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I like to think all this debate on newer cars vs whatever you want to put up against them boils down to the "Cool Car Factor". Everyday run of the mill automobiles, be they a Camry, Murano, Edge, Gran Prix etc etc all basically do what they're designed to do. True car guys&gals appreciate a car not just for the performance and creature comforts it has or may not have. It's the Cool Factor. That 1966 Corvette was cool the day it rolled off the assembly line, was cool when it sat brand new on the showroom floor, was cool when it's first owner drove it home and it's been cool every day up to right now. Same goes for all the "classics" car lovers appreciate. Everything from the old Duesenburgs, Cords and Packards through the muscle cars of the 50's to the 70's. I can't think of a Corvette that's ever rolled off the assembly line that WASN'T cool. Yes people will always have their favorite years/styles no matter what marque is on the grill, but the Corvette from it's inception and continuous production has been cool from day one. I don't think the same can be said for many other cars that have ever been made. New technology is fantastic. You can reasonably purchase a four door sedan that will (usually) give years of trouble free service and go well past 175,000 miles with proper care. I agree that most of them are bland, sedate or downright boring but that's not why they're being made and purchased. I think 40 years from now when somebody sees an "old" 2015 Camaro SS rumbling down the road they'll think it's cool (provided there's still plenty of gas around and everything hasn't been converted to electric ) Cool cars are cool cars....everything else is what it is....transportation.
They are not "all junk." So if a vehicle has no personality, then it's a heap of garbage? Maybe it's a well-engineered, quality built people mover that does exactly what it is supposed to do. My 4-cylinder pickup truck is sorely lacking personality, but it's an extremely reliable and quality-built vehicle.
Yes, it is a heap of garbage.
Because it is the exact embodiment of everything WRONG with modern automotive design. Boring, Staid, and so unengaging and overly loaded in "Safety devices" that people feel like they shouldn't ever be in danger, no matter how dumb they are on the road.
Look at a car from the 60s, 50s, 40s, 30s, and 20s, and you can see the soul in them. Starting with the 70s, the effort of design for aesthetics starts to drop away, the 80s, the same thing happened even more so. By the 90s forward, most cars are soulless, cars which might as well have been designed by robots, rather than drawn up by a human, who cared about things like aesthetics, and artistic expression. Engineers then decided that crappy boring and lack of feedback on the road is "comfortable".
Soul is what makes the C4 frankly better than the 5 and 6. It talks to you, unlike the later cars, which do their damn best effort to mute the driving experience.
Modern cars are too comfortable, by and large. You are too far insulated from the world around you. Combine that with the tragic, boring and staid styling, and there you go. Most cars are complete garbage. I don't care if it will run for a million+ miles. A million plus miles means nothing to me, if I don't see the heart and soul that went into building it, or can't feel it.
The picked the lowest HP version of the Corvette for 1966 and matched it with a higher HP Camry with modern tires. I wonder how the lap times would have would have been different in this:
My 67 435HP coupe with modern tires on original rims (never mind my 95 ZR-1 in the background):
The picked the lowest HP version of the Corvette for 1966 and matched it with a higher HP Camry with modern tires. I wonder how the lap times would have would have been different in this:
My 67 435HP coupe with modern tires on original rims (never mind my 95 ZR-1 in the background):
Hell, tires alone would have made a huge difference! But, interesting video tho.
Vehicles used to be about style. Now they are considered by many as an appliance.
Today's market research people are VERY thorough! The manufacturers build what sells the best for the most profit. If you (and I) don't fit the standard research results, it's not our fault. That just shows how few people have the exquisite taste of the connoisseurs that we are!!
They are not "all junk." So if a vehicle has no personality, then it's a heap of garbage? Maybe it's a well-engineered, quality built people mover that does exactly what it is supposed to do. My 4-cylinder pickup truck is sorely lacking personality, but it's an extremely reliable and quality-built vehicle.
Screw the Camry. And every other dumb boring 4 door sedan.
They're all junk.
Gimme soul anyday.
Sorry you could make a 1,000 hp Camry, and NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, who loves cars is going to say "that's a great car!"
They'll say "man it's fast"....but that 1k HP Camry, will fail to get even a moment's notice the second even a 76 Stingray with sidepipes added pulls up next to it.
How about 850 HP? This post made me think of the one-off dragster that Toyota built last year. I'd still take the Vette but this would be fun for a few minutes at a time. Funny thing is I've never seen any video of it actually running.
Vehicles used to be about style. Now they are considered by many as an appliance.
