Take a gander at this here Challenger.
I finally *get* how all the cool cars died. They were once everywhere and were just another used car. Then piece by piece, they became worthless, one at a time. And this one hasn't even succumbed to rust yet.
That's how it goes. When they were new, the weren't the cool cars. They were just cars.
Mndsm said:That's how it goes. When they were new, the weren't the cool cars. They were just cars.
That reminds me of how people griped that the '04-'06 GTO was too boring in appearance. In hindsight the '64-'67 GTOs are cool, but when they were new, those were just your dad's deeply uncool Tempest with a hoodscoop grafted on.
A lot of the people who can afford to buy and feed new muscle cars consider them to be just another car, and don't spend any time keeping them clean and in good repair. Also, anything with a high HP/weight ratio is probably more likely to meet an untimely end. Also, I am consistently amazed at how many truly ratty late model Mercedes are roaming our highways.
In reply to P3PPY :
I worked for someone who said he owned about 50 A-bodies when he was in college in the late 80s/early 90s. He'd buy up rusted out GTOs, Chevelles, what have you, drive them around for a little bit, then part them out. Use the money to buy another one, etc.
That Challenger looks like a base model V6 purchased at a "buy here pay here" lot by someone who thinks they're cool but shouldn't be trusted with a 15 year old Yaris. I'll bet the inside is a mess too.
In reply to Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) :
It is a culture thing too.
For whatever reason, those cars are extremely aspirational. For the same reason you see tons of C-class benzes and 2 generation old S classes all clapped out and dead, LX platform cars are in the same boat. I don't exactly know what it is, but those cars are BIG. And unfortunately- when you got big dreams, you do big things even when you got a little pocketbook, or you buy the most you can possibly afford with little regard for how you're gonna maintain it.
For my Florida homies- I was driving down OBT today and the BHPH lots were THICK with these cars.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I hate to tell you but unless they're a very special model with super low production, they ARE just another car.
And I don't mean the one-of-one Mustang in salmon pink with a chartreuse interior, I mean something rare that someone else actually wants.
Worked with a guy who had a superbird in 1981with the big wing and the bigger gas prices. He ran the tires off it and couldn't afford to keep gas in it and tires on it with the pay he had at the time. He sold it for 1200 bucks. Says he can't watch Barrett Jackson now without crying...
Everything follows the affluence curve of what the generation with money wanted to buy in high-school. Look at the current radwood and as always fast and furious cars currently. Honestly 60s muscle cars are tanking right now as everyone who would pay top dollar has got one and there isn't as strong of a market for the ones who are passing to sell into.
johndej said:Everything follows the affluence curve of what the generation with money wanted to buy in high-school. Look at the current radwood and as always fast and furious cars currently. Honestly 60s muscle cars are tanking right now as everyone who would pay top dollar has got one and there isn't as strong of a market for the ones who are passing to sell into.
I was just talking about this at work. I'm going to look at a let's say parade ready 31 Model A ro cut up into a hot rod. I say parade ready because road ready is a stretch for 100 year old technology bur it's been completely restored mechanically and cosmetically about 20 years ago yet the price is only 13k. I was telling the guys at work it's so cheap because nobody remembers them anymore. There isn't a large group of buyers that remembers when they were on the road as normal cars. Take my age group and high school was 3rd gen camaros, fox body mustangs, the start of the tuner scene with honda hatches and those cars have skyrocketed in value.
As a teenager, I got my first musclecar in the 80's. It was a 1968 Barracuda convertible and I paid only a few thousand dollars for it. It was my daily driver and I took care of it the best I could but it still had to go through Canadian winters and spring potholes and all the crap that regular cars deal with. After getting a thousand traffic tickets with the car, I built a sleeper 1965 Acadian wagon that was really, really quick but looked like nothing. Here are the two cars, in the winter. Good times, good times
In reply to RonnieFnD :
My father-in-law's 86 YO neighbor has a 1930 Ford Model A 2-door that just last Saturday I asked him if this summer I can learn how to start it and drive it. He said, no problem.
Ironically he pulls out his smart phone to show me a picture of it. What a contrast in technology - will report back.
Datsun240ZGuy said:In reply to RonnieFnD :
My father-in-law's 86 YO neighbor has a 1930 Ford Model A 2-door that just last Saturday I asked him if this summer I can learn how to start it and drive it. He said, no problem.
Ironically he pulls out his smart phone to show me a picture of it. What a contrast in technology - will report back.
I had a customer with a pair of model Ts a few years ago that taught me how to drive them. It's both terrifying and fun once you get the hang of it.
ShawnG said:In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I hate to tell you but unless they're a very special model with super low production, they ARE just another car.
I remember driving to Florida when I was 10, snow tires on the back, and pulling a trailer in my Dad's 71 Z28. It was just a used car, but almost everything* becomes not just another car, and either collectible, or at least expensive at some point.
Look at 4dr Chevy II prices today. That's as nothing a car as there ever was, but they sell for a lot more now than they cost new.
* I know someone with an Edsel.
In reply to Peabody :
Who cared about a Ford Falcon? But here we are.
In reply to RonnieFnD :
Model Ts are great fun and I recommend every car guy taking the opportunity to drive one if they get the chance.
I have a friend with a collection of early Fords and he uses them as daily drivers. He has a Turbo Porsche and drives everything the same way.
Being a passenger with him in a brass era car is like being on Mr. Toads Wild Ride.
ShawnG said:In reply to Peabody :
Who cared about a Ford Falcon? But here we are.
Before the Mustang came out, they were hot sh...tuff. People were hot rodding the 144 and 170 six before Ford started putting the 260 in it.
Then the Mustang was released.
How many people played with Magnums after the Barracuda was released?
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to P3PPY :
I worked for someone who said he owned about 50 A-bodies when he was in college in the late 80s/early 90s. He'd buy up rusted out GTOs, Chevelles, what have you, drive them around for a little bit, then part them out. Use the money to buy another one, etc.
My father talks about a woman who lived in the area in the late '70s and had dreadful claustrophobia, and so she had to drive an A-body Malibu convertible year-round, with the top and all the windows down. I mentioned it to the greybeard mechanic at work, who lived in that area, and he said he had worked on that car quite a bit. Fifteen or so NY winters rotted the frame out, and he said he couldn't find an A-body convertible frame anymore,so it just got a regular coupe frame from a '68 Cutlass.
In reply to NickD :
That poor woman. At least she found a way to cope in a way that allowed her to function.
On the bright side, convertible meant they didn't get the rear window rot that destroyed a ton of A bodies.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to NickD :
That poor woman. At least she found a way to cope in a way that allowed her to function.
On the bright side, convertible meant they didn't get the rear window rot that destroyed a ton of A bodies.
The same rot Ive been putting off fixing for 9 years?
In reply to Patrick :
Find it on every A body. You'll see.
I think I see what you did there?
In reply to flat4_5spd :
And his heart grew three sizes that day!
P3PPY said:
Take a gander at this here Challenger.
I finally *get* how all the cool cars died. They were once everywhere and were just another used car. Then piece by piece, they became worthless, one at a time. And this one hasn't even succumbed to rust yet.
There's a similar Challenger in my neighborhood. Flats on opposite corners, wrinkled hood, busted windshield and sticker residue on the driver's window that closely resembles what the state police use when they find a vehicle on the side of the road for too long.
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