I need a daily driver. This issue has reached a critical point. I’ve been reluctant to divert any possible resource (whether it be time or money) from my Model T project, so I sold my ’62 Falcon and I have been slowly picking away at a ’60 Dodge pickup project—but honestly its styling is a bit new for me. I also tried the motorcycle thing, thinking a Royal Enfield would provide the kind of ’50s tech stimulation I’ve been lacking since I quit driving old cars and took up with my wife’s 2008 Dodge Charger police car. I’ve fallen off the bike twice and broke my foot with the kick starter—the romance is gone.

Last week we had a horrendous snowstorm. My wife took the Charger out before the storm started and didn’t get home in time to avoid the weather. She found herself stranded and I was totally helpless to go rescue her because the aforementioned Dodge isn’t yet roadworthy and it’s a two-wheel-drive pickup in snowy, hilly Vermont. I’m generally unafraid of driving rear-wheel-drive vehicles in the snow, but there are certain times you just stay home—and that was one of them.

Well, the battle the Vermont snowfall, maybe it is time to get a retro Willys wagon.