Anyone else faced with this delimma?

[oldsman71]

I got a newer DD, not a big performer, an 07 G6 "mommy car" according to spidey Jim. I had DD v-8 powered stuff since
I was 15, but after my last DD 87 cutlass was totaled by a crappy driver, I couldnt find another car to put together quickly.
I wasnt gonna sacrifice the blue cutlass to another crash. the newre stuff has its advantages and with full coverage the G6
is just relieable transpertation

[JOES66FURY]

i got rid of my DD Ram for the Mustang. Love the Mustang, miss my truck terribly but it was starting to nickle and dime me to death.

If I had the garage space and time to fix up my 66 I would. I would drive it every day. I did for a while anyway but it gets to be a bitch with no a/c out here. I wanted something fast, something that had style and something I did not have to wrench o nevery day. The Mustang fit the bill. It is not what I needed to do, but wanted. I wanted a new Mustang ever since I joined the USAF and had to pass up a number of them over the years becasue of finances and so on. Selling out, meh...if you have a car you like, its fast, customizable and its a joy to drive...some would call it selling out...not me. Especially if you dont have the time or money to build the classic you desire...comprimise maybe...yeah...call it comprimise.

[mlcraven]

From my vantage point of "nowhere," I wonder if wrenching is not a lifestyle choice and an activity unto itself. But I don't know, because I don't know how to do it.

And around Labor Day last year we traded our 06 Fusion for a 12. My logic was, if I live long enough to retire in about 6 years, I don't want our newest-best ride to be 12 years old at the time.

Then in the next breath, in November I bought Red the 06 Mustang because he was sitting under a tree up the street from our house.

Different purposes. Appliance here, fun there. ... Grocery getter.....fun machine. And as suggested by one of you guys here, the extent to which I have upgraded Red is to install new tanks of gas. Well, and speed-rated tires.

I don't reckon you could do only that with a much older car if you intend to get around in it.

Pdub gets to the heart of the matter here: setting budgetary matters aside what is it that gives you the most pleasure from your automotve interest? Driving? Washing/waxing/showing? Wrenching? etc.

New muscle lets you do the first two and pretty much ignore the latter.

Something classic guarantees you'll probably be doing more of the latter at the expense of the former.

Of course, nothing stops you from tearing into something new to make it even better, but what's the point if you're invalidating warranty?

My only advice is to remember: generally you only get to sell something once. Think about that before getting rid of ALL your old toys to finance something shiny and new which (as Groucho points out) will immediately start depreciating.

[skullbucket]

A year and a half ago all I drove was a 70 Coronet or a 77 Chevy 4X4 with 37X13.50X16 with about 15 inches of lift everyday.
I feel that people who buy new Musclecars do it to try and be included in the hotrod crowd.
Alot of them seem to think bolting on a cold air tube is similar to changing out a factory cast iron intake and junk quardrajet for a aluminum hi rise and a 750 Holley, but A real hotrodder is born into it natural not bought into it.

[Barry Donovan]

this question does not seem too difficult.

if I had no time, it would be because of working...newer it would be and drive.
all kinds of time..one could do anyhting with the past..surpass todays gas mileage if you want, do anything.

time and money answers it.

[JOES66FURY]

yeah, that must be it...or it is the expence and time involved. may of us have full time jobs, kids, bills and no garage/storage for the gobs of parts one needs to build our dream cars, so the next best thing is to buy something we can tweek on a bit and still get the pleasure of driving something fast and powerful...to say that all people who by new muscle or even classic muscle and dont build it themselves is just ignorant and short sighted. Maybe your life allows you the opportunity to build and wrenech all the time. Mine and many others dont. Becasue people dont or cant build doesnt mean they dont love cars...the lines of a classic, the sound of a rumbling V8, blower wine, the smell of race gas...

and if bolting on a cold air tube and hooking up a tuner to a new engine nets me the smae power gains as an itake and carb swap...how are they different? enlighten me.

I guess I will go on living my pathetic, uncool, wannabe hot rodder life...I am a poor excuse for a human being..forgive me.

[Deaf Bob]

A year and a half ago all I drove was a 70 Coronet or a 77 Chevy 4X4 with 37X13.50X16 with about 15 inches of lift everyday.
I feel that people who buy new Musclecars do it to try and be included in the hotrod crowd.
Alot of them seem to think bolting on a cold air tube is similar to changing out a factory cast iron intake and junk quardrajet for a aluminum hi rise and a 750 Holley, but A real hotrodder is born into it natural not bought into it.

