About 'field rats'. My grandmother, who was a little less than 5 feet tall and couldn't make 90 pounds without a couple of rolls of quarters in her pockets, drove a 1952 Chrysler New Yorker (four door). Too big to fit in a standard garage, 331 Hemi and Clutch Flite transmission. After my parents moved her trailer to their house at the Lake of The Ozarks (Laurie), the car sat for about a year after being driven in.
I was home on leave once and took an interest. Popped the hood and . . . the field rats had gotten to it. There was a fairly long heater duct, about 6 inches in diameter and three feet long. All that was left was the wire stiffening. Most of the wiring was bare because the cloth insulation had been eaten away, but it still started and ran. We finally decided to get rid of it because of the rear brakes. Dual single sided wheel cylinders on each wheel. The front brakes worked fine. I think it weighed 4800 pounds.
A kid bought it and managed to get it up more than 90 mph before wrapping it around a tree. He lived, but it wasn't worth salvaging.
