We've never had it so good

Today, you can get in-car wi-fi in GM's cheapest car in North America, reclining thrones in a Korean minivan, a fridge in a mid-size Ford crossover, a base-model work truck with twice as many gears as a 1996 S-class, and a plug-in hybrid with 1800 horsepower and no transmission. Anyone with $10k can pick up an old car worth over $100k when new, and there are now endless ways to learn about cars and connect with other enthusiasts. You can do just about anything to your car, and at least one person on this earth other than you will love it. You can buy a car for $500 and endurance race it. You can buy an old Grand Marquis for $800, weld the diff, and go drifting. You can even build a 400+ horsepower car in your garage for less than $10k. Let's face it: There has never been a better time to be into cars.

Shhhhhh, it's really uncool to be positive nowadays!

Personally, I'd say that it's the second best time after the 50s through early 60s.

Interesting perspective. You seem to be a glass is half full kind of guy.

I'm more of an accidentally knock the glass over spilling grape juice all over my white carpet and ending up with severe lacerations requiring staples to close the gaping open wounds in my feet and hands while trying to clean up the broken glass kind of guy.

Kreb wrote: Personally, I'd say that it's the second best time after the 50s through early 60s.

This, back then, everyone was modifying cars now people plug in computers or replace a part with another and call it modifying. Ive got a bunch of really cool magazines from the 50s about modifying cars, cutting frames, frenching tail lights, make your own intake manifolds, ect. You dont see that anymore. Now its all cat back exhaust, stereos, wheels and coilovers. I feel like i was born in the wrong era

Know what else? A lot of new car owners don't have to actually turn their head behind them to see where they are backing up. And maybe cars have become more modular with plug and play parts...those that want to can still go all in, and those that are unable can still personalize their stuff with relative ease!

bonus: those that want to can buy the older cars and modify them as needed too!

We can get reasonably-priced, factory-warrantied, OEM-reliable 707hp coupes, sedans and soon an SUV. Who would've thought that ever would happen?!

200 mph and a 10 second car is no longer a builder with a bank account, it is mom and dad going to the dealership and buying a 4 door.

I also noticed something the other day. I was behind an old school muscle car build (Nova with a cam, a true Unicorn in the DC metro area) and it was running a bit rich. I have NOT missed the smell of unburnt fuel.

I NEVER would have thought to say this but thank you emissions standards. Fuel injection and catalytic converters have made a difference.

Flight Service wrote: I also noticed something the other day. I was behind an old school muscle car build (Nova with a cam, a true Unicorn in the DC metro area) and it was running a bit rich. I have NOT missed the smell of unburnt fuel. I NEVER would have thought to say this but thank you emissions standards. Fuel injection and catalytic converters have made a difference.

Honestly, aside from the cost of replacement, I do not hate catalytic converters. When my Miata blew the guts out of it's converter, I immediately put a new one in, because going someplace with the top down and getting out smelling like a fuel pump was not my idea of enjoyable. And the new ones don't even kill power that much. Hot Rod did a test a few years back and on a 550+hp LSx engine, high-flow cats only killed like 7hp, which most people wouldn't even notice.

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: Interesting perspective. You seem to be a glass is half full kind of guy.

I was, too, when I was his age.

It's actually a fantastic time to be into cars. No matter what kind or style, level of involvement, or budget, we can all play our own hand.

Personally, I like the early pro touring stuff. And thanks to the Internet, I can do it reasonably successful, reasonably priced, and reasonably painless.

Maybe that should be in the minor win thread.

NickD wrote:

Flight Service wrote: I also noticed something the other day. I was behind an old school muscle car build (Nova with a cam, a true Unicorn in the DC metro area) and it was running a bit rich. I have NOT missed the smell of unburnt fuel. I NEVER would have thought to say this but thank you emissions standards. Fuel injection and catalytic converters have made a difference.

Honestly, aside from the cost of replacement, I do not hate catalytic converters. When my Miata blew the guts out of it's converter, I immediately put a new one in, because going someplace with the top down and getting out smelling like a fuel pump was not my idea of enjoyable. And the new ones don't even kill power that much. Hot Rod did a test a few years back and on a 550+hp LSx engine, high-flow cats only killed like 7hp, which most people wouldn't even notice.

I'm putting an LQ4 6 liter in my 67 Camaro, and I'm even working out how to install the evap system. Garages don't smell like raw fuel anymore, unless you park your lawnmower in it.

