Old vs new, built vs bought.

[Thumpin455]

We've had this before, wondering if thoughts have changed since the last one. It came up on the Power Tour facebook feed. Old car had to move for new Corvette parking. Owner was miffed because anyone can buy a new car. Then others chimed in that buying an old car rather than building it is just as bad as showing up with a new Vette, Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, etc...

What are your thoughts? Do you respect a nutjob like me who builds everything more than the guy who meticulously keeps his car in great shape for decades? Is a car showed by the guy who built it more special or respectable than one bought by someone?

At the show I went to over the weekend, I was about the only builder. Every guy I talked to there had owned the car for decades, they were either original or repainted long ago, they bought them that way. I know how I feel about it, how do you feel about it?

[SuperBuickGuy]

the religion of cars? if you don't worship the right thing - that puts you at odds with "the rest".... seriously, why is this still a thing? There are two types of people in the world, those who do and those who don't. Those who do breath, eat, love, and sleep. Those who don't breath, eat, love and sleep.... see the difference? neither do I.

[STINEY]

Turtles man, turtles.

[Barry Donovan]

those that build are engineers by nature anyway.
pretending brand loyal is just adding fun.

I take in certain welding for example.
73-98 gm trucks all do the same failing thing..
My crazy youthful ambition took in a ten geared subaru unibody (never again)


the one thing old builders must do to gain some on the new..
is the better controls going with every subject.

real restores, (all old errors included)..they do need a lawn chair and the shade.
I'd still look at the 429 mustang with the first attempts at emissions.
run what ya brung.

I have one of the last carb years in world history... 1987.
at 38 sweet cat smelling mpg, I am still never taking it out of antique status.
long trips would have cameras and treating it special.

[DanStokes]

I can for sure respect new iron but Todd phrased the question: "Build it yourself is best." I agree that home builts are "best" though there are lots of cool cars in the world. If I hit the Lottery I'd have a street rod built for me mostly 'cause I'm old and running out of time. If it doesn't get built in a year or two I probably won't get to drive it much. Now on to winning that Lottery....... (yes, we DO have a ticket on each draw)

Dan

[cobra]

i have both old and new. it's all about being into the cars. period.

[STINEY]

I test drove a 2016 convertible SS Camaro this past weekend. Was expecting basically a tweaked sedan platform with a light-weight truck engine.

What I was not expecting was the level of comfort. I've gotten so used to back pain that the lack of it was surprising. Yes, the seating is THAT good.

And the car was wicked fast. Not exactly green sandrail brutal fast, but definitely wicked fast.

And pricey.

Yeah.....I could ditch nearly all of my junk and just play with that for a while. Until my insurance rates caught up at least.

[Deaf Bob]

Stiney.. Like all addictions..the dose increases.. How long until that new becomes a small dose?

If you drove the green sandrail daily, I can say you will want a little more on top of what it has.. Merely the addictive nature of cars..

[Matt Cramer]

I can respect cars a lot that fall into the "Bought" category and enjoy looking at them. But if the owner built it - that makes me respect the person too.

[squirrel]

I don't care if you bought it or built it, just drive the damn thing....

[Thumpin455]

I shoulda said multiple votes allowed.

Why is it a thing? Because people want to feel special.

There was a huge debate about it, people got butthurt. I fall into the builder category, I could be an elitist prick and look down on those who just buy something, I could also look down my nose at the guys who can't work on it themselves, but that would only make me a jerk. Ok, a jerk few people like, not my usual likable jerk.

I realized a couple decades back that not everyone knows what I know, could be more, could be less, but they will invariably know things I don't, and they will know different things from a different perspective. I like other perspectives. You don't look at a car head on and decide if you like it, you walk around and see it from all angles. Elitist pricks can die in a fire, ok, maybe not quite that harsh, but I have no compassion for them. They wanna feel like a special snowflake, be better than others, and then make a group of other elitist pricks so they can pat themselves on the back. If we only allowed hard core gear heads in here, we would miss out on the cool stuff and the other perspectives.

I have yet to do a power tour, it hasn't worked out yet. Might be too big for me to want to in the future. Still, to have someone tell me I can't drive something because it isn't their idea of a cool car would chafe my ass. The hilarious hypothetical would be someone telling me I can't drive it because I didn't build it, but I would take that as either a compliment, or that they have failing eyesight and missed all the screw ups in my body work.

I'm with Squirrel... Drive the damn thing.

[Dan Barlow]

I respect the guy who has built his stuff like I have. Or more than I have . But at 54 yrs , if I could be a check book hot rodder I would be . I'm getting tired of working all the time . I may check book the next vette instead of fixing the wreaked one . We'll see how it goes in a week or two .

[Russell]

Depends on what you enjoy some enjoy the build more than the drive. Some enjoy the hunt, other like the people. I am just a parts replacer. But I want to be a builder and a driver. The hut for the next one sure is fun. Oh and the people are not bad either.

The think about the check book is when someone spends more that you and out runs or out shines you its not as fun.

[squirrel]

I like outrunning them after I spent less

[Thumpin455]

I like outrunning them after I spent less

Same. I absolutely love doing this. Spend a fraction hey do, and run faster or longer.