The car thread ...

[O Really]

I've seen cars like the Corvette and Camaro (above) in car shows, but as far as I know, never on the street. Does anyone actually buy and drive those around?

[Vrede too]

... But sure, if you want to compare speed of CAT's muscle cars to most imported cars available at the time, then he's got a point. Of course, the imports available at the time didn't claim to compete for speed with the muscle cars so the pic is somewhat of a straw man anyway. Why am I not shocked?

Why does speed matter to anyone besides pro drivers and middle aged men with tiny dicks?

[O Really]

Why does speed matter to anyone besides pro drivers and middle aged men with tiny dicks?

You're familiar with the term "manopause mobile"?

[1 CAT FAN]

I've seen cars like the Corvette and Camaro (above) in car shows, but as far as I know, never on the street. Does anyone actually buy and drive those around?

Nowadays the SUV is the norm. Got to have something big to transport all the grandchildren.

[billy.pilgrim]

I've seen cars like the Corvette and Camaro (above) in car shows, but as far as I know, never on the street. Does anyone actually buy and drive those around?

Nowadays the SUV is the norm. Got to have something big to transport all the grandchildren.

what does the american suv have in common with the french mansard roof

[neoplacebo]

What's your opinion comparing Tesla, BMW and a Mini convertible

Mini's are, according to a lot of knowledgeable people, one of the coolest, best driving, most fun unreliable money pits you can get. When we were looking for a car to tow behind the motorcoach, I was wanting a Mini badly, specifically the Countryman model. The more I found out about them, the further they fell down the list. Doesn't help in our case that you apparently have to go to a dealer for practically anything/everything.

I love Bimmers. If I were going to get another high performance luxury-type car, BMW would be at the top of the list, and there would be a long way down to #2. Definitely not a cheap ride, but totally earns it's "Ultimate Driving Machine" tag. I drove them from the 2002 boxy looking series through the fairly recent 3 series, and once including one like the 3.0csi below. My opinion might be a little biased.

I didn't know Tesla was a real car, but it is definitely a fine looking golf cart. (Real answer: I don't know much about Teslas.)

I always liked the BMW 633 and would never consider anything other than a 5 or 7 series these days, not even the low end M series. I still remember when they first came out with the 750iL and the poem some gearhead wrote about it...."no matter how I sweat and toil I can never afford a 75 oil."

[neoplacebo]

... But sure, if you want to compare speed of CAT's muscle cars to most imported cars available at the time, then he's got a point. Of course, the imports available at the time didn't claim to compete for speed with the muscle cars so the pic is somewhat of a straw man anyway. Why am I not shocked?

Why does speed matter to anyone besides pro drivers and middle aged men with tiny dicks?

It's not speed; it's performance. Just the thrill of the high rate of acceleration and the ability to make the vehicle stop quickly (not a selling point on most 60's muscle cars) and the satisfaction of negotiating rather severe turns in something like a Porsche 911. The whole thing is like trying to describe any sort of emotional experience, from sex to abject anguish. To appreciate this type of thing you have to throw practicality and utility out the window. And while you're at it, you may as well get rid of the rear view mirror because it doesn't matter what's happening back there.

[O Really]

...and the satisfaction of negotiating rather severe turns in something like a Porsche 911.

Sounds like somebody who would happily wheel that 911 down the Tail of the Dragon and back up.

[billy.pilgrim]

...and the satisfaction of negotiating rather severe turns in something like a Porsche 911.

Sounds like somebody who would happily wheel that 911 down the Tail of the Dragon and back up.

I'll go up too fast, but I don't like coming down.

[Vrede too]

I'll go up too fast, but I don't like coming down.

Are you talking about cars or LSD?

[billy.pilgrim]

I'll go up too fast, but I don't like coming down.

Are you talking about cars or LSD?

that was a long time ago, but if I remember correctly, that going up was more difficult than the coming down.

[1 CAT FAN]

The thrill and terror of driving a real man’s car
http://www.themusclecarplace.com/the-th ... l-mans-car

Well, when it comes to driving an old muscle car there is something completely visceral about it. Driving a bone stock ’65 Mustang at 110mph is a completely different experience than driving a new Honda Accord at 110. It seems a lot faster in the Mustang. It’s louder. It’s less stable (way less). It’s working harder. It’s also a lot more fun….and you feel completely alive!
How can all of these feelings come from driving one 45 year old car? Well, for starters, the Mustang (or any old muscle car really) started with the bones of a passenger car that was retrofitted for speed duty. It was designed to be a regular car – not a speed demon – until GM, Ford, Chrysler, and AMC repurposed them. They may or may not have seat belts, and they definitely didn’t come with airbags, anti lock brakes, or (depending on the year) even a collapsible steering column. If you wad the thing up at high speed your chances of going home in a body bag are much (and I mean MUCH) higher than the Accord.

