Archive for March, 2009

Chevy, Ford, Chevy, Chevy, Ford, Ford…

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Have you ever felt outnumbered?

I don’t mean like crossing an occupied football field dressed in all black, with a purple streak through your hair and an eyeball ring. Or puffing on a lit cig while a pack of distance runners zips by – all of ‘em glaring at your addiction.

Nope, none of that.

Since this is a musclecar blog, I refer to that outnumbered feeling you get when you pull into a far-away car show in your Pontiac, Olds, Buick or American Motors relic and the whole lot is packed with all styles of classic American steel – as long as that style is Chevy or Ford.

This is what happened to me when I attended a cruise-in with my ’72 GTO on a Saturday night in Manassas, Virginia.

“Ya gotta check out Manassas!” they’d said at the Orange, VA car show. “Much bigger’n this one!” They’d quickly turned back to using their Californee Duster on the paint of a ’69 Z/28.

Why was I even inquiring about other car show?

Was it because I was the only Pontiac owner among the 67-odd Chevys and Fords? I’d noticed a timid little guy parked in the far corner of the Burger King lot. He looked pretty lonely as he guarded his olive green ’68 Charger in his $7 Walmart lawnchair.

Meanwhile, at the center of all the fun, music, food and spectators, a crowd of lawnchair rangers would furtively glance over at the Mopar guy. Every once in a while, a loud guffaw would echo through the parking lot, making the Mopar guy shrink even further into his Walmart chair.

I kind of wanted to befriend Mopar guy, sort of the way you felt in school when a bunch of bullies harassed one of the pocket-protector/calculator geeks. You’d always opt-out of the hero role for fear of being the next piece of meat on their menu.

Don’t get me wrong…no_lawnchair_rangers

I love Chevy’s and Fords and all forms of classic American musclecars and the guys who drive them are always pretty nice fellows, but when they fall into a pack mentality in their observational lawn chairs, even a well-prepped Buick GS with an $8,000 paint job can plunge into the shitbox category.

Show-up in a ’74 GTO and you might as well get out of your car wearing only a pair of tighty-whiteys with wingtips.

So, with Manassas, VA being tagged as the Saturday Night Mecca for all-things high-performance, I spent the next Saturday washing, polishing, waxing and buffing the GTO to appease the Gods of Detroit Past as I made my grand entry into the Manassas Burger King cruise-in.

By the way, I’ve been to several cruise-ins that were held at Burger King restaurants. I have no idea why they seem more popular than a McDonald’s or Arby’s, but I think the guys who turn their own wrenches are the same guys who care even less about cholesterol than they do about the latest American Idol finalists. I like the Angus steak burgers myself…

As I approached the BK lot in Manassas, I went into shock faster than you would if Amy Winehouse suddenly jumped in front of your moving car…naked; there was not a single GTO in the lot!

There were no Buicks. No Olds 442s. No Challengers or ‘Cudas. No Javelin AMXs. No Buicks or Duster 340s. It was all Chevys and Fords, mixed with more Fords and Chevys.

The only difference between Orange and Manassas was the size of the Bowtie and  Blue Oval gang of lawnchair rangers — but they were much bigger in their numbers and laughed just a little bit louder.

Being 50 years old, I had to make an immediate trip to the men’s room inside the BK. Photos from Saturday nights past dotted the walls of the restaurant and even inside the bathrooms. How many non-Chevy and non-Ford photos did I find?

None. I have to admit that there probably are some photos of other makes and models, but I must’ve missed them.

When I came out of the bathroom and grabbed a burger and fries, I wandered back to the parking lot. My eyes caught a glimpse of a blue 1971 GTO, speeding for the exit and zipping back out onto Route 28 — never to be seen again.

It was time for me to go.

But I don’t accept defeat as easily as the blue 71 GTO guy did. In the following weeks, I used my GTO Association of America member list and sent an invitation to every GTOAA member within a 60-mile radius of Manassas, Virginia. I received a few emails from GTO guys who promised to show-up with me. We’d meet at a TGI Friday’s and cruise into the BK meet together.

And we did….

At approximately 7:30 that Saturday night, 12 GTOs cruised into that Burger King lot. The sound was ominous and the visual made everyone there stop what they were doing. Some of them even struggled out of their lawn chairs to see what all the commotion was about.

We proudly filed-in and parked, side-by-side in the greatest line-up of Pontiac GTO muscle in Manassas Burger King history.

We stood back and looked proudly at….uhhh…12 GTOs…all RED.

red_gote1Only our faces were redder than those GTOs that night…

Suddenly from behind us, we heard a catcall from the Chevy peanut gallery of lawn chair surfers. “What happened? DeLorean get a deal on red paint? BWAAAH-ha ha ha!”

red_gote2

Another view; some of the GTOs had scooted outa there at the first opp.

Well, at least we’d tried. Perhaps one can’t fight the majority, one should only sit silently and protest quietly, like Mopar guy did with his Charger.

I’ve since sold my beloved GTO. Times are tough.

But hey, I’m looking for a nice 2nd or 3rd Generation Z!

