I restored my TA in 2005. Since then, she's been a garage queen that I don't even drive in the rain, let alone snow and salt. I drive it as much as I can during the summer, but there's always the question of how late into the Fall I can go before I take the insurance off and prep the car for winter storage.

My general rule for the last few years is that once there's a snowfall that accumulates on the ground (even if it melts later in the day) then it's time to take the car off the road. From experience, we generally won't have any good driving days after that. And there will probably be at least some salt on the road that I don't want to expose the car to.

This year, winter seems to be coming early. I'm hoping to drive her once more this weekend. So what do u guys do w/ your cars, motorcycles, or other summer-only vehicles?

 

First sign of snow/salt and it goes in the box.

 

Yep. That's what I did when I lived in New England. Would not come out of storage until all snow melted and we had multiple good, hard rains to wash all the salt away.

 

same here-when the salt hits the road,my car is off the road for the season.

 

That's been my practice as well. More recently, the license and insurance have helped set the schedule for me. I have "extended use antique" plates for the TA, and those are valid for any use from April 1 through November 1. The vehicle can be operated/driven to shows, events, or service outside of those limits, but who would do that? My "collectable" insurance coverage coincides with the tags.

 

Also depends on what tires you have and even how old they are. If they are summer tires I wouldn't be driving it below 50°. Even if they are all weather tires and they have several years of use they are probably hard in cold weather and prone to sliding easily. Always best to play it safe. I have summer tires (never really gets below 50° daytime in the desert) but they are several years old and I can tell the difference in grip between our now 70° afternoons and our 100° days.

 

Winter rat ready !
Nuff Said:

 

I moved to Florida and drive 'em all year!!

Sorry..... couldn't resist!

 

I live in upstate New York and still drive mine year round. Just spray it off every day or 2, do a quick hand wash the day after they re-salt the roads and you're all set!

 

As long as there isn't snow on the ground and the roads are dry I keep driving mine. We have received a few inches of snow but it rained good yesterday and it's practically all gone now. I will probably drive mine this weekend but next week looks like some more wintery weather is coming.

 

I enjoy driving my third gen so much that I drive it year round!

You Tube

 

salt always follows water, as soon as they salt, even if there's no snow that salt will find it's way.

 

Winter is prime driving season here.. the car comes out more due to the cooler weather. For rain, though, I drive my Miata ( not really the best car for it but better than the third gen )

 

Not so much snow here in western Oregon, but rain generally non stop from mid October through end of April. Maybe a little sun here and there in between. I don't drive the IROC in the rain so I put her away for winter as soon as the rain starts to set in. I take the collision coverage off and keep comprehensive on just in case something weird happens. I start the engine and let it warm fully every month while in storage though, just to keep the motor healthy. I have thought about switching to limited use antique coverage, since I drive the car less than 3Kmi per year.

 

Well going back to my original post, I did drive it that weekend. But we got a nasty storm a few days later that dropped about 8" of snow, which was really unusual for that time of year. But then it melted, and December was pretty dry and not too cold (highs in the 40-50°F range). If I wasn't worried about the temps being too low for the summer-only tires, I probably could have driven the TA for another month.

 

This year, I took it off the road after we got about 2" of snow in just after Thanksgiving. But then it was dry for several days, and I had a lot of running around to do. So I actually put it back on the road and ran another 80 miles or so. But it's been snowing the last 3 days and there's more in the forecast (not to mention much colder temps) so I took her off again yesterday.

I love driving my Trans Am, so it always sucks when I know I won't be driving it for several months. I almost didn't even put the car on the road this year, thinking that I wouldn't be going anywhere due to Covid. But I somehow managed to get about 860 miles, which is a lot more than the 500-600 I usually get.

 

I have collector car insurance that is in place year round and it’s relatively cheap. Nothing to do as far as canceling insurance for the winter. Technically I could take it out in the snow, but Hagerty knows collector car owners won’t do that. I typically put it away in mid November before there is salt on the road and take it out in the spring after the snow is all melted and there have been some heavy rain to wash the salt from the road. Usually that’s around late April.