That said, I'll admit to doing about the same. I don't even remember the details now, but I had done a repair and refilled with water, maybe distilled water thinking I'd get back to it in the fall. I think it was a bad thermostat. Anyway. As usual it was around 7 PM leaving work, and the temperature had really dropped. Get in the car and when I started it had this little light bulb half go off in my head. Not much I could do about it at that point. Just hoped it hadn't frozen such that it cracked anything. Drove it home. 45 minutes. One very cold ride home but didn't crack anything. LOL :)
'74 Nova straight 6 with worn bearings. It was a pretty good car and I was lucky.