Did cars smoke in the fifties?

[sortkaffekop]

My car is smoking a bit when accelerating from stand still. Burning a bit of oil. Now I wonder: was this common in the fifties?

I found this description:
"Engines quickly wore out and began burning oil on top of the oil they invariable leaked. Roads back then would have a black streak down the middle from all the oil the engines put out. Motorcyclists were cautioned to not drive in the center of the road because of the oil slick. A car spewing white smoke was a common sight, sometimes it came out in clouds. "Ring and valve jobs" were commonplace and a part of owning a car."

Some of you surely must be old enough to remember?

Christian/Denmark

[Joe Immler]

Oh, yes. I remember the worst smokers were police cars. I was 16 and had my Dad ask the safety director why. His reply was the city used "recycled" oil. The roads had black streaks on them from oil. There was more anywhere there was a dip in the road that a car would hit at speed. Also, big spots on the street where neighbors parked their cars. Now and then one would use some laundry soap and a garden hose to try to clean it up. Didn't work well. Not to mention the garage floor. My Dad used a piece of thick carpet which would go in the trash every year and be replaced.

[V12Bill]

Nearly everyone smoked in the fiftys.

[Joe Immler]

Oops. I made a slight error in my earlier post. The oil was "re-refined" not recycled. I don't think the term recycled existed back then.

[42merc]

Only Studebaker's smoked.
But they didn't run around at night.

[A bones]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

In the city, the view to next block was altered by a haze of sooty emissions.

Mid sixties for a short time I ran a '49 Dodge that smoked such that I carried Pep Boys 40wt Booster oil in the 2 gallon can (I forget the price but, cheap it was). It required a top off every day. One cylinder would foul, I'd let it idle watch the stream of smoke come out the pipe and when that cylinder mis-fired it would blow a big fat smoke ring.

[TStiles]

Took a spill on a motorcycle when I was 16. Just pulling onto the street from a driveway and hit the oily streak down the center of the lane and both ends went out from under me. A lesson I never forgot... That was a long time ago.

[sortkaffekop]

The cars, off course. And your doctor

[corvette8n]

My 1948 8n has been smoking since I bought it 15 years ago, I just add oil on a regular basis.

[19Fordy]

Yes indeedy, they smoked. I think the average engine
required a rebuild much sooner than today's.

[Karl Wescott]

Like this?

[34pickup]

It hit me just a few years ago when I saw a car going down the road smoking. It brought back memories I had of typical cars/trucks. It used to be such a common sight to see smoke billowing out the tailpipes of cars back then. I don't think the machining process of the engines held them to the tolerances and accuracy of today's cars and they seemed to smoke after 40-50 thousand miles.

[mhsprecher]

All true. It's amazing how much better cars are now than then. When I was growing up, I rarely saw a car with 100,000 miles. Now I wonder whether I should replace a car when it has 230,000 miles on it.

[CarlG]

In 1956 my Dad bought a brand new Ford Fairlane. After he had put 20K or so miles on it, he reasoned that it needed a ring & valve job. After all, he had never run a car that long without it needing that kind of maintenance.

So, he tore into it, only to find out that it still looked brand new inside. New gaskets and it was good to go. Had well over 100K on it when he sold it 10 years later, still going good.

[1942deluxe]

Seems like most of my 75 year old customers say their trade ins "don't burn a drop of oil". You can identify a generation by that saying along with "winterize my car and grease it and change the oil".

[fordy_nine]

The iron rings, the non-detergent oil and the inhalation of dust and grit from secondary roads usually made them ready to trade in at 50 K miles.....Bob L

[STEVE O]

One thing now if a car is burning some oil with the high exhaust temperatures & converters most go un-noticed unless a lot of oil is going thru it. Also the same on the big diesel trucks all left a trail of black smoke especially the old Macks, now they run clean.

[Seth Swoboda]

My 2002 Ford Ranger that I use as a daily driver to and from work will use half a quart between oil changes (approximately 3k miles) I have never seen it smoke even on start up. Over 150k miles on it.

[mike in tucson]

Good points made in the previous posts. Road draft tube for crankcase venting certainly caused oil drops to fall on the center of the road PLUS it applied a nice oil film to the car's underside.....which attracted the dust/dirt. It was common to have 1/2" or more dirt/oil caked on the underside. Such probably protected the parts from rusting. Today's cars probably still smoke but the PCV and the cats capture and burn the smoke before we see it. I still think there are a lot of leakers...just go to the local auto supply and look at their parking lot.....looks like a refinery where the cars park.

[barnstuf]

I had a job that kept me on the road a lot and I bought new cars in 1947, 1953, 1959 and 1965. Each was driven from 195,000 miles to 205,000 miles when traded in. None hd an engine overhaul, none burned oil. Yes, some cars of the era burned oil and smoked but well maintained cars did not. After buying the 1965 (Ford Mustang) I changed jobs, been driving less, and still own it.