That being said….there is something very impersonal about the modern safe car vs the old Mustang. The Mustang has personality. It has quirks. It seems alive. Driving it makes you realize there is a difference between men and boys, and you’re the man behind the wheel. Driving it hard is thrilling and terrifying all at the same time…..and there isn’t a man alive that doesn’t want that experience at least once in his life.

If you’ve got an old muscle car, drive it hard – at least once. If you’re buying one to hang on to – do the same anyway. You won’t regret it. Just don’t wreck it. - Robert Kibbe

[billy.pilgrim]

I've seen cars like the Corvette and Camaro (above) in car shows, but as far as I know, never on the street. Does anyone actually buy and drive those around?

Nowadays the SUV is the norm. Got to have something big to transport all the grandchildren.

what does the american suv have in common with the french mansard roof

not even a guess

[neoplacebo]

I've seen cars like the Corvette and Camaro (above) in car shows, but as far as I know, never on the street. Does anyone actually buy and drive those around?

Nowadays the SUV is the norm. Got to have something big to transport all the grandchildren.

what does the american suv have in common with the french mansard roof

not even a guess

I will guess they both have a roof.

[billy.pilgrim]

I've seen cars like the Corvette and Camaro (above) in car shows, but as far as I know, never on the street. Does anyone actually buy and drive those around?

Nowadays the SUV is the norm. Got to have something big to transport all the grandchildren.

what does the american suv have in common with the french mansard roof

not even a guess

I will guess they both have a roof.

Both are ugly would have been a close 2nd, but both were created to avoid compliance with reasonable regulation

Those God awful mansard roofs come courtesy of people trying to avoid paying their fair share of property tax. Early French property tax did not consider are area behind a roof slope as living area and didn't tax it, so people covered their 2nd floor with a roof.

SUV's were created to avoid compliance with the energy requirements of the 70s. The repugs had successfully lobbied Congress for an exemption of our poor farmer's trucks. So anything on a truck frame didn't have to meet energy standards.

[neoplacebo]

Fair enough; but depending on what you're regulating, I have an illustrious history of opposition to reasonable regulation. Truth in advertising as it were.

[Vrede too]

Amsterdam homes were taxed based on their frontage width to street or canal. Hence, a lot of the city's charm is due to skinny, tall, very deep, often luxurious homes with big windows and pulley mounts under the eaves for getting the furniture in and out that would never fit up the tight interior staircases.

Also, the Dutch are very tall and talk like they're underwater because so much of the country is below sea level.

[O Really]

Well, when it comes to driving an old muscle car there is something completely visceral about it. Driving a bone stock ’65 Mustang at 110mph is a completely different experience than driving a new Honda Accord at 110.

I can appreciate the general principle of the author's point of view, but a "bone stock '65 Mustang" is no more a "muscle car" than the Honda. The original Mustang was a Falcon with a nice sleek sporty body. Great idea, revolutionary look, excellent marketing, and a lasting legacy, but "muscle car", no.

[O Really]

Georgian houses often had bricked-in windows because of the window tax levied on homeowners between 1696 and 1851. The window tax was in the place of income tax – the more windows a home had, the bigger it was and the richer the owner. So, to avoid paying higher taxes, many homeowners bricked up some of their windows to reduce the rate of tax they had to pay.

Tudor houses have a second floor overhang to avoid the tax scheme of the time, and, for further trivia, was why the "courtesy" of the man walking on the outside toward the street began. Residents dumped their crap (literally and figuratively) from the second floor and if the lady was walking under the overhang, she didn't get dumped on.

[1 CAT FAN]

Well, when it comes to driving an old muscle car there is something completely visceral about it. Driving a bone stock ’65 Mustang at 110mph is a completely different experience than driving a new Honda Accord at 110.

I can appreciate the general principle of the author's point of view, but a "bone stock '65 Mustang" is no more a "muscle car" than the Honda. The original Mustang was a Falcon with a nice sleek sporty body. Great idea, revolutionary look, excellent marketing, and a lasting legacy, but "muscle car", no.

Nah, the muscle car wars began a few years later, there's a difference between a 65' Mustang coupe and a 69' Mustang Boss 429.