OK. So now the big auto manufacturers are doing new vehicles in flat black, using old school pinstriping in their ads and commercials, and god knows what else. What next? Flying eyeball shift knobs? Bass boat metal flake? Astros w/ skinny whites? Red steelies? What are your predictions?
Flipper wheel covers ,only made out of plastic,naturally!!! Fake duals with chrome pipes(already done) The other thing I hate is hearing a commercial made with an old rock song.It just pisses me off.Ain't nothin' sacred???
I can't be busy worrying about that.... I gotta get to the Mall and buy a new Von Dutch shirt and Hat... It's the Shiznit!!!! But on a serious note... I do think we'll continue to see trends from hot rods and customs in the new cars. Painted dashboards with ornamental chrome again... A back to basics theme to many production cars...and BTW, has anyone noticed the MUSCLE CAR WAR promoting GM and Dodge have been doing boasting their new Hemi and Big Block powered trucks? Who cares how many ricers are on the road, when the big three are pumpin' horse power and performance into REAR Wheel drive vehicles...
Nows the time to sell your junk boys... When this shit becomes popular with the mindless masses. We will make a killing on Ebay This way we can become rich and become goldchainers and the goldchainers will go broke trying to buy it. Hell with it... I'm gonna sell my shit and buy a Brand new Beemer. You can blame all this on the PT cruiser. Dodge just made too much money on that vehicle for the big boys to ignore. Next Chevy will come out with a 1950 style pickup roadster. Yea...NEXT YEAR..
[ QUOTE ] The other thing I hate is hearing a commercial made with an old rock song.It just pisses me off.Ain't nothin' sacred??? [/ QUOTE ] You'd rather have to endure listening to a new "POP" song or worse, McD RAPCRAP? I don't like the Caddy commercials because I've always thought Robert Plant sounds like an electocuted cat, or Axle Rose... You'd rather have listen to Celine Dion catterwailing than to an old Eric Clapton or Steppenwolf song while you're down the hall takin' a piss? The one's with music I recognize, and like, are commercials I actually don't watch because I don't have to hit the mute button. With the mute on I have to watch to see when the program is coing back on! Favorite lately was the Carl's Jr. one with the HOT chick getting off on the mechanical bull while seductively sucking ketchup off her thumb.... And I tape the Victoria's Secrets commercials! What's going to get mainstreamed next? What's left? Remember, it all got mainstreamed in the 50s too, When that whiny white boy who's daddy was rich enough to give his kid a cool car in highschool was so full of angst in "Rebel without a Cause". (Or was it "Movie without a Reason"?) Remember when the Art critics hated Peter Max, mostly because he actually made money and was accepted by"the masses"? Or maybe you don't so I'm telling you, that's what and why it happened. Leroy Neiman too. Critic's (is that us?) hate his work because he was commercially successful. You want to be original? Lower an Amish buggy and hitch it up to a fast harness race horse and cruise the local strip in it!
i dont know if they are anywhere else but here in san diego i have seen billboards for the new BMW mini cooper and on the billboard it says, " lets reinvent the hot rod" or some horse crap like that. then they have a picture of the mini ed roth style, cartoon looking, big wheels in back with smoke bellowing out and fire coming out on the exhaust. damn i wanted to burn those billboards down. diego
LED Digital, "flame-thrower," exhaust tips... Actually I saw them on a car on the freeway a couple weeks ago, so I guess it's old news.
Fully patina'd old rustbuckets with late model drivetrains cleverly hidden under all the rotted metal! The next biggest thing!!!
[ QUOTE ] ...and BTW, has anyone noticed the MUSCLE CAR WAR promoting GM and Dodge have been doing boasting their new Hemi and Big Block powered trucks? [/ QUOTE ] I don't consider a big-ass truck with whatever kind of horsepower to be a replacement for musclecars. Hemi or not, it's still only in the trucks. I can't stand ricers, or most of the mentality behind them, but racing modern trucks seems just as rediculous to me. From what I see, Aside from the upcomming "GTO", GM has given up on the muscle car thing. They are now following the ricer trend. They have a new supercharged Saturn comming out. Dodge has also gone that route with the SRT-4 and PT Turbo. I think what we will get in the near future is economy/sports cars, and sport sedans. Neither of which will replace a RWD muscle car in my book. They will grab bits and pieces from the hot rod and muscle car eras, but they will apply them to 250hp 4cyl FWD cars, and try to pass them off as the same thing.
