Anyone else faced with this delimma?

[Matt Cramer]

I think he might be. He's guy who loves his car as much as you do and is out and about showing it off with some like minded folks at a cruise night. He chose a new performance car, you chose a mid-70's Vette. If you don't care about his car don't look at it and move on to the next one at the show. As for categories? No thanks.

He's probably not going to draw as much of a crowd, but Camaro Guy is still out to have fun with his car and do what he can. And not all the new Camaro owners are just show and shine - I've seen one guy show up at Atlanta Dragway with a new Camaro with dealer tags showing he bought it just a few weeks ago, and a centrifugal blower under the hood.

I've got a really long commute - my daily driver gets a couple hundred miles on it every week. And this cuts into my available wrenching time, too. So I've chosen a new-ish car that doesn't take too much maintenance for commuting duty... a 15 year old BMW with 182,000 miles on the clock so far. I can always take the C10 to work if I want something loud and spartan (I use that one often enough; it's a working truck.) There's some newer cars I wouldn't mind owning if I had the money. Enough interesting stuff out there that I try to keep something of everything in the fleet.

[Turbo Regal]

I'm currently building my Chevy II (327/M20) because after driving a bank vault-like Silverado for hours all week, I would like the feel, sounds and smells that an old car delivers.

Shifting a manual tranning into the gear you want, feeling the road, and reading the vital signs on gauge needles is what loving cars is all about.

[Joe Grippo]

....yet the guy with the new Camaro has been furiously clay bar and waxing it, and that special night on Main street he is going to stand next to me and feel he is in the same category as me? I think not!

I think he might be. He's guy who loves his car as much as you do and is out and about showing it off with some like minded folks at a cruise night. He chose a new performance car, you chose a mid-70's Vette. If you don't care about his car don't look at it and move on to the next one at the show. As for categories? No thanks.

[tedly]

So what everybody is sayin is: If you can't be on the pro football team just buy the uniform and wear it and that will make you included as a team member?
What im sayin is: I melted an electric fan so I had to pull the $500 aluminum radiator, both fans and wiring, it will take almost 2 weeks to get the parts and and with no instructions piece it back together just in time for the big cruise, yet the guy with the new Camaro has been furiously clay bar and waxing it, and that special night on Main street he is going to stand next to me and feel he is in the same category as me? I think not!

I love wrenching on cars, a born grease monkey. Even keeping my old rusted out, beat to hell Cavalier running well and reliably gave me a lot of satisfaction. It wasn't my dream car by any stretch, but I was the one who did all the work on it. I am completely psyched about tearing into the TBird, not even about driving it when it's done yet, but about building a car the way I want it again. Tearing it apart, fixing what's wrong with it, strengthening the weak points, making the strong points stronger, making it better than it ever was, learning the whole car top to bottom, and doing as much as I possibly can myself, I love it.

But I will never, ever, understand the attitude that it somehow makes me better than someone else. It's just something I enjoy and have the time and money to do.

[Scott Liggett]

YOu get to drive new cars all day at work Scott, so you probably have a little bit different take on it.

My 55 is not quite so fun in LA traffic, as it is driving everywhere else.

No car is fun in LA traffic. AC and a comfortable interior makes a new car nicer, but that is surely possible in any old car.

If I were commuting the car a ton, my priorities would be different than they are now. I have driven this car in 115* temps, in the rain (it leaked since I bought it), it makes more wind noise than engine noise above 75 mph, it usually hotter in the car than out (black will not my next choice for color),

[skullbucket]

So what everybody is sayin is: If you can't be on the pro football team just buy the uniform and wear it and that will make you included as a team member?
What im sayin is: I melted an electric fan so I had to pull the $500 aluminum radiator, both fans and wiring, it will take almost 2 weeks to get the parts and and with no instructions piece it back together just in time for the big cruise, yet the guy with the new Camaro has been furiously clay bar and waxing it, and that special night on Main street he is going to stand next to me and feel he is in the same category as me? I think not!

[Thumpin455]

Spot on cantvalve, he isnt selling out to buy a new performance car. Selling out is buyin a minivan or a Kiayotaonda.

[cantvalve16]

Scott, I am with you, Groucho, and Monk at my core. But from the hill I am standing on, I can see the valley that Bishir finds himself in. Early married life and children throw life dynamics into the mix that move our tire frying, exhaust sniffing, ear ringing, gas sucking selves further down the totem pole. With the demands of family, a man longs to have some re- energizing connection to his inner rodder that requires nothing more than a monthly check to your favorite mass car builder. That way he gets to have some fun even though his large blocks of focused hot rod time have become scattered into many snipets and sprinkled throughout the child rearing years.

[Monk]

YOu get to drive new cars all day at work Scott, so you probably have a little bit different take on it.

My 55 is not quite so fun in LA traffic, as it is driving everywhere else.

Your suburban is a kick ass vehicle...........and seems pretty reliable.

[squirrel]

YOu get to drive new cars all day at work Scott, so you probably have a little bit different take on it.

My 55 is not quite so fun in LA traffic, as it is driving everywhere else.

[Scott Liggett]

I dont get it. Whats all this thinking that an old car cant drive cross country just because its old? Cruising down a highway is the easiest thing on your car. Around town driving is much harder on your car than road trips. If your old car cant drive 500 miles in one day, then there is something that needs fixing. So fix it. Want proof? My totally rusted out POS $50 69 impala with 180k miles made it to Cali from Nebraska with no problem. I drive my Impala all over the southwest. Its not anything that great. The wiring is all patched together, but cruises right along no problem.

Personally, I despise new cars. I hate you have to pay for a bunch of crap you dont want. I hate all the nanny crap in new cars.

[pdub]

"When it ceases to be fun, do something to make it fun."

Amen Brother, amen. Ain't that the dadgum screaming truth. I mean overall, the bigger, BIGGEST picture. I wish I had written that song. But I fell asleep at the wheel, and just didn't do it. A-freaking absolutely AMEN. How many thumbs do I have to point UP? Not enough of them.

There it is, the truth we should all be chasing, right there. Am I overly-enthusiastic about that? No, I don't think so.

[Monk]

It's just not my DNA........I can echo Groucho's remarks somewhat as well.
I can see where you're coming from though......being in your age bracket.

I've been wrenching and building cars since a young age and like
the challenge and results.

My dilemma right now is what do I (if anything) after building the shoebox.
To me......it was the ultimate build.........stab a 409 into a '55 Chevy.

I'm itching to do another vehicle.....bad.

[Schtauffer]

I would like to have a newer car, and my wife specifically would like to have a Challenger.

[cantvalve16]

When it comes down to it, we do what we gotta do. The right car for the right time is about the logistics of it. If you have money and no time for a long time, a newer car makes sense. If you got a little cash, a little time, and the "want to" to put something together for fun.. go for it. To quote Gary Busey in Gumball Rally, ".. this whole thing is rigged fer fun". When it ceases to be fun, do something to make it fun. If that means more driving and less wrenching, then so be it.

Just make sure to look for your own boot behind you before you do something drastic. Sucks to be kicking yourself.