Call me a lemming. I’m fine with it.

-30-

© Keith MacDonald 2009 * All Rights Reserved.

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1970: The American Performance Zenith

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

March 24, 2009

1970: The Greatest Year in American Performance Cars

I turned 15 years old in 1970. It was the beginning of a whole new decade.  The world was spinning fast; change was happening on a daily basis, the Woodstock Generation was saving the world (and planning how to destroy it in 2009), but those cars…oh man, those 1970 models from Detroit had me mesmerized.

70boss302In ’70, the new Boeing 747 made its maiden voyage, The Beatles released “Let It Be” only a month before announcing they were changing their name to “The Ono Band.”  The KC Chiefs beat the Vikings in Super Bowl IV, while the Orioles beat the Reds in the 1970 World Series. Sonny Bono was probably only thinking about taking-up snow skiing. As the conflict in Vietnam raged on, President Nixon lowered the voting age to 18, and Apollo 13 aborted its moon mission and struggled back to earth’s orbit — the crew barely making splashdown alive.

It was also the end of an era – by the end of the year, US automakers would be selling cars with deflated compression ratios and morbid HP ratings. The pressure from insurance companies and environmentalists was making it “uncool” to drive a high-powered street machine.

Freakin’ pencil-pushin’ geeks….

In my world, only three things mattered; cars, girls and baseball. Girls had become mysterious, scary things to me. I kept my distance from most of them – which would have been a good choice in my later years as well.

But the cars in 1970 were just as elusive as the girls; I was too young to drive and even less capable of buying one. But just as it was with girls and baseball players, I certainly enjoyed watching, listening and admiring them from afar.

It is my opinion, (not yours…or maybe it is) that the 1970 model year from the Big 3 and that other company, American Motors, was the greatest-ever in American auto history. The cars were powerful, colorful, loud, proud and absolutely gorgeous. The lines of a GM A-body car had reached their pinnacle. The F-body cars were still fairly new, yet they had already changed to their 2nd Generation in 1970. The new F-body lines were so refined, that they would remain in place for the next 11 years!

The new Dodge Challenger and Plymouth ‘Cuda bodies were Chrysler’s answer to the pony car and their performance engines were like no other. Which is why auto auctions like Mecum or Barrett-Jackson can pull $100K out of your bank account by osmosis – just by featuring a Hemi Cuda . The Ford Mustang was sleek, streamlined and its interior was similar to a jet cockpit, while Ford’s Torino GT and Cobra looked better than ever.  Even the AMC Javelin AMX was at its peak in design and horsepower.

Let’s not forget the colors: “Orbit Orange,” Plum Crazy Purple,” “Panther Pink” and “Sublime” (lime green) were just a few of the wild paint schemes you’d see on a 1970 car.

I remember thinking, “Where can it go from here? How can they possibly make a better-looking car than the 1970 line-up of cars?”

In my opinion, I was absolutely correct, (not bad for a 15-yr. old) — I have never seen a car that looked or sounded as great as a 1970 American-made performance car.

What’s come close?
Maybe the 1985-90 IROC Z28? The 2006-present Mustang GT? How about the 1986 Buick Grand National?

Close, yes. Better? No way.

Compare these cars to a ’70 Chevelle LS6, a ’70 GTO Judge, a ’70 Trans Am or Z28. Or how about a ’70 Challenger 440 six-pack? A Boss 429 ‘Stang? What about a “Go Pack” AMX? The gorgeous, yet menacing 1970 Olds 442/455?  Incredible.

70 Judge

The New Throwbacks

Have you noticed the new cars that have been resurrected lately? The Challenger looks like a 1970 model, the Mustang oozes 1969-1970 Mach I design, the new Camaro was cut very close to the ’69 Z28 and everyone had pinned their hopes on a retro-look for the ’04 GTO. Many wanted the 1969 or 1970 look for the new Goat. It never happened and GM spun out and crashed with the new GTO.

Freedom of Choice

Many of you may read this and say, “Well, nothing can beat my 19_ _ Make and Model,” and you would be absolutely correct, but you know what?

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can beat the combined beauty, price and power of the 1970 American musclecar. Stack any year against it and you will probably fall short — if not on horsepower, then definitely on overall volume of choice.

70 SS LS6 As the 1970s progressed, I watched in horror as these wonderful cars deteriorated before our very eyes. First came the lowered horsepower ratings for 1972, then the arrival of the big bumpered dinosaurs of ’73. In 1975, we suffered with the catalytic converter and the demise of the Z28, which returned 2 and a half years later — just as the “performance sticker car” era began. The late 70′s cars offered sporty new looks, with bright, if not totally gawdy, decals, but under the hood we found relatively flaccid engines containing not even a shadow of their former glory. When the 1970s ended, there was a glimmer of hope in 1982, when the 3rd Generation Camaro arrived, but the Z28 still had less than 200HP. It was not until the arrival of the ’85 IROC Z28 and Buick Turbo V-6 that we began to slowly evolve back to the availability of the factory performance options.

But it was never the same as it was in 1970.

1970: the year that will always reign as the best-ever in automotive history.

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