window?”
The car has saved Matushek from some sleepless nights. He recalled how his daughter learned how to drive in the Ventura, ”customizing” the front end with several creases in the process.
”She hit a house,” he explained. ”It would have bothered me a lot more if it had been one of the newer cars.”
Matushek does his own maintenance work on the Ventura, which he bought for $900 nine years ago from a relative.
”It`s got new shocks and a rebuilt engine,” he said. Matushek did the overhaul work himself in 1987.
”It drives like a car that`s been on the road only a year or two,” he said.
To beater lovers` dismay, a movement is underfoot to rid the streets of pre-catalytic-converter-era cars that supposedly pollute the environment with noxious emissions.
In April, Unocal Corp. announced it would buy 7,000 pre-1970 beaters for $700 each and scrap them, in order to help alleviate Los Angeles` massive smog problem.
The South Coast Recyled Auto Program (SCRAP) was quickly booked to capacity and now has 2,000 cars on a waiting list.
A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. jumped on the bandwagon and donated $7,000 toward the scrapping of 1,000 more cars. The automaker also is offering a special, additional $700 rebate toward the purchase of a new Ford, for those in the Los Angeles area who junk their beaters.
So far, of the 2,500 cars that have been tested and squashed, the average emissions level has been 30 percent higher than a typical 1990 model, according to a Unocal spokesman.
”Some of these old cars are belching out up to 60 percent more pollution,” said Jim Bray, public relations representative.
While a ”clean” beater might end up on Unocal`s scrap pile, the program draws the line at junking cars with potential antique value, said Bray.
”If we see a potentially valuable car, say a 1967 Mustang, we tell the owner he or she should be aware that the vehicle is worth much more on the market,” he said.
Regardless of the make and model, Bray has many a sentimental owner change his or her mind on the spot.
”One guy kept getting in and out of the car like it was a dear old friend,” he said. ”Eventually, he drove it away. He just couldn`t scrap it.”
A Colorado researcher who is developing a new method to test emissions said owners should never give up their beaters because of air pollution fears. A properly tuned, old car can be ”cleaner” than a 1990 model, asserted Donald Stedman, professor of chemistry at the University of Denver.
”A well-maintained car is likely to be cleaner than an out-of-tune newer car,” said Stedman, who uses an infrared device to measure emissions on moving vehicles. ”In my research, I`ve found that 75 percent of old cars are clean.”
While such revelations might boost the beater`s flagging image, it`s unlikely to save most from the scrap yard. But some will continue to cruise the highways.
”I`ll always remember the day somebody jumped a light and broadsided me,” said Abrahamson. ”The other car was practically totaled, but when I got out, I couldn`t tell which dent was the new one.”
