Your favorite muscle car or high performance car

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by river, Sep 27, 2013.

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  1. spidergoat

    spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    The torque is good, but it runs out of horsepower at the top end. I need to upgrade the computer.
     
    spidergoat, Nov 1, 2013
    #21

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  3. river

    river

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    Sure would like a ride when done

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    river, Nov 1, 2013
    #22

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  5. iceaura

    iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    1969 Buick LeSabre, with the 350 and the suspension a little bit "improved". Not sure why that car suited me, actually - but it was a muscle, not a sports, car, and for some reason just seemed quietly and solidly and unpretentiously badass in that role. I backed the four-barrel off, for gas mileage, and never once floored the accelerator.

    I worked with a guy who had taken a wrench to his shark-mouth Corvette, whatever year that was, for the sake of muscle - his had no floor mats, just steel, cloth bucket seats and no pretty paint - but it would move, when he wanted it to.
     
    iceaura, Nov 1, 2013
    #23

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  7. river

    river

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    Are you talking macko shark ......
     
    river, Nov 1, 2013
    #24
  8. scorpius

    scorpius a realist Valued Senior Member

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    scorpius, Nov 13, 2013
    #25
  9. The Marquis

    The Marquis Only want the best for Nigel Valued Senior Member

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    Well, yes, actually. Although not as it would have been known in the USA.

    Australia does have a tendency to base their designs on the American muscle cars (or rather, did once), and I've owned a few.
    Case in point, a 1969 VG Chrysler Valiant coupe (265 Hemi engine, modified with disc brakes and a four speed manual shift) which is a design based on a Dodge Dart but with a longer engine bay (aesthetically more pleasing IMO) and a 1972 VH Valiant Charger. Those were my two favourite cars. I've owned others, but those two were the shiznit.
     
    The Marquis, Nov 15, 2013
    #26
  10. Bells

    Bells Staff Member

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    You are the absolutely last person on this site I would have pictured as a car type person... thingie... enthusiast..

    My view of you as a bookish nerd has been shattered!
     
    Bells, Nov 15, 2013
    #27
  11. The Marquis

    The Marquis Only want the best for Nigel Valued Senior Member

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    I have aspects not yet explored, Bells...

    I have photos.
     
    The Marquis, Nov 15, 2013
    #28
  12. Bells

    Bells Staff Member

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    It may not be best for Nigel.
     
    Bells, Nov 15, 2013
    #29
  13. The Marquis

    The Marquis Only want the best for Nigel Valued Senior Member

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    Nigel would love the photos. his parents, however, might not.
     
    The Marquis, Nov 15, 2013
    #30
  14. The Marquis

    The Marquis Only want the best for Nigel Valued Senior Member

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    For the record, also owned a '73 LJ Torana.

    That one lasted three weeks. A combination of bad weather and bald tires put paid to any long term ownership.
     
    The Marquis, Nov 15, 2013
    #31
  15. Bells

    Bells Staff Member

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    I'm not a car person. A car is a car is a car.

    So I don't really know what a LJ Torana is.
     
    Bells, Nov 15, 2013
    #32
  16. The Marquis

    The Marquis Only want the best for Nigel Valued Senior Member

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    ummm. Yes, well I'm much like that these days. Problem being, the 70's (maybe late 60's) were the last time cars had any uniqueness or individuality at all.

    All you need to know with regard to the LJ Torana is Peter Brock, the Mountain, and winning.

    I suppose I should fill you in.
    In Australia, until the mid-70's, Bathurst cars were production models you could buy off the showroom floor.
    If you google "supercar scare Australia" you'll get the gist. It all went downhill after the wowsers got on board.
     
    The Marquis, Nov 15, 2013
    #33
  17. Bells

    Bells Staff Member

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    Looks like the reaction was the same to Campbell Newman's reaction to all things "bikie gang related".
     
    Bells, Nov 15, 2013
    #34
  18. The Marquis

    The Marquis Only want the best for Nigel Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, one of the earlier examples in Australia of.... that.

    This is why I find it terribly difficult to explain to people why I don't like this country as much as I did once. You need points of reference.
     
    The Marquis, Nov 15, 2013
    #35
  19. spidergoat

    spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Australia gets the best cars, small rear wheel drive sedans with a V8 and manual transmission.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2013
    spidergoat, Nov 15, 2013
    #36
  20. Fraggle Rocker

    Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    Americans love big cars. Have loved them since the post-war prosperity boom in the 1950s, when they all got longer, wider and heavier--5,000lb was not unusual for a 4-door sedan. Gasoline was 25 cents a gallon so nobody worried about fuel economy. (I'm not even going to try to convert all those figures to the metric system. America is keeping English culture alive with our beloved miles, acres, gallons, pounds and degrees Fahrenheit--somebody has to do it.

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    )

    Today the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) formula requires the auto manufacturers to sell a certain number of small, fuel-efficient cars to balance the sales of the large gas-guzzlers, so the small cars are really small and have very efficient engines. There's no benefit to them to sell small cars with big engines so they're pretty rare.

    Even the biggest cars (Cadillac, Lincoln, Chrysler) aren't anywhere near as big as they were 40-50 years ago. So people are buying more trucks.

    Manual transmissions are very rare. People don't even understand how transmissions work anymore. A few years ago there were a couple of instances of the throttle sticking in Toyotas, making it difficult to slow the car down. People were blasting along at 90mph with no idea what to do. They even called 911 (the emergency response number) and the operator had no advice except to route them to a highway where they might be safer.

    Nobody--absolutely NOBODY--suggested, "Put the transmission in Neutral, you idiot!"

    You might blow up your engine, but you'll be alive to talk about it. And anyway you can be sure that Toyota would have happily given you a brand new car if you agreed NOT to talk about it!
     
    Fraggle Rocker, Nov 15, 2013
    #37
  21. paddoboy

    paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    Same here. As long as it reliably gets me from A to B, and looks half decent, I'm happy.

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    paddoboy, Nov 15, 2013
    #38
  22. spidergoat

    spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Small engines are not necessarily more efficient under all driving conditions. It's an artifact in particular of European testing standards that they favor small displacement cars with turbochargers, since they don't necessarily engage the turbo under those conditions. But the consumer can still access power when they need it. A larger displacement engine sounds less efficient to them, but under real world power requirements, needing torque for merging, on ramps, etc. they can use less gas.

    How European Fuel Economy Testing Will Kill The Naturally Aspirated Engine
     
    spidergoat, Nov 15, 2013
    #39
  23. Bells

    Bells Staff Member

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    I was not in Australia when all of this happened.

    And even if I was, I would have been at the age where I would have only just started drooling.

    Reading up on it, however, the reaction was spectacular. Did they assume people would be buying these cars and doing 250km's down the local roads or highways? Of course they did.
     
    Bells, Nov 15, 2013
    #40
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