Peewee's a hot rodder thru and thru...
He has a record..do you?
Might not be simular mechanical abilities to add a cold air tube vs intake/750 Holley... But gains are simular.. Not hot rodding?
True.. Some buy into it for the wrong reasons... Much like the true Harley riders vs tourers from the office... both are motorcyclists..

[CDMBill]

I bought my F-150 Harley four door pick-up as a DD, sorta hot rod, engine transport, tow vehicle, people hauler etc. as I have no room for a fleet of projects. Its ten years old now and I have upgraded the brakes and shocks and I have a cold air kit and larger lower super charger pulley I never seem to have time to install. I ran it in NMCA True Street two weeks ago when the Mustang quit. It only runs 15's full of junk but its enough to put a smile on my face when I dust a ricer. A compromise yes but I like it as a number two vehicle.

[pdub]

Peewee's a hot rodder thru and thru...
He has a record..do you?

Thanks so much Bob, but be careful....I don't think he was talking about me directly, but if he was, I'm nodding "yes."

The truth is, I bought it because I don't know how to build it. That's why I in a way envy a whole lot or all of you guys.

But it sure is fun to crank it, nonetheless.

[bulletproof]

my newest thing is a 98 chevy truck its a daily driver,,,as much as i hate it im gonna have to break down and buy a newer truck...as for the hot rod ,,,i dont like they way the newer cars ride and drive...my mom had a new firebird and then a new mustang,,they where both decent cars both ran good for what they where...but i cant see me driving and working on them....to each his/her own..but for me building an old car that might not have been very fast and making it go fast and look good is more my thing..

[squirrel]

.... for me building an old car that might not have been very fast and making it go fast and look good is more my thing..

There's something about the satisfaction of doing that which you just cant get from a late model, I think. But it comes at a steep price.

And there's nothing wrong with selling out, if you admit you're selling out

[Deaf Bob]

Thanks so much Bob, but be careful....I don't think he was talking about me directly, but if he was, I'm nodding "yes."

The truth is, I bought it because I don't know how to build it. That's why I in a way envy a whole lot or all of you guys.

But it sure is fun to crank it, nonetheless.

My "win" record as a driver ain't much .
As a driver, I hit hard.. Was told I hit too hard (it's a demo derby fer krissakes)
I'm mostly known now as the guy who helps build kick ass pink winners
Both kids alone have more "wins" than I... Those mean as much to me as my own..
Am I a hot rodder? Or just a car builder's helper?
What is a name, label? Any derby in OR and WA, ask if Deaf Bob's there.. Most will know if I am or not..
My screen name is me.. Ain't hiding behind a screen name...

[Thumpin455]

Is George Poteet a real rodder/car guy? Compare him to Jay Leno. Who is more real car guy?

Building a car yourself takes a huge amount of time, especially when its from a rusty cowl and a piece of roof. I think almost anyone can learn the skills needed to build a car, but having the time and place to do it is what usually separates builders from buyers.

I got the red car because I was living in an apartment, and had to work on stuff at a storage unit without power. Keeping the GTO going under those conditions was killing me and making me not want to mess with it. To fix the transportation problem I bought a 6 year old car for $7500 and have put 90k on it since 2004, mostly going to USAF things. The GTO is finally about ready to go, and its very close to what I have wanted to do with it since I got it. Without the red car, I would never have been able to get the GTO where it is now.

Keep in mind that I had to rebuild the 4L60E back in 08, it has Hooker headers and the rest of the exhaust system, an SLP lid, and a custom tune. Its a nice economy car that moves pretty good, and makes the 850 mile trip to Nebraska long and boring instead of an exercise of anxiety around "will it make it?"

Later this year, the 70 GTO is making that trip. It will do it while running E85 in an engine that cannot run on pump gas at all. So consider that adventure, finding stations that carry the fuel and are open when I go by. Sell out? Yeah right.

[Deaf Bob]

There's something about the satisfaction of doing that which you just cant get from a late model, I think. But it comes at a steep price.

And there's nothing wrong with selling out, if you admit you're selling out

Ok I'm selling out.. Lol
In the process of rewiring the 57 with a painless kit and disc brakes up front
With derby cars. (building 3 and 4 now for the year) it is just easier to drive the 'burb
Doesn't daily driving the sedan delivery 15 ishy years count?
The thing about working on stuff is other stuff gets broke while fixing something.. Like the bar that slid over hitting a block that went spinning into the pass. Door glass!
The 57 is a much better riding car, looks cooler, better mpg.. Just started to do a few things then they snowballed.

[squirrel]

Later this year, the 70 GTO is making that trip. It will do it while running E85 in an engine that cannot run on pump gas at all. So consider that adventure, finding stations that carry the fuel and are open when I go by. Sell out? Yeah right.

After you sell out, you can buy back in. Nice!