Re: What Years
This is an American's perspective on this:<br /><br />As a muscle car restorer/modifier, I can say that until about the past 2 years, I mostly loved the late 60's during the wonderful American race for HP and cubic inches. And I'm still liking them VERY much for their style and their "head-turner" ability. Yet I voted for the 2000's on this poll. Because, my friends, many don't seem to recognize that the TRUE muscle car/horsepower battle era is RIGHT NOW, and it's not just here in America this time, it's worldwide.<br /><br />Even if we look past the new Mustang, GTO, Magnum/300/Charger series, Corvette and other such obvious performance cars that are based in some minute way from those of the past, you start realizing that the likes of Cadillac and Mercedes are putting out cars floating around the 500hp mark with handling and luxury second-to-none. Then you see some of the AMAZING machines that BMW is putting out....man...if your BMW is more than 3 years old, you're missing out on some SERIOUS upgrades they've recently integrated. Even BENTLEY has entered a new car into Zero to 60 in under 5 seconds class. And now SUV's and full sized trucks...400+ HP AND cornering ability. And the whole "tuner" thing is a bit foreign to me, but definitely has it's merit in terms of go-kart like handling and power-to-weight ratio that history has never before seen...300+ factory hp out of a 4 banger!, who'da thunk it?!<br /><br />And to those who think these cars aren't tunable and are mostly tinker-proof, you're VERY wrong...I know of a LOT of todays kids who are taking their 300 factory hp 4 bangers and cranking them up to 500 or more and turning 10 to 11 second 1/4 miles on them, limited only by traction on their FWD screamers. It takes different methods to build HP with today's technology, but if you put as much effort into learning it as many do complaining about "those durn computer controls and fuel injection...can't do nothing with 'em!" that just means you're old (as am I.) I've found it's not as complex as most people make it out to be.<br /><br />Whether you want to spend $20K, $50K, $75K, or $200K on a new car, you can get some AMAZING performance, reliability, handling, and even a certain degree of economy. Wait till they're 2 or 3 years old and price cuts in half or better.<br /><br />This is the last blast, the beginning of the end, for the internal combustion engine....enjoy it while it's here, everyone! But don't get too discouraged as more electric, hybrid, and/or fuel cells become the norm. Many of these technologies will have the ability to produce performance that will absolutely destroy even today's new high perforamance steel.<br /><br />I used to think I was blessed to be a high-schooler back in the mid 60's when anyone could go buy a wild screamer for reasonable change and gas was cheap, and all that stuff you hear everyone say all the time. Well...we're living there again (yes...$2 to $2.50 per gallon is STILL cheap gas, and $20 to $30K for a car IS cheaper than they were in the 60's, contrary to what many will think...do the math and compare with inflation and you'll see what I mean,) and it seems most people don't even realize it and are missing out, and 30 to 40 years from now people will look back on this era of automotive history as an amazing and fun time, the beginning of an incredible and AFFORDABLE horsepower and handling race, much like many take nostalgic looks at the 60's today.<br /><br />Off my soapbox for the moment...until next time, CARS ARE NOT MUSEUM PIECES. DRIVE 'EM. And, most importantly...SMOKE 'EM TILL THEY MELT!!!