This aint new boys. Where do you think dual headlights and fins came from in the late 50's. Detroit has always watched the customizers and copied trends. " Imitation is the sincerest form of flatery".
Actually I do see a trend toward the muscle with the big three again. You mentioned the GTO, and that thing is just plain gonna fly (LS1, 6spd,rwd). Cadilac will introduce the CTS V next year (RWD,6spd,400hp),Chevy has slated the "new" Camaro for release in 05'. It is supposed to simulate a 69ish Z-28. Ford's new supercharged 400+hp throwback bodied mustang will be out next year. And Dodge is putting the new Hemi in a two rwd "cars" next year. One looks like a modern Nomad, the other is to replace the 300M. The thing is, all of these cars will have close to 400hp, and be rwd. I think it is about time that they build some more "real" cars, and leave the puny shit to Japan. Just my opinion though..
"GM has given up on the muscle car thing." I thought GM had just given up alltogether. They haven't had an exciting car "since Buddy Holly died." I thought they were just selling low APR and cash back these days. As for sport trucks, I'd still like to get my hands on a Lightning.
I've been seeing flat black with red wheels on PTCruzers and Toyota for over a year now. I'm fully expecting, since the "chainers" have started diggin the pimer, that the next beat the hoi poloi new thing will be to go more carbon fibre "space age" than Boyd ever thought of, but on rods instead of Hondas.
Ive been watching the Cad CTS V press. That car may take over the luxury high speed touring leadership from the big Lexus. And under $40K. So the Cad is for the yuppies but what about normal people? WTF does it take to put 400 hp in a light rwd post 2dr? Ford cant keep the blown Cobras together, they are giving owners $10-12K checks and telling them to fix it themselves. The Vette ads say its meant to be driven hard. But when owners drive them that way the computer records shifting revs and if something breaks you're screwed. EVEN when you are driving within published specs. What we really need is a base car to get by the fuckin' govt and insurance BS and then build it with over the counter dealer packages. Just like the old days. No fuckin computer, the driver sets the pace. A $15K base and the limit is your checkbook, skills and level of excitement. Is that too much to ask or am I that far into my senile years?
286 Merc, I thought of that back in high school! I wanted to design a little econo-car that had decent looks with a wimpy standard powertrain in a RWD configuration that could be sold to the masses for about Yugo prices. But...I wanted to engineer it so that the motor mounts and chassis dimensions would allow the bolt-in of a small block Ford drivetrain with no major mods required! That way, you could buy one off of the showroom floor...drive it home, and bolt your 302 5-speed into it! In one weekend, you could transform your new snoozer into a rippin' cruiser!! (But I'm sure that the insurance companies woulda caught on quickly to that deal!! )
Yeah, my Honda Accord V6 coupe did the same thing... I was driving on the freeway and the thing started sputtering and the Service engine light started flashing (which according to the manual essentially meant you were supposed to pull over and have it towed to the dealer for extensive repairs). I took it in immediately and they told me that it must have been becouse the computer said I was going over 90 at the time. This was in a generouse over-drive car with a rev-limit over 6.5k (I think I was at about 3.5K at the time). They just reset the computer and sent me on my way. It happened a few more times and I sold the car. There are NO factory muscle-cars any more. Trucks are all you got.
286, Now, I know you don't want to hear this but that is exactly what Dodge is doing with the SRT-4. NO, I'm not thrilled with how it looks, but it'll run a 14 flat out of the box. Not THAT big of a deal, but think, that is only half a second slower than the LS1 Camaro when Chevy killed it off, for only $19Gs. Dodge has one aftermarket upgrade package already and is working on 2 others. You get them at your Dodge dealer, and they aren't really all that expensive, comparitively. Unfortunately, they aren't much to look at and the computer runs the show, but it is a good package if you are looking for cheap warrantied speed.
