Factoid

I have proof that the love of C2 Corvettes is enduring. In the year 2236 (according to a recent movie) a young James Kirk steals a classic car for a joy ride. The car? A C2 Corvette. See, no worries!

426 Hemi

And '63 Rivieras too:

AZDoug

After about 1998, i stopped driving my collector cars in metro PHX. The traffic was getting like LA that I escaped from. No fun to drive at all, other than early on Sunday mornings.

I drive my cars quite regularly up here, now; there is no rush hour, their isn't much traffic anytime.

I avoid I-17 in a collector car, other than an occasional trip to Flagstaff.

Doug

SDVette

As a "mid-ager" (54), I do think we can all do our part to help the future of the hobby by not being grumpy old men in threads here.

I took delivery of a Tesla Model 3 in December. It's a fantastic automobile - I love it... but guess what? It doesn't take a single thing away from my love of classic cars.
It's not an either/or situation.. Time and technology marches forward, regardless of what we do or say.

And you CAN work on new cars Frankie.. I've used my OBD-2 code reader to fix several problems on my daughter's VW Jetta.. 1) bad coil, 2) Air leak (torn PCV membrane).
Both cases, the DTC code guided me to the right place.

So let's lighten up? Whatdya say?

Railroadman

You must be new here, right?

62 C1 Owner

Hi Chattanooga,

I guess I was casting a very broad net at the "Tuner" crowd. My experience with them comes in the form of the Interstate racing that takes place around Charlotte by many of these guys darting in and out of traffic and causing others to jump out of their way or get hit. It gets to be maddening at best. Different Strokes for Different Folks... I get it; but when I see this sort of immaturity on a repeated basis, that's the impression that is burned into my mind.

As far as the exhaust; no I'm not a fan of those big "mufflers" that give the impression of a mouse putting out a huge elephant fart. I would imagine that one of the main reasons that these exhausts annoy me so much, is that in my mind it's linked to the crazy highway racing that I see these guys doing on a regular basis.

I do like the sound of a well tuned high performance V8 with headers and Magna-Flow mufflers. It's obviously a different sort of "loud", but one that sounds more like music to my ears.

Again, Different Strokes for Different Folks.

Mike

Railroadman

+1 on the sounds. I realize many of these little rice-burners would leave most of the 60's muscle cars in their dust. It's impressive what those cars can be made to do. Maybe it's a generational thing, or nostalgia, but I prefer something that you can feel rumbling in your bones when you're standing near it at idle. A cheetah may be extremely fast, but the lion's roar just sounds better.

Frankie the Fink

EVERY, repeat EVERY, technical issue posted here has been discussed 3,000 times in the past 10 years - more if you go back longer; so yeah the forum could just host a search facility and dispense with philosophical discourse and call it a day.

As to grumpy; anybody that reads my posts know I tried to inject some humor or lightheartedness everywhere I can - its a hobby.

I get a kick out of the "paint-by-the-numbers" restorers that become apoplectic because somebody does something different, or, pays an expert to do some difficult job that requires special tools or experience....who cares ?

Gavin65

right up to the point he drove it off a cliff, one less Midyear in 2236.

SDVette

It's true that most topics have been well covered.. but we always have suppliers to discuss.. and sometimes new tech does apply (LEDS, pertronix!). I mean, pertronix threads must account for 30-40% of traffic!
Oh, and our love (or hate) of car shows!

Frank - I wasn't referring to your "tongue in cheek" grumpy! I enjoy that. Only the real grumpies!

smacota1

FTF

Just come on up to Atlanta if you want to see some really stupid drivers....you should be around hear when we get a dusting of snow......the fools drive even faster!

kwkenuf

I've often remarked to friends as I've witnessed the gradual ageing of people who attend cruise-ins and car shows with their 60's and early 70's classic cars and hot rods. (The same people who listen to classic rock by the way.) When I started in this hobby cruising Central Ave in Phoenix during the 70's it was just called rock. Now it's classic, just like our cars. Lately I've been seeing an ever increasing number of folks enjoying the hobby while pulling along their oxygen bottle at shows and cruise-ins...Or hobbling along behind a walker. And a distinct lack of teenagers or young 20 to 30 somethings.... It's not a trend I enjoy... Then I look in the mirror....

But before I condemn us all to the graveyard and burial in the cars that we love, I have recently seen an encouraging revival if you will, at the Holley LS Fests that occur twice a year, one at each end of the country, Las Vegas and Bowling Green. A quick disclaimer, I admit I am a bit of a resto-mod fan and working on my third at the moment. First afflicted with the modernization bug when I swapped a Gen2 LT1 into my '68 Camaro back in 1997. Then a 2003 5.3L/4L60E into my '65 Stepside in 2006 and now my never ending 61 C1 LS1/T-56 project.

Anyway to make a long story longer, the crowds I see at the LS-Fests are those young 20-30 somethings that are busy hot rodding and racing the hell out of everything they touch. These are not just stock LS conversions and late models. Wild cams, twin turbos, nitrous, blowers, you name it. Wild competition events of drag racing, auto-x, off road, dyno challenge and a show and shine. And a couple of guys from the RoadKill crew doing a live LS swap on a 60's El Camino. Large amount of attendees with their cars/trucks and a similar large crowd of spectators. Wives with strollers, young-uns pointing and shouting "hey look over there!", and young couples walking around hand-in-hand admiring all the cars, competitions and vendor displays. Very encouraging to see and gave me great hope for the future continuation of our hobby as I know and appreciate it. A subset of these folks will continue the classic Corvette hobby, I have no doubt. The background music is changing, but all is not lost!