NickD wrote:

Flight Service wrote: I also noticed something the other day. I was behind an old school muscle car build (Nova with a cam, a true Unicorn in the DC metro area) and it was running a bit rich. I have NOT missed the smell of unburnt fuel. I NEVER would have thought to say this but thank you emissions standards. Fuel injection and catalytic converters have made a difference.

Honestly, aside from the cost of replacement, I do not hate catalytic converters. When my Miata blew the guts out of it's converter, I immediately put a new one in, because going someplace with the top down and getting out smelling like a fuel pump was not my idea of enjoyable. And the new ones don't even kill power that much. Hot Rod did a test a few years back and on a 550+hp LSx engine, high-flow cats only killed like 7hp, which most people wouldn't even notice.

Agreed. I run cats on everything mostly to keep the smell down. Even idling around 13.5:1 AFR to smooth things out with the cam, the Jeep has almost no smell with a functioning cat on it.

It's both a good and bad time to be into cars, I think. There's a ton of cool stuff around, but at the same time, it's become so easy to build a stupidly fast car that people have gotten lazy and don't put much effort into it anymore.

pushrod36 wrote:

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: Interesting perspective. You seem to be a glass is half full kind of guy.

I was, too, when I was his age.

I'm three times his age and I agree with him.

G_Body_Man wrote: Today, you can get in-car wi-fi in GM's cheapest car in North America, reclining thrones in a Korean minivan, a fridge in a mid-size Ford crossover, a base-model work truck with twice as many gears as a 1996 S-class, and a plug-in hybrid with 1800 horsepower and no transmission. Anyone with $10k can pick up an old car worth over $100k when new, and there are now endless ways to learn about cars and connect with other enthusiasts. You can do just about anything to your car, and at least one person on this earth other than you will love it. You can buy a car for $500 and endurance race it. You can buy an old Grand Marquis for $800, weld the diff, and go drifting. You can even build a 400+ horsepower car in your garage for less than $10k. Let's face it: There has never been a better time to be into cars.

I don't want Wi-Fi in my car, or reclining thrones. I don't want a fridge either.

Get off my lawn.

I'm of the thinking that the 50's and 60's were great, the 70's sucked. The mid to late 80's and 90's were great and the new millennium is sucking, but it does look like we're in for another "great" period soon.

Manufacturers are putting out some pretty good numbers but I think we're lacking cheap options for simple, fun, RWD, sports cars. Aside from the FRS/BRZ what options exist that could match what the Fox bodys, IROCs, RX-7s, 300Zs, Supras, and Celicas were?

chiodos wrote:

Kreb wrote: Personally, I'd say that it's the second best time after the 50s through early 60s.

This, back then, everyone was modifying cars now people plug in computers or replace a part with another and call it modifying. Ive got a bunch of really cool magazines from the 50s about modifying cars, cutting frames, frenching tail lights, make your own intake manifolds, ect. You dont see that anymore. Now its all cat back exhaust, stereos, wheels and coilovers. I feel like i was born in the wrong era

I don't think that's necessarily a better or more significant way of modifying cars, it's just a different skill set and method. There have always been the lower-skilled set that threw on a glasspack and some air-lift shocks and called it "hot rodding." We shouldn't compare the top of the game guys from the 50s to the lowest common denominator now. If you want to compare George Barris to someone, don't compare him to the flat bill 20 year old down the street, compare him to someone like Frank Rinderknecht of Rinspeed. I think the articles in the old Poplular Mechanis and Hotrodder and all that are unbelievably cool and I don't doubt more of those readers had the skills, but I'm sure there were a bunch of "Pinterest Fail" level results form the average joe attemptng to french a taillight.

I guess what I'm saying is that I feel like we're sort of in a second Golden Era of DIY motorsports. We've got unbelievable monsters being put out by the factories (like the 60s) and we have massive access to knowledge and techniques to upgrade and change them thanks to the web and mags like GRM (like the magazines did in the 60s.) I don't see a lot of difference, functionally, between GRM showing us how to upgrade the fuel injectors on your Miata or load a tune in your BRZ to Popular Mechanics showing my dad how to build a dunebuggy from plywood.

The glass is twice as big as it should be.

I don't know how people built cars before the internet. It is so easy now to learn if an aftermarket part is good or bad, then shop multiple sources, including used stuff from the other side of the continent.

