How I miss the the old days....

[Duffyjr]

Originally Posted By: gman2304
I remember when if you had a car that lasted to 100,000 miles without major repairs, you crowed to everybody and their brother. Now people with 200,000 plus miles on their vehicles rarely raise an eyebrow. 300,000 mile cars and trucks seems to be the new 100,000 miles. My 05 Chevy 1500 is getting ready to roll over 190,000 miles.


And wouldn't even look at a used car with 80k thinking it was about dead, now I can't even find one with that low a miles in my price range!

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
Originally Posted By: Cujet


Also, I don't see any vehicle short of an airplane as being worth keeping 40+ years. 20-25 years is a good outside limit for all but the most exotic cars.
This will be an unpopular opinion.


Soccer moms need a reliable appliance.

One major thing I wanted to point out. The "modern" car crowd go find the car and driver and road and track times to prove that old cars are slow. These times are right off the showroom floor and not even the simplest timing adjustments have been done. Old cars have been tweaked and tuned and modified to get a lot more performance out of them.

LS1 Mike thinks only LS cars get head and can upgrades, I guess.




Well I kind of miss spoke. I have ridden in a bunch of different cars, my point is a lot of things feel "fast". Does not mean they are.
But I digress everybody has there own likes and dislikes. You like old tech, I like new tech.

 

[Dallas69]

Anyone who never drove or rode in a '60s muscle car should not comment.
It was an era that will never be duplicated.
Some cars today are faster but they have no character.
My Street Hemi was a blast to drive and don't tell me it wasn't fast.

 

[Shannow]

"Character" felt faster than it was, didn't handle all that well or stop, and in an accident seemed almost designed to put you into the morgue...

(Yes, I've drivenand owned the Oz equivalents)...going back into them, most wouldn't be able to reverse park them with the manual steering of the day.

 

[grampi]

FWIW, I prefer larger displacement naturally aspirated engines to small displacement forced induction engines...

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: grampi
FWIW, I prefer larger displacement naturally aspirated engines to small displacement forced induction engines...

Why not both?
Around the time that the Supra scene started winding down, the big players were migrating from the 3L I6 to the Dodge Viper V10 and then turbocharging those large displacement motors.
I went from a turbo I-6 to a supercharged, larger, high compression ratio V8. Yeah, that V8 knew how to scoot.

 

[Malo83]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: turtlevette


Computers and electronics aren't designed to last 40 years.

Computer nonvolitile memory has a limited number of read write cycles. PC boards eventually corrode unless they have a special environmental coating.


Not true. The electronics are rather reliable and the boards are conformally coated.

Also, I don't see any vehicle short of an airplane as being worth keeping 40+ years. 20-25 years is a good outside limit for all but the most exotic cars.


Surely you Jest! the most exotic cars, get your head out of the clouds.

 

[BironDanmum]

What I miss is the wide-open cockpit of years past. While the bench seats weren't the most convenient of all time, the best configuration was the 60/40 split bench and I think I had two of the last cars to have that (Buicks and Crown Vic). I hate center consoles.

I miss big cars. I miss wide open interiors. I miss a backseat you can sleep in. Other than that, modern vehicles put older ones to shame. We're getting more horsepower out of 4 cylinders now than we were in muslecar V8s of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

 

[DGXR]

Look at what they have to drive in Europe. And the price they pay for gasoline... uhmm PETROL. We are spoiled here in USA and it could be much, much worse.

This does not address the OP's rant but hopefully it does put a perspective on things.

 

[SilverSnake]

Originally Posted By: BironDanmum
I miss big cars. I miss wide open interiors. I miss a backseat you can sleep in. Other than that, modern vehicles put older ones to shame. We're getting more horsepower out of 4 cylinders now than we were in muslecar V8s of the 50s, 60s and 70s.


I love the big cars from the old days as well. I owned many of them (Olds 88, Olds 98, Buick Riviera, Chyrsler Imperial Lebaron, etc). That is why I love my Dodge Charger. Closest thing you can get to the days of old. Go with the 392 or Hellcat and you will have a modern big car with more power and performance than any of the big old cars.

This was my favorite of all the old large cars. Big 440 power. As comfortable a car as you will ever find. Just click on the picture of those seats.

http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/mopar/74imperial/74imperial.html

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
"Character" felt faster than it was, didn't handle all that well or stop, and in an accident seemed almost designed to put you into the morgue...

(Yes, I've drivenand owned the Oz equivalents)...going back into them, most wouldn't be able to reverse park them with the manual steering of the day.


You can eat your lettuce and bean sprouts and I'll have a two inch thick rare steak. You can live longer and I'll have more fun.

I'm just wondering. The guys that are worried about how fast a car is, where are you using the power. I'm scared to open up mine and lose my license. So how is that extra second usable on the street? The bottom line is how much fun are you having. How many thumbs up do you get? I like the rawness of hearing the old 4 speed trans whine and an auto that will chirp the tires on upshifts. The deafening engine noise in the cabin when you punch it.

 

[MCompact]

I use the power on road courses and at the local 1/8th mile strip- and occasionally to educate other drivers at the Stoplight Grand Prix...

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
I'm just wondering. The guys that are worried about how fast a car is, where are you using the power. I'm scared to open up mine and lose my license. So how is that extra second usable on the street? The bottom line is how much fun are you having. How many thumbs up do you get? I like the rawness of hearing the old 4 speed trans whine and an auto that will chirp the tires on upshifts. The deafening engine noise in the cabin when you punch it.

That's certainly true. My G37 will make more power than I can realistically use, and it's far from a supercar. That being said, there were some embarrassing "sports cars" and "muscle cars" over the years. 400 cid Pontiacs in the mid 1970s with just over 200 hp are pitiful. Sure, it sounded nice, it's still more power than necessary, by a significant margin, you can still get ticketed to death. But, the technology has obviously evolved. I don't need around 350 hp in my car. At least, though, an econobox these days can have a small engine that doesn't have a 0 to 60 time measured in minutes.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
I use the power on road courses and at the local 1/8th mile strip- and occasionally to educate other drivers at the Stoplight Grand Prix...

Haha, always love a sleeper! Many times it is great just to stay close despite the attempts to outrun or evade.

Glad I don't drive a penalty box...