If it had, it would have looked mean…no, mine was more bad-ass-granny looking. And as for this guy:

He was 6’4″, made of muscle, wore butt-hugger Wranglers, cowboy boots, drove a Charger, chew Skoal’s, and had a mean, rock-solid jaw that had been shaped by many fists.

Sounds like family, except my uncles used a Brim coffee can for a spitoon. No Von Mises thanks for penning such a blistering portrait. Brilliant!

Ode to american muscle…sniff

I use to harbor the same sentiments as Manju but, thankfully, not any longer. America ain’t refined but raw and the sixties was American engineering at its most raw and I learned this in a bizarre way. I spent one year of high school in an all boys school where it was all about Chargers, Stangs, Firebirds, T-birds, Camaro’s and I hated all of those cars then (well, I still hate Camaro’s). I hated them because the engineering couldn’t touch corner-hugging European engineering and certainly couldn’t hold a candle to European design flair. And that hatred lingered until one day I reflected back on my high school years. There were more than a few country boys in that high school but one in particular stood out. He was 6’4″, made of muscle, wore butt-hugger Wranglers, cowboy boots, drove a Charger, chew Skoal’s, and had a mean, rock-solid jaw that had been shaped by many fists. Everday in my geometry class he would eat a raw potato. He walked in late every single day, potato in one hand, empty water bottle in the other which, by the end of class, was full of Skoal’s and spit. He first ate the potato, probably as breakfast, then lined his gums with some Skoal’s. Many moons later, I was in college and I lived with Ford freaks, foreign car freaks, Le Mans freaks, F1 freaks, WRC freaks, and superbike freaks so I was privy to a lot of great conversations and arguments, American vs European vs Japanese was the usual undertone, and shrugging ones shoulders to another guy’s ‘personal taste’ was how disputes were settled. Until I remembered the potato-eating cowboy. See, some foods are great raw, some are great cooked. American muscle is raw, European is cooked, Japenese is, I dunno, takeaway. Eating a potato raw is not refined, even if you ate it in a bistro. But if you ate a raw potato while driving Route 66 in New Mexico, it might be great. I’m not a muscle car guy myself but I have come to appreciate American muscle and the context which makes American muscle so appealing, namely the backdrop- open, straight roads to nowhere, the art of cruising, drag racing, and cars that reflect the boys who drove them, the quintessential American bad ass. In short, I don’t eat raw potatoes, but I can appreciate people who eat raw potatoes.

Give me torque over horsepower on the street any day.

NUFF SAID.

i love the viper’s volumptuous styling, and it is quite compact with proper proportions. the price is right too. but its basicly at truck engine in a plastic body…too big an engine and too weak a chassis. i’ve never drove one but european review always mention the twitchy handling.

the american lack of attention to detail shows in the interior; while a mere mini, vw bug, audi tt look well thought out w/o being expensive. i’m not asking for an interior of a pagani zonda here, just something well put together. but they did produce the car from concept in like 12 months or something.

Nice! I think the model peaked with the Hurst Hemi Dart in ’68, but the Swinger isn’t a car I would mind driving. Did yours come billboard stripes?

Then allow me to rejoinder, since the topic of cars comes up so frequently on SM: There are several cars that are/were made in America that are not boats. There’s the Ford GT (and the old GT40, which are totally drool-worthy even today), the AC Cobra, and of course the latest generation of Corvette. They do use larger displacement engines (with the ‘Vette C6 (and the C6-R!) and the Cobra, they’ve taken simplicity to an artform with the internals), but they did it right. I appreciate the high-revving Ferrarris and I do love me the Porsche GT/4. But I also love a car with muscle down low and in the middle, where you can use it. Give me torque over horsepower on the street any day. My own dream car is the aforementioned AC Cobra. It’s got nothing in it except engine, brakes, steering wheel, and did I mention more engine? It goes like a two-year-old 30 seconds after you put him in a car seat. Refined? No. Exhilarating to drive? God yes.

You speak the gospel, my brother. The Shelby Daytona Coupe is nothing short of a monster and influenced heavily my personal favorite of all the muscle cars, the Viper GTS (1996-2002). It may not be for everyone, but if you equate a high performance vehicle with driving gloves and electric seat warmers, I definitely don’t expect you to understand.

technically, the AC cobra is a british sports car, though it uses a big ford v-8. i once drove a purple replica. scary.

There are several cars that are/were made in America that are not boats. There’s the Ford GT (and the old GT40, which are totally drool-worthy even today), the AC Cobra, and of course the latest generation of Corvette. They do use larger displacement engines (with the ‘Vette C6 (and the C6-R!) and the Cobra, they’ve taken simplicity to an artform with the internals), but they did it right.

I appreciate the high-revving Ferrarris and I do love me the Porsche GT/4. But I also love a car with muscle down low and in the middle, where you can use it. Give me torque over horsepower on the street any day. My own dream car is the aforementioned AC Cobra. It’s got nothing in it except engine, brakes, steering wheel, and did I mention more engine? It goes like a two-year-old 30 seconds after you put him in a car seat.

Refined? No.

Exhilarating to drive? God yes.