I went to the drag strip Friday night. It was a street car / test and tune night. There was some classic cars there but there was also a number of "tuner" cars. I really don't mind sharing strip time with them that much. As I was waiting in the staging lanes I heard a kid come and start talking to the kid in a Honda Civic that was in front of me. He said "Oh wow man an Si!" with the same tone of reverance that I usually say "Oh wow an SS!" I just never realized that a Honda Civic Si was such a cool car I guess. I wonder if my dad felt this way about me raving about SS's. Hmmm....:rolleyes:

guess so. LOL. a couple of years ago one of my co-worker's son got a great deal on a 64 Impala SS. took it to school and his friends laughed at it. he sold it and bought two hondas one for himself and one for his brother. i don't want what everyone else seems to drive, upsidedown bathtubs that if you can't see the badging you don't know what they are. ROFLMAO.

what kind of times were the Hondas running, my last test and tune night they were breaking into the high 16s on a track that was at sea level.

the hondas that run around here are funny, they definately have a lot of money in them and they all pull out their cans of VP and go racing.......some run decent 10 second times, but I just cannot get used to hearing a chainsaw going down the track...lol

I hate to admit it but some are VERY fast! But the funny thing is they always have at least one break down in each round. Our Sportsman class is called right after the "fast compact" and we are always waiting in the staging lanes for at least an hour for them to clean up after the hondas. Our track has a very slow cleanup crew too. It gets really irritating...:clonk:

Well, IMO they can keep their Hondas, fart cans and all:D .

When I was a kid in the late 60s and early 70s my dad actually thought the muscle cars were pretty cool. He was naturally concerned for our safety and told us if we wanted to drive um "then pay for gas and insurance" which we did. Then again my father was into all cars and he bag was, and still is, the 20s and 30s classics!

A lot of it is simple demographics and the age of classic muscle cars. Not only are the cars getting older, we are too. No matter what, most young guys tend to buy a ready to go car that they can drive everywhere and still keep a budgt - which will invariably be a more modern 4 cylinder car, because that is what is out there. Of course most of these 4 cylinder cars are slow at the track - most of their owners do not have a lot of cash for a wild buildup. Young guys tend to watch what other young guys are doing, and so they buy and build the types of cars other young guys are buying and building. A lot of young guys like classic muscle cars - but they can't see themselves owning and driving one.

Thomas

A lot of it is simple demographics and the age of classic muscle cars. Not only are the cars getting older, we are too. No matter what, most young guys tend to buy a ready to go car that they can drive everywhere and still keep a budgt - which will invariably be a more modern 4 cylinder car, because that is what is out there. Of course most of these 4 cylinder cars are slow at the track - most of their owners do not have a lot of cash for a wild buildup. Young guys tend to watch what other young guys are doing, and so they buy and build the types of cars other young guys are buying and building. A lot of young guys like classic muscle cars - but they can't see themselves owning and driving one.

Thomas

except me! and a few others on this board. I wouldnt have it any other way.

I was talking to a younger guy last weekend. He bought a clean '69 SS396 Chevelle from Texas. He restored it and installed a crate 502-502. He talked like his friends would also like to buy an old musclecar when they could afford it. These cars aren't going to die any time soon at this rate.

ive converted a ricer. a friend of mine had a civic and was always reading the import magazines. He came over and i showed him my 68 and i could not get him away from it. now he buys super chevy mags and auto traders!

He, He!!

I figure a solid liftered, "shift it above 8,000 rpm", 301 SB will be right at home among the ricers!!

pdq67

except me! and a few others on this board. I wouldnt have it any other way.

Yep! im an 18 year old Muscle Car Freak! Some of my same-age friends also have Muscle Cars but in my town its more of being a hick-truck guy that goes mudbogging or a Muscle Car guy that drives down to SLC and hits the drags. Couple ricers buzzing around town but they are the hispanics. There is no doubt that most of the guys my age would choose a 70 SS454 over a civic spoon si (or whatever they call it) anyday! And I feel thats the way its going to be for along time...
my $.02

Cecil County Raceway is a waste of time on a wed or friday. Tons of junk breaking

I dig the fact that there are young guys with musclecars, and in no way would I deny that musclecars have a wide ranging fan base. I would also encourage any young car enthusiast to get a musclecar. I also go to a lot of car shows, and one of the very observable trends over the years is the graying of the muscle car owner. Its not likely that any random sampling of high school parking lots will ever again turn up any more than a trace of a muscle era car.

I went to a nice all Mopar show today that was heavy on muscle era Mopars. I would guess the average age of the owners displaying cars to be in their early fifties. Really I see the same thing at other shows. Relatively speaking its not that bad compared with other groups of old car enthusiasts. Since one of my other cars is a Studebaker Avanti I also go to Studebaker shows and overall I would peg the average Studebaker enthusiast as retired!

Fantasy and reality collide when the pocketbook comes into the picture. The affordable musclecars are tough on the young wallet: restorations cost a lot in just parts let alone time, then without an overdrive or efi most muscle era cars are not very economical to pile on the miles. Few affordable musclecars have much in the way of creature comforts.

That said I still think one of the ideal times to own a musclecar is when a person is young. Soon enough a young person will start up a family of their own, and then your money stops being your money!

Thomas

Im in El Paso Tx and "most" of the muscle car followers are of the older generation. There are a brizillion euros running around or at the other extreme lowridered 64 vert impalas SS's. My father brought me up teaching me the value and love of the muscle car era cars. I have three little kids and we are currently together restoring my 64 chevelle. HOPEFULLY I can instill this love of fine cars into them before its too late.