NickD wrote: We can get reasonably-priced, factory-warrantied, OEM-reliable 707hp coupes, sedans and soon an SUV. Who would've thought that ever would happen?!

Even better: the reasonably-priced, factory-warrantied, OEM-reliable 707hp coupes & sedans will soon drive themselves! Will the OEMs really put a "Do a Burnout" button on the dash like they've been talking about?

Seriously though, we are lucky to have so much performance available from new cars and so many upgrades available for the cars we already have.

Shhhhhhh. I refuse to believe things are good. The banksters have stacked the deck against me and I'm going to slit my wrists now.

Ban shredded cheese and make America grate again!!!!

Agree that it's an amazing time in the auto industry. And I agree with ultracycle. Everybody talks about how "kids" these days just worry about cat back exhausts and wings, but looking back in the 50's and 60's, there were lots of racoon tails for antenna's, moonie hubcaps, blue dots, etc. They had nothing to do with performance, either.....

I think there are only two things missing:
1) Small bore cars (rear or front wheel drive) which can be
2) Raced on the weekend and driven during the week.

Very few people want number 1, so there's no point in manufacturers trying to sell them. I bet it'd increase, however, if there WAS an opportunity to race them like the early days of the SCCA. Yes, you have things like Lemons or Chump, but those seems more silly than about real racing. I'm talking about the guy who could buy an Austin Healey at his local dealer, put on a roll bar and some slicks, race it all weekend in wheel to wheel and then drive it to work on Monday. Granted, it's better now with the safety brought into racing, but the cost of the cars and the cost of making one a race car have killed that type of racing.

On the plus side, though, there are many more options for driving your car "at speed". Chump, Lemons, SCCA, NASA, track days, autocross, drifting, drag racing, hill climbs, rally cross, etc.

-Rob

Streetwiseguy wrote: I'm putting an LQ4 6 liter in my 67 Camaro, and I'm even working out how to install the evap system. Garages don't smell like raw fuel anymore, unless you park your lawnmower in it.

Agreed, except a lot of lawnmowers now have evap systems as well. I think this was introduced in 2012...

It's apples and oranges. I like the "anything goes" postwar attitude. Now there's so much great stuff available for the consumer it's staggering. And it's very much worth it to take a moment and consider our automotive riches. What I don't like is that DIY is more difficult and less fun on the newer stuff, and that any rich dude can lay down his tech/real estate/banking industry dollars and buy something that performance-wise is beyond the reach of all but the very best of us. I guess that I've got a David-and-Goliath syndrome or something, but nothing beats it when elbow grease, know-how and ingenuity spanks a guy who's paid his way into the game.

but but but... Progressive Snapshot....

LuxInterior wrote:

NickD wrote: We can get reasonably-priced, factory-warrantied, OEM-reliable 707hp coupes, sedans and soon an SUV. Who would've thought that ever would happen?!

Even better: the reasonably-priced, factory-warrantied, OEM-reliable 707hp coupes & sedans will soon drive themselves! Will the OEMs really put a "Do a Burnout" button on the dash like they've been talking about? Seriously though, we are lucky to have so much performance available from new cars and so many upgrades available for the cars we already have.

The new Mustangs actually have a "Do A Burnout" button. And the ECM marks every use, so if there is a parts failure within a certain amount of time of after that button was pressed that, then they can refuse to cover it under warranty

Kreb wrote: What I don't like is that DIY is more difficult and less fun on the newer stuff, and that any rich dude can lay down his tech/real estate/banking industry dollars and buy something that performance-wise is beyond the reach of all but the very best of us. I guess that I've got a David-and-Goliath syndrome or something, but nothing beats it when elbow grease, know-how and ingenuity spanks a guy who's paid his way into the game.

You could call this the "Godzilla effect" after the R35 which is the automotive embodiment of it. It's harder than ever for a crafty DIYer to beat Mr. Moneybags - compare to the '60s when scrappy "garagiste" shops gave top-tier F1 teams a run for their money, and all they could do was pop their monocles and harrumph about it

And on that note, if you consider the technology available today vs. the amount of money you can make today, I have a hard time believing I wouldn't be better off overall in the '70s~'90s (Maybe even the '60s, but the Louis CK Rule of Time Travel suggests I really shouldn't go back any further).