Read a piece in AutoWeek the other day about Ford to be marketing a kit to retrofit a V-8 into a Focus.Only problem is the kit is 5 large and it doesn't include the motor which coincidentally is going to release as a crate motor for FIFTEEN large!Presto.........a $25,000+ sardine can that still has been recalled almost a dozen times.SHOW ME THE MONEY!
Good call on "Rebel Without A Cause," DrJ! Years ago, my oldest daughter had a high-school sociology class assignment to watch Rebel and relate its relevancy to contemporary (hers) youth. Ever the scholar, she grilled me beforehand about what it was really like for me and my pals and gals at the time, the very same time which Rebel "portrayed" and in the very same locale. I cautioned her that the movie took considerable liberties, and then settled down with my kids to watch it -- again. Suffice to say the kids didn't buy into all that over-the-top hyper-angst, the super-drama; they knew their parents and were acquainted with their parents' pals from the old days and beyond. They knew their grandparents, and they'd heard all the stories of youthful misadventures that were shared over family holiday tables, and none of it meshed with the agony and despair experienced by the principal characters in Rebel. For all that, I enjoy watching Rebel, but mostly because I was and am still so taken with the energy that James Dean invested in his craft, although Rebel was hardly his best work. His performance in "East of Eden" still astonishes me; I'm as uneasy, as uncomfortable looking in on the sad disfunction of that family today as I was when I firts saw the film -- and during the dozens of viewings in the meantime. James Dean was really beginning to settle into his craft in "Giant," displaying a range we hadn't seen. He was more rascal than rube, more opportunist than mark. And best of all, finally, his character prevailed as heroic good-guy. The real tragedy of James Dean's early departure is that he, and we, will never know and can only wonder about how great his gift was. Please excuse my excursion, but I have some very strong feelings on this subject, as if you couldn't tell . . .
my neighbor just got one of those SRT-4 Neons. it's a fun (but ugly) little car for 20K... those things have alot of people pissed off...
this will make my life so much harder. finding my truck in a parking lot used to be no problem- now when i park next the dodge "primer" (they won't still call it a neon will they) i will be fucked. i hipe ford start making a dohc engine called the flathead mkII
[ QUOTE ] There are NO factory muscle-cars any more. Trucks are all you got. [/ QUOTE ] My 2003 3/4 ton Chevy cuts out at 103! Althought with the 6 liter engine, OD trans and a 4.11:1 gear set it gets there in acceptable time....for a truck. Live rear alxe and bad-bad front weight bias makes the trucks pigs to drive hard. Plus - no-one makes decent kit for the Chevy's. Banks has the Ford and Dodge engines hooked up, but everyone that makes stuff for the Chevies takes too many shortcuts. Yeah, the Focus kit is a step in the right direction, but at an out the door price of 40k - it's a novelty. I have a feeling that the GTO and Caddilac will be the next big guns. And who mentioned $15K as a starter? Even pre-Impala Caprices cost more than that!
Mother Mopar has been triing to find a way to market satin finishes for over 10 years. the EPA regs are much easier to deal with if the damn things don't have to shine. Total paint costs including clean up, fines and all the gov't required paperwork are three times that of the labor to build a Neon. So, yes, flatte paint will be tried on the market. Should a way to sell it to Americans materialize, even if they have to let folks know its cool, you'll see it everywhere for a long time. The SRT4 was detuned about 60 HP from the original protos due to increased warranty expectations concerning the drivetrain. With the new LSD and some better axles, that limitation is now gone
personally,i think fathack hit it right on the head ,you'll see import junk driftin into a turn with some pimpley faced homo with his von dutch hat on backwards fresh from the body shop were he had daddy pay 6 grand for some dude to flat black his lump and paste a flamming eyeball sticker on the doors,trying to make it to tires r us for some new whitewalls for his 20"boyds.......im gonna go throw up now..........quickrod
AV8 thanks for your OT digression on James Dean. He really was something. To mix up icons, "woulda been a contender"!
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