I grew up in the era of moms and dads teaching us to drive. Yes we had Driver’s Ed, however, Driver’s Ed classes didn’t start until our senior year, by then most of us already knew how to drive. After all, at 16 we all wanted the coveted “learners permit!”
My father taught me to drive. First we went over the basics, starting, stopping, the gauges, how the car worked, what to do on wet, dry roads, turns, and anything else my father could think of to have me prepared for any situation. Things you weren’t going to get from Drivers Ed. My dad shared his many years of experience, and it made me a better driver than most of my female and many of my male counterparts.
Eventually, all the muscle cars from the 20th century will return to the Earth in various altered physical states. The sport obviously can’t continue forever in current form.
But a great assurance of its future is the imminent resurgence in modern-day successors to the cars that hot-rodders worship so dearly. The new movement started in 2005 with the first new Ford Mustang since the late 70s. All the basics were there – rear-wheel-drive, V8, classic looks, cheap sticker – and it fit the profile of being designed and built in America. Even better, the Mustang’s V8 is now a modern piece that will pass all emissions standards in the foreseeable future and finds application in many cars and trucks within the lineup, satisfying that essential hot rod need of “cheap parts.” Better yet, this 1990s-conceived engine is now developing a history and lineage (dare I say legend) of its own. Lastly, the Mustang is selling well. Ford fans, at least, can relax.
Posted in Vehicles | Also tagged Hot rod, muscle cars |
While today we have women racing in Indy, NASCAR and a variety of different racing venues, years ago this wasn’t the case.
In fact, during the era I grew up in women were looked upon in a very different light. If you deviated from the norm you were labeled as a “tomboy”. However, there were many, like myself who loved to drive, work on cars and got a lot of satisfaction in doing so. Just because we did however, didn’t mean we weren’t women, girls, ladies, whatever you wish to be called.
Chuck and I got involved in our first car club when we lived in Rochester and had our Corvette.
We had a blast. Met a great bunch of people, did a ton of events. In fact I can still remember our first event. It was a car rally and Chuck and I got the second place trophy.
I have heard the whole “kit car” marginalization since my earliest involvement with cars. Back in the day when the kit cars were true low budget DIY (do-it-yourself) creations all manner of snicker abounded at shows whenever one of these things would ride up.
In the days when I showed a trailer queen at the ISCA (International Show Car Assoc.) circuit, it was near impossible for the kit cars of that day to get a placement on the show floor due to the bad rap they had. It’s a different temperament now and allowances are much broader wherein most (forgive the broad brush) of what you see in the ISCA and the pro show circuit are in fact very evolved versions of the old kit cars concept. But wait before we jump… I realize the quality now is miles apart from the old Sebring and Bradley GT days and the “kit car” contempt we see today doesn’t even regard these examples as current. With that said, it is the spirit of the discussion I am attempting to set out, not the letter of the actual differentiation of the vehicles.
Remember when you were young and looking to get that first car. You looked around at the cars your friends had, you looked in the various car magazines and would put yourself behind the wheel of all the cars they featured.
I do. In fact, I can remember my grandmother and father asking me what kind of car I wanted for my High School graduation. I really wanted to get a powder blue Corvette with white interior, or a white Corvette with powder blue interior. They thought the price for one back then was a bit more than they wanted to spend and didn’t feel it was a good “first” car. So I got my “Black Beauty” instead, a black, 2 door 1962 Chevy Belair with blue vinyl seats, which I fell in love with real quick.
Those of us lucky enough to be around in the 70s when this fantastic car came out drool everytime we think of it. Imagine getting a car from the factory with a 455 cubic inch engine in it! This car kicked butt! Then if you did some work, like we did to ours, as in having the engine blue printed, balanced and a lot more, it did even better. Let’s just say it was doing much better then one horsepower per cubic inch!
This was the era of Smokey and the Bandit movies. Good ole boy Burt Reynolds drove a black Trans Am in the movie and everyone and his uncle all of a sudden wanted one. Of course, by that time the ones they were selling were watered down versions with no where near the power of the original ones.
All special-interest hobbies have their followings, and hot rod devotees are no exception. Every week in every major metropolitan area across America, you can count on at least a few enthusiast-run clubs meeting up to do what gearheads of all tastes do: race, swap parts, cruise around on lazy weekend afternoons, fill a major venue with its very own auto show, or simply hang out and eat.
Some clubs are dedicated to a certain cars, others to cars of a certain make, others still care not at all. Many have restrictions on age – that is, of cars that are too young. “Young” is an elastic term, and in some cases can stretch to mean anything produced before 1948. Banned, just like that.
Posted in General | Also tagged Hot rod, muscle cars |
I have a number of favorites, however, my all time favorite is Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody.
Since living in an extremely cold climate means taking your Corvette off the road in the winter months, a winter car is a must.
For a good half-century now, the hobby of hot-rodding typically meant taking a cheap car, taking out any body part that didn’t matter (i.e. roofs, hoods, bumpers, fenders, seats, and other such nonsense), modifying the engine and/or dropping in a bigger one for greater performance (often protruding upwards from the hood), and fattening up the tires for extra traction.
The term is still as accurate as ever. In fact, not even the cars in question have necessarily changed: one very typical image of a hot rod is a muscle car straight from the 1960s (the so-called muscle car golden age), restored to all its glory and then some. It’s not uncommon to take the great ancestors of cars we know today (Mustang, GTO) or ones forgotten by all but a few (Plymouth Barracuda), and send the output of its V8 soaring to 600 horsepower and above. Hot rods can be just as much about customizing as weight-saving (think of flaming paintjobs), and price isn’t necessarily an object: one notable Barracuda (“Hemi Cuda” in hot rod speak) on the cover of a major-name hot rod magazine had every body panel and interior item customized to its owner’s desire. For $340,000.
Posted in General | Also tagged Hot rod, muscle cars |