Mitchell wrote:
The H.A.M.B. appears to be the HOA of hotrodding. Sounds like buckets of fun.
You get a clicky-heart for that one. Or, perhaps more appropriately, "T-buckets of fun".
Here's the thing, folks. I'm 35 years old, which puts me smack in between the 2 camps- I'm too old to "get" the import/tuner scene, and too young to "appreciate" the real roots of hot rodding. I was at a fab shop the other day for work, and the owner tells me he's a car buff. He's about 20 years older than I am. I mention that I'm into cars, too, and he says, "Well, I'm into OLD cars." I then proceed to march him out to the parking lot and show him the 1967 Volvo Amazon that I drove to his shop that day. So then he opens up and starts telling me about his '70 Mustang, Roadrunner, etc.
THEN he takes me over to his computer, and brings up a picture of his most recent toy- a 1983 Subaru Brat. 24,000 miles, all original. I'm weird, so I was actually more interested in hearing about that car than the 60's muscle car iron. But I appreciate then both.
Hot rodding, and car culture in general, is really a big tent. This isn't politics, folks. Some people here are Democrats, some are Republicans, some probably vote Green, Libertarian, or whatever. A lot of us probably don't vote at all. But the one thing we DO agree on is that cars are cool. Cars rock. I heard someone say once that the thing that you spend the most time with, the thing you think about constantly, is the thing you truly love. I'd wager for most of us, that thing is cars. I don't mean to be all "can't we all just get along?" but I've found that I learn a lot and have made a lot of great friends by being open to new stuff. I chat with some guys about Honda, others about RX-7's, and other guys about big blocks. And some guys just want to talk oil-burners. Hey., we're all car guys.
And car guys need to stick together. That goes double for the car gals. ;-)