new thoughts on owning/driving an old musclecar

[LT.]

Maybe this is why my 69 mustang (high school car) still sits in the back of the shed. I cant even believe that I think this way considering all the thousand ways over the years I have rebuilt it in my dreams. I have rebuilt is so cool Steve McQueen would have paid me a million dollars just to drive it! I have said to myself over the years I could not afford to build it right and yet I have spent tens on thousands of dollars on other projects and the old Mustang cant make it out of the shed and into the shop...

Yup, and look at the new mustangs. A nice new 420hp GT can be had for low to mid $30k, with all the modern bells and whistles plus a warranty.

But, anyone can have a new mustang. And they are a dime a dozen. The older cars had something that newer cars just can't grasp, style! Not one car was like another back in the day. Now days the cars are all kinda the same. An old Mustang will have thicker metal, bolder styling lines, no emissions, and the fact that they are not being mass produced anymore makes them all the better.

I will take an older vehicle over a newer one most of the time. Now, if I was going cross country, or spending long periods of time behind the wheel then a newer vehicle will win. For short trips, cruises, playing around, my short commute to work, I will take an older vehicle when I can. Build the mustang. Even if all you do is get it running so you can take it on short trips, it would be worth it.

The guys from Hot Rod sometimes take things a little far but, for the Charger, they took a shell and built a car for playing in. Perfect.

LT.

 

[AaronPaige]

Just running out and buying a new muscle car with all the bells and whistles just isn't any thing like the old ones, I just had to have a hemi charger and the four doors made it a mom car, traded it for a r/t challenger and sported it around about a year tell I got sick of peeing blood so I got a new camaro and while it gets to wendover in a hurry and in comfort, high speed just isn't a rush when you don't even notice your doing it. I love the looks of the modern cars but with drive by wire and no engine fill, I just can't get that feeling of power

 

[DAA]

To each his own and whatever works for anyone is fine by me.

But for myself, the appeal of an old muscle car - aside from the nostalgia, I'd get a '68 Chevelle just because the first time I ever got layed was in one - but the real appeal would be working on it. Driving it on good weather weekends would be great too, but if it wasn't a convertible I'd drive my Jeep instead anyway. But just having it there to work on, improve, modify, tinker with, would be a blast, I'd enjoy it. I have a Jeep for that already too though...

I love the looks of the modern cars but with drive by wire and no engine fill, I just can't get that feeling of power

I dunno about that... I owned a handful of late '60s and early '70s muscle cars when I was young and the cars weren't that old. A guy I work with has a bone stock '13 Shelby GT500 that he has let me drive a couple of times. I feel - and hear - the power, driving that thing like no car I have ever driven before. The exhaust and super charger combine to make the most intoxicating aural driving experience I have ever had. And the short throw stick, combined with all that power (660HP) and rear wheel drive, you can brake 'em loose at will, at least as far as I have been willing to push it, with it not being mine. Even my bosses new 458 Italia (which I have driven too) doesn't match it for pure visceral brutality.

- DAA

 

[Greg]

Bwwaahaaa... Dave, I love your honesty!

I would love to have another '71 Camaro, if nothing more than for the great memories I had while driving that car. It was a blast, I would take another just like it any day of the week. Now that I'm making more than $20k/year, I could afford to have on that was half-decent too!

 

[Bart]

Absolutely love this Nova. My favorite year is the 67, but this is a close second.

I did it and it wasn't for me. I had a company car that had no restrictions on use so I didn't have a personal car. When I switched jobs I didn't have a car and thought I could use my Nova as a daily driver. It lasted a week before I was car shopping. While it is a ton of fun to drive to and from carshows and cruise nights it is super uncomfortable to commute and sit in traffic in. And let's face it, it is terrible on gas.

Here is my Nova

 

[AaronPaige]

To each his own and whatever works for anyone is fine by me.

But for myself, the appeal of an old muscle car - aside from the nostalgia, I'd get a '68 Chevelle just because the first time I ever got layed was in one - but the real appeal would be working on it. Driving it on good weather weekends would be great too, but if it wasn't a convertible I'd drive my Jeep instead anyway. But just having it there to work on, improve, modify, tinker with, would be a blast, I'd enjoy it. I have a Jeep for that already too though...




I dunno about that... I owned a handful of late '60s and early '70s muscle cars when I was young and the cars weren't that old. A guy I work with has a bone stock '13 Shelby GT500 that he has let me drive a couple of times. I feel - and hear - the power, driving that thing like no car I have ever driven before. The exhaust and super charger combine to make the most intoxicating aural driving experience I have ever had. And the short throw stick, combined with all that power (660HP) and rear wheel drive, you can brake 'em loose at will, at least as far as I have been willing to push it, with it not being mine. Even my bosses new 458 Italia (which I have driven too) doesn't match it for pure visceral brutality.

- DAA

ok ok I have to admit the technology and flat out speed of the new cars is great and amazing compared to the old stuff, but growing up riding in a ,427 64' vette, 69 camaro, and my high school ride 70' charger 440 it's not even close but I'll keep chasing those days every time I go to the dealership

 

[mbryson]

.....,427 64' vette...

That'd be an interesting factory car