Calendar Girl Contest!
$1000 Grand Prize! |
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Classic Car Community is looking for the next Classic Car Calendar Girl. This contest is open to all members. Submit your poses with your favorite classic and you could be chosen to represent your community on the first of many calendars to come.
More Here! |
2009
Best Ride Contest!
Win $500 in Gas! |
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Think you have the best wheels on the road? Well put your classic car up to the test in the Community's
Best Ride Contest. Submit a story stating why you think your ride rules the rest and you'll be entered to win a $500 gas card.
Sign up here.
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Old vs. New
The other day I was reading an article in a classic car magazine about why the author likes the old cars of the 50's and 60's better than today's cars. The author grew up in the 50's and may be a little biased to those cars of his generation. This got me thinking.I was born in 1973 and didn't experience the fabulous 50's or the rebellious 60's, so I really can't speak to how it was then. I do know this, that I would have LOVED to be 16 in 1966 and to be part of the pony wars, but I digress. As for today, the closest car that I owned that might be considered a muscle car was the 1991 Mustang 5.0 liter LX. You know the one that I got pulled over 11 times in 22 months? Other than that car, I drove all classics, from the 67 mustang, 66 cyclone, fairlanes, chargers and 1 barracuda. What am I getting at? I don't know, but let's talk this out.
I know this; I had the most fun in the old cars, I loved gunning it from light to light, I loved lighting up the tires, I loved impressing the ladies (oh, don't act like you're not impressed…chicks dig the car) and I loved beating the hell out of them, fixing them and then doing it all over again. However, when I graduated, I sold my 67 Fairlane and purchased a more reliable, air conditioned car to get me to work on time…the '91 mustang. So, if the classics are better than new cars, why did I sell my classic to purchase a newer car?
I broke it down to two things, time and sweat.
First, time. Now that I was in the corporate world and climbing that corporate ladder (disgusting, I know), I didn't have time to "play" with my car. I worked nights, I worked weekends and as for the little free time that I had, I was going on vacation or catching up on my sleep. The funny part was I wanted so much to get a good job so I wouldn't have to work on my car…I would pay someone else to do that. Now, 12 years in the corporate world, I am working hard to get back to working on my cars. Ironic huh? Sorry, I went off on a tangent there. So, the first thing that went out the window when I entered the workforce was my time.
Second, sweat. All the jobs that I had in college where I drove a classic to work didn't care if I had two sweat patches under my arms…pizza delivery boy, landscaper, construction worker, mechanic intern and an antiperspirant tester. Ok, I made the last one up, but you get my point.I couldn't show up to my new corporate job with a tie on and me looking like I was swimming in shoulder high water. I needed a reliable, a/c car that can get me to work on time and with that minty fresh feeling. But, does that mean that the newer cars are better than the old ones? I still say no and here's why.
Original Star Trek vs. new Star Trek? Original Challenger vs. new Challenger? Original Camaro vs. new Camaro? Original Don Henley song "Boys of Summer" vs. new remake Ataris song "Boys of Summer?" And finally, original Mustang GT500KR vs. new Mustang GT500KR?
Here's the difference….new! Say it with me…N-E-W! Everybody loves the newness (if that's a word) about everything. People pay thousands more if the car is new, if the home is new, if the TV is new. So, the trick is to get the old cars new again. It makes me wonder, what if Ford (instead of the "new retro Mustang) built the exact Mustang they built in 1969? I mean all the panels would be exactly the same, but with the new more efficient engines, today's brakes, today's safety restraint systems, today's leather, today's a/c, today's retractable hardtops, today's 20 inch rims, and today's 13 layer paint schemes. The old is new again!! I'm willing to bet that everyone would pick the old original styling with today's sophistication.
My two cents, it's not the simplicity that we miss from yesteryear, it's the styling, the flash, the youth that we miss. So, if you have an all original classic, leave it alone. Buy the exact car that is beaten down and restore it to today specs, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
There's one problem, how do we restore William Shatner?
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