They all look bland and blah to me hard to distinguish even the vettes and camaros nothing really sticks out in traffic anymore re late model anything for the most part. They are all plastic and reek of a slightly different version of every other car going down the road
Even the wanna be chrome molding is cheap plastic....the "bumpers" on my truck are cheap tin covers, not even a real bumper lol
Pathetic
I was a 70s kid and every car on the street had its own style and sound didnt matter what it was there was no mistaking any model car back then. There isnt one new car that interests me in the least. Even the interiors had a certain smell...ford, olds etc.
Now they smell like a toxic dump, ever sit in say a new Accord? It will make you sick
If youre doing a lot of commuting maybe a 4 banger makes sense other than that Ill take the hit on mileage and drive something I really like.
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My crappy Silverado gets about 12-13 mpg and the Camino maybe half that and dont mind a bit.
They all look bland and blah to me hard to distinguish even the vettes and camaros nothing really sticks out in traffic anymore They are all plastic and reek of a slightly different version of every other car going down the road
Maybe it's my age....but my wife and I were watching a mid 80's movie the other night....there was a scene in a city w/a bunch of traffic, cars everywhere. It hit me, and I said to her, "Imagine/remember being back then, being immersed in all those cars -those were "everyone's cars" back then...."
So, ^that^ is what we see everyday. That is the "norm" for the most part for is. So I continues with her, I said, "...Now image with that as your "norm", here comes an '84 Corvette." Thing looks like an F-14 for the street! MY wife "got it" and agreed. (Or she was yesing me to death) ...
Low. Wide. High tech. Cockpit. A freakin' F-14 for the road. There was nothing like it.
Because most/all new cars offer so much, (18+" alloy rims, low profile tires, all the infotainment (tech) you need/want, interiors, handling, power, etc), I don't know that a modern car can drop the same kind of "shock and awe" that the '84 'Vette did, then. My son likes the C7...but it doesn't seem to have the same kind of weight for him that land mark cars did for me. Maybe it's just my age.
Last edited by Tom400CFI; Aug 11, 2015 at 07:01 PM.
....If youre doing a lot of commuting maybe a 4 banger makes sense other than that Ill take the hit on mileage and drive something I really like. ......
Nope!
I bought a couple C4's ('88 A4 2.59 and '94 M6) because I was doing a lot of commuting (100 miles per day to work). They both got better mileage than my 4 cyl. and were a lot more fun.
The appliances have thier purpose though. They keep from clocking up mundane miles on our vettes. Course you can pick your appliances better than camry's.
Starlet and a Citation
There were some real good cars made in the 70s and 80s and some real hooches.
Remember the 80s toyota pickups?
99 down and 99 a mo if you got one with 2 mirrors and a bumper it was a big deal.
Owned almost every yr of those (83-88) then a 93 which was a pos when paper thin sheetmetal seemed to start
I will say those were dynamite blow proof trucks wish they still made em.
Had a neighbor who bought a new Vette ea yr remember when he brought his 84 home. Lots of guys on my street had Challengers Superbees AMX etc. Guy with the 70 r/t Challenger ran the 84 and got smoked
Those crossfires when new ran pretty well for their time;then along came the 5.0 GT/Iroc craze, good times
I got nothing against a Camry.
They even race them In Nascar now, so a guy driving a Camry can now say its somewhat sporty.
I think the V6 they put in them is a solid engine.
My mom's husband just bought a Hybrid New Camry, and loves it.
He is always telling me how fast it is.
My Mom use to have a 72 Corvette, I just learned (blew my mind).
She loves the Camry she has now.
Would I buy one ... Nope, but after driving theirs it wasn't to bad.
No where as fast as he says it is, but its got some beans, and should, it's 2015.
Ask a guy back in 1972 in his 30's or 40's what a car in 2015 would be like.
I don't think he would be to impressed with what a 2015 Camry is today though.
[QUOTE=Tom400CFI;1590202264]Sorry that it's not a C4. Well, I'm glad Camry's aren't beating C4's (yet), but there's been some discussion recently about what car is better that what....and typically, objective performance is the gauntlet thrown down as "proof" that one is "better".
So, in this video, that philosophy would PROVE, that a Camry is hands down better than a mid year. Is it? Not to this car-guy (me).
Who Cares......well... really who wants a Camry.
The corvette is a beauty that has classic style, will still be there in 30-50 years time when the "camry" is long forgotten and just a pile of rust in a junk yard.
Go challenge an early corvette at your peril, there are many that look stock but have modern engines and suspension. With modern performance to match, and may scare the pants of you.
My C4 may look like any other, however the performance has been enhanced by a couple hundred more horses.
Those of us with fast cars know that there is nothing to prove, no one chalenges you. Especially when they hear a blower whine.
) Cool cars are cool cars....everything else is what it is....transportation.
But, interesting video tho.
