Being kooked up in the house all winter sucks – seriously, there is nothing fun, exciting or even remotely thrilling about it. Day in and day out we stare outside waiting for the weather to break so that maybe, just maybe we can get our rides out of the garage and go for a quick spin. I think it’s due to all this cabin fever that I’ve been starting to get a lot of emails regarding the this years upcoming crop of road rallies.
All road rallies generally have two things in common: fast cars and people with A-type personalities. This means you need to have three things in check before you even get to the starting line: your car, your sense of adventure, and your wallet. If any one of these items languishes in any way, it will bite you in the ass almost instantly. You’ll need to be prepared for those around you to act like children and break just about every vehicular law known to man. You need to know when to pull back on the reigns and stay out of trouble and when it’s ok to turn it up a notch. Too many times have I seen guys go full bore, only to get stupid and thrown in jail.
I had heard that this new Gorillaz video was coming out, and was totally psyched to see that the finished product is as good as I’d hoped. For those that don’t know Gorillaz is a virtual pop band that was created by Damon Albarn of the band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. Stylo is not only a music video in as much as it is a mini-feature film. We’ve got a 1969 Camaro, a fat doughnut eating Cop in a Rosco P. Coltrane style Plymouth, guns and Bruce Willis as the sociopath in a hopped up El Camino.
OK, I’m not going to start the hate fest about teaching values and not understanding the concept of of “earning things” that inevitably comes out of these posts, but I will say this: who in their right mind thinks it’s a good idea to give a kid with no driving experience a 425 horsepower muscle car? Do you think this is going to end any way other than badly? Because I sure don’t.
“I live my life one quarter mile at a time” – it’s the phrase that gave birth to one of the most profitable franchises in movie history, and guess what… they’re back… again… for the fifth time. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker have reportedly signed on to reprise their roles as Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Connor in the 5th installment of the “Fast and the Furious”. Now, supposedly the new film will be titled “Fast Five” – not overly clever I suppose, but I mean really, what else can they do at this point.
Every now and again my brain wanders with visions of driving an old car as my daily driver. I mean how cool would it be to cruise the streets everyday in a classic Chevelle, Charger or Mustang. People constantly giving you the thumbs up, you’d feel like a rock star at every stoplight and valets would always give you the prime spots. I mean hell, if you’re going to go out and drop 25 or 30 large on a new Mustang or Challenger why not get the original right? Before you consider doing this, however, take heed because I’ve been down this road and want to give ya’ll some real world impressions about driving that classic everyday.
I tried doing this last year for over a month in my modified 1968 Dodge Charger. I started on July 20th and finished up on August 25, 2009 and in that time I logged just under 6000 miles… not bad for one months worth of driving. The reason for all those miles was one big ass road trip around the continental United States. I even rigged my baby out with all the conveniences of a new car by installing navigation, satellite radio, a new comfy interior and even a CB radio.
Throughout that entire month I never encountered one problem as the car ran beautifully. Going back to the above paragraph I can safely say that we were indeed the highlight of every stoplight, intersection and destination that we traveled too. Inquiries and comments a plenty were thrown at us and hell, we even got on the local news a few times. So with that being said, would I drive a classic everyday? The answer is simple… no.
While I had a wonderful time driving my old sled, I have to say that by the end of everyday it was exhausting albeit a bit nerve racking. The main ingredient that new cars have over the classics is 42 years of technology and innovation. Yes, new cars do essentially the same things as old cars, but they do it in much different ways. Things like ride quality, interior cabin noise and safety are leaps and bounds over the classics and don’t even get me started on fuel economy. One must also consider possible breakdowns and parts availability as some items are simply not available any more. Ask anyone whose ever tried to find a replacement grill for a ‘68 Charger… it’s a total bitch as well as being SUPER expensive. Maintenance on the classics is a bit cheaper (especially if you’re DIY’er) but will be more frequent than on a new car.
