OPINION
But not what you think
Published on September 16, 2010 By Big Fat Daddy In Misc

I don't like Mustangs.  They are stylish and some are pretty quick, but most are uncomfortable to sit in and drive.  They are made by Ford;  they are everywhere these days in their lastest incarnation, and they have little tinny- sounding exhausts.  They are kind of effeminate.
For that matter, I don't care much for Chargers, Challengers, Camaros, or Subarus, either.  
I don't mind if you like those cars.  I support your right to buy and drive whatever you want.  I would not try to stop you from owning one of them.  And I would not do a single thing to encourage you buying one.
Now, there are some cars in the above categories that are great performers;  Cadillac (I know, Caddy wasn't mentioned above...), Subaru, and some Mustangs are boasting a 0-60 time under 4 seconds.  That is pretty impressive, and great for "light-to-light" drags.  But a block is not a quarter-mile and what counts in a quarter-mile is who gets to top speed first and holds it longest.  Light-to-light used to be the tease we employed in order to get the fish out to Greenfield Drive for the real deal, ala American Graffiti.  We could squeeze in four or five good drags before the nuns called the cops on us.
I do not like "Tuners".  I don't like their "Bee-in-a-beer-can" engine noise.  I don't like their coffee-can-sized exhaust.  I don't like their "slammed" suspension or anything else about them.  I especially don't like the fact that if you try one on, you can't tell from the outside if it is some teener's pasted- together clone or a geniune Tuner's street beast developing 500 hp out of a four-banger that can leave you spinning in its vortex.  But if you want to drive either variety, that is okay with me.  I will not try to stop you.
Now, I do like Pontiacs.  Especially old Pontiacs.  I love the sound of multiple carburators, or quadrajets ( I once heard them described as sounding like a Hoover on steroids).  
I love the deep, hollow-sounding, thundering exhaust noises.
I love the ringing sound of all those moving parts inside the engine as it winds up to maximum horse power.
I love the smell of rubber smoke, the screech of tortured tires, the G-forces of the launch.
I love to race.  The thrill of the launch, the tension, the competition.  The victory.  
If you don't love to race, okay.  If you don't like Pontiacs, that's okay, too.
As much as I love it, a first offense here in the colorful state brings a six-month suspension, automatic, so I don't do it much anymore.  But the fact that I do love it so much and would if I could, I guess that makes me a...RACE-IST !!


Comments
on Sep 16, 2010

I love to race. The thrill of the launch, the tension, the competition.

I guess one of the perks of growing old is that you do not have to be careful about what your children hear you say any longer?

As for the Mustangs, I am not a muscle car person, but I have noticed most of the ones on the road are being driven by young (under 30) women.  I guess effeminate is the correct term now.

on Sep 16, 2010

MamaCharlie felt like there was a kind of "toughness" to a woman driving a Mustang, I am not so sure myself.  She looks pretty good behind the wheel of her 2001 Grand Prix GT.  Heeheee.

on Sep 17, 2010

Hahahaha!  I had a very strong urge to warn someone not to buy a Pontiac just the other day!  We were sitting in a parking lot by a used car dealership watching a young guy and his parents check out a shiney red T-Top, much like HW's old car.  As he was taking out the top and sitting in the driver's seat I knew he would turn the key and hear that deep "blub blub, blub, blub" engine and be hooked.  I wanted to yell at that kid "NO, don't do it - it's freezing in winter and leaks in the rain!!!!"

Looks like he decided against it.  It was still sitting in the lot last time we drove by.... 

on Sep 18, 2010

What's a little water?  And wear a jacket!  Nothing replaces the "blub  blub  blub"!