What it all comes down to in the end though is this: new cars are just that… new. They look new, smell new and perform like new. They come with such wonderful things as a warranty, good fuel economy and air conditioning. They’re also safe, quiet and reliable. Where old cars are cool, new cars are practical. Where old cars are a thrill ride, new cars are a safe ride and where old cars look great, new cars just perform great. In the end it is obviously up to the individual to make this decision. Just a word of advice though from someone whose been there.
Buy new, drive safe and get from point A to B without any drama. Just make sure however you have that extra spot in the garage to put that four wheeled dream in when the time comes.
Although some might reasonably argue that its bloated proportions cause it to lag significantly behind the competition (literally), the Dodge Challenger nevertheless continues to be a favorite amongst nostalgic muscle car enthusiasts and/or balding guys with a slight paunch. Since the part of that demographic that isn’t blowing their disposable income on alimony would gladly shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to recapture the glory days of their youth, Mopar has released yet another aftermarket package for the Challenger.
The newest offering is dubbed the “Performance Appearance” Package, which achieves the same thing for the Challenger that a hairpiece does for its driver. Available in two parts, the exterior package includes body-color hood with scoop, body-color rear “Go-Wing” spoiler and strobe stripe performance graphics, while the interior package features a Mopar-branded T-handle shifter, bright pedal kit (automatic only), bright door-sill guards, premium carpet floor mats and a full vehicle cover. Prices begin at $1,995 and $945 (respectively) and do not include the ill-fitting Ed Hardy tee or the Journey’s Greatest Hits CD.
Like a flashback to a time when Detroit steel dominated the world; Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers will all be represented in the season-ending Bosch Engineering Oktoberfest race this weekend in Richmond VA. All three of these modern pony cars compete in the series’ Grand Sport class, a group that includes cars that have only been minimally modified to 350-405 horsepower and top out at 160 mph. Unlike most other racing, the opportunity to see a car that is very much like one from the factory being put through its paces is more than a little satisfying.
What could be more American than stuffing your face with mass-produced chocolate bars and then entering to win a modern-day musclecar, the 2010 Chevy Camaro? They’re both full of empty calories but a lot of fun, so why not indulge? After all, the Camaro didn’t exactly come in as a featherweight, what, with all of the brake balancing weights haphazardly glued all over the rotors like some sort of cracked-out kindergarden art project. But hey, the car is unabashadly badass, and who the hell doesn’t like chocolate? As long as you can keep your diabetes in control it’s a combination made in heaven. And seeing as how it’s built to fit our good ol’ cornfed bodies, you shouldn’t have to go on a vitamin-water-and-glue-huffing diet to fit in the damn thing. Hop on over to Hershey’s to enter, and of course, no purchase is required.
ROUSH unveiled two new models recently, the aforementioned STAGE 3, and a new model dubbed the 540RH.
Now, the STAGE 3 makes use of the same hand-built 4.6L V8 used in the P-51B, except this one finds an additional 30HP by way of a massive Roush-Eaton TVS intercooled supercharger, forged aluminum pistons with an increased dish to lower the compression ratio from 9.8 to 8.6, forged steel H-Beam connecting rods and a forged steel crankshaft, new fuel rails, fuel injectors, and a remapped ECU program for a grand total of 540 ground-pounding horses. And thanks to the forged bottom end, ROUSH can offer an impressive 3 year/36,000 mile warranty to owners.
Last March, GM confirmed all the negative rumors that surrounding the 2010 Camaro’s comeback when they announced that the high performance Camaro Z28 was dead in the water. Despite the fact that it was deemed crucial in order to compete with the Shelby GT500, GM didn’t have a spare $50 million to foot the production costs and the Z28 was said to be permanently shelved. Since then, countless tuning firms have stepped up to fill the gaping void, turning the age old Chevy v. Ford rivalry into a veritable gold mine and apparently leading GM to think they may have acted in haste.
