Car Culture

Quote: petroglyph

Ok, we both hit a moose doing 55 on a moonless night. Rocky is comin right through your cab, hair, blood and spit, will be all that is left of either of you, and a face full of airbag. I will get out and see if there is any salvageable meat, then get back in, check the heat and music and drive away. There is no replacement for displacement.

That moose is gonna run you $10k minimum in your ol' Kenworth. Me and my Rex gonna drive right under the sumbitch, give it a lil tickle with the aerial on our way through XD

I ain't saying the Facemobile will be for everyone. If the 89 run to Montreal is your daily, by all means drive a Saab. But be a little fair here; a Kenworth is killing everything short of a Canadian Pacific. Only difference between Ford and Face in that case is whether you're picked up with a bag or a mop.

The f#$%, petro? You wanna live forever? =p

Quote: Face

That moose is gonna run you $10k minimum in your ol' Kenworth.

And that's just the louvers, radiator and fan. God forbid it hit anything important.

Quote:

The f#$%, petro? You wanna live forever? =p

I completely believe that everyone needs something to look forward to. A reason to get out of bed. There has to be more to life then eating and excreting. That's my take. By all means man, burn the candle at both ends.


I keep this clip recorded on my dvr, for inspiration: "Find your passion, and make it happen" : )

Quote: petroglyph

By all means man, burn the candle at both ends.
"Find your passion, and make it happen" : )

From your mouth to mine own ears ;)

Quote: Evenbob

The car culture here has been dead for 40
years.

Rereading this thread (and a lot of it is hilarious, well done all =)), I think I might swing and disagree with this. It's not dead, it's just changed.

Late models still appeal to a great many. Not sure why, but I do see it in the burbs. Tons of Qtips in Camaro SS and Corvettes, the same guys who were buying them all up upon returning from the war. I don't think car culture is dead, I just don't think we're recognizing what the yutes are doing.

Right this second, stance is everything. "Stance Nation" they call it.

Back in EB's day, just having a cartomobile was something else (At least, I imagine, I haven't yet found any recorded history that far back =p). Cruising, wasn't it EB? Go out for a malted, a root beer float, sneak 8 of your friends in the drive in in the trunk. That's what I've picked up, anyway.



My Pop's era was the era of displacement. That lucky bastard came of age in the late 60's. That was the red light to red light culture, the ol back road culture, the burnout pit culture. Not the same as the sock hop, no. But it was still a car culture.



FFW to my day and that stuff largely sh!t the bed. Too many cops, a bunch of moms got MADD, econoboxes took hold; the era of volcanic thunder under the hood had passed. My era? Fast and Furious. This is when ricers took off because, well, ricers were all there was. Two working parents trying to sustain a lower middle class lifestyle weren't buying junior a '68 Firebird. But they would buy him a '95 Civic, and there's a lot you can do to a Civic. YOU might know you only got $1,500 in it and 97hp under the hood, but with an effects kit and a fart pipe, it was just like the supercars in F&F. This is what my gen pioneered.



Today we're at the zenith of the tuners. Stance Nation. I guess the gist is to just keep modding until it's undriveable and no longer a car, but they get off on it. Shaved doors, JDM parts, and for some reason, a metric ton of negative camber.



I don't get it. As a car guy, I'm disturbed. As a performance guy, I'm horrified. But it's still car guys expressing themselves via their steeds. In other words, it's much the same as it ever was.

If you ever see one, stop in. These kids are very, VERY easy to write off as twats. If the cars don't do it, their get-ups will. But talk to them and you'll find the kindred spirit. It's the same one that's always existed. The love of car.

Quote: Face

Pah! Again!

If you don't want rattles, turn a screw. Tight parts don't rattle. And things where that ain't an option, like an entire door, need only be padded properly. Two bitty rubber stoppers is all it takes for your 100lb hood to be as smooth as silk. Same for the weather stripping in your door or trunk.

Can't tighten a screw on a flimsy cowl and unit frame. If the body is flimsy all the screws will be. Better seats require something stronger to be bolted to. The public likes heavier but quieter.

Quote:

Back in EB's day, just having a cartomobile was something else (At least, I imagine

I graduated in 67. In HS you wanted anything
that got you where you were going. As soon
as you're out of HS, you wanted either a
muscle car, or a souped up 55 or 57 Chevy.

We were hyper aware that we were smack
dab in the cool car generation. Look at
the songs we heard constantly on our AM
car radios.

Little Deuce Coupe
409
G.T.O.
Hey Little Cobra
Fun Fun Fun
Dead Man's Curve - Jan and Dean
Hot Rod Lincoln
Mustang Sally
Little Old Lady from Pasadena
Drag City
Three Window Coupe

And on and on. Every fall the car
makers had all new models with
bigger and bigger motors. It was
intoxicating. For a very short time
I had a 68 SS 396 Chevy with 4
on the floor and a 410 rear
end. In a mere 8 weeks I got 9 points
on my license, and that was it.
What fun, though. Never felt that
way again in my life.

Looked just like this:

Quote: Evenbob

We were hyper aware that we were smack
dab in the cool car generation.

So different times. Cars just do not have the same place in culture. Who is going to write a song about today's cars? "Drove my Camry to the Amry.........." Uh, no.

One thing I look back on is how it was a fun Saturday to take all day and wash, wax, and detail your ride. All freaking day in many cases. Now I totally hate doing that. Too much else to do that is more enjoyable.

Think you need to survey high school kids before you declare car culture dead.

Still the best way to have adventures and get out from under the prying eyes of your parents and a place to make out.

They may look different, but I still see the obvious signs of street racers around me, and cheap aftermarket flash.

I say nothing has really changed.

Quote: rxwine

Think you need to survey high school kids before you declare car culture dead.

Rate of drivers licenture among that age falling. Once you could not wait to get your permit, now more and more do not by choice.

Cars do not hold the same place as they did way back. Look at the naming alone. De Ville, Eldorado, and Seville are no more. Just alphanumeric names that seem more like SKUs. More and more stuff is designed for the China market in the firsts place.

The connection is no longer there.

Quote: AZDuffman

Rate of drivers licenture among that age falling. Once you could not wait to get your permit, now more and more do not by choice.

Cars do not hold the same place as they did way back. Look at the naming alone. De Ville, Eldorado, and Seville are no more. Just alphanumeric names that seem more like SKUs. More and more stuff is designed for the China market in the firsts place.

The connection is no longer there.

I think you are right. Back when we were younger the world consisted if your town and maybe a few around you. Kids wanted cars to go out and explore. Today the world is much bigger for kids. Airplane flights are cheap and many people travel more now than ever before. The internet has also expanded their worlds because the can now see or read about everything in real time. Lastly kids are not bored like they used to be. There is just so much more available to them today.

A car is now just a necessary tool for most people.

Quote: DRich

I think you are right. Back when we were younger the world consisted if your town and maybe a few around you. Kids wanted cars to go out and explore. Today the world is much bigger for kids. Airplane flights are cheap and many people travel more now than ever before. The internet has also expanded their worlds because the can now see or read about everything in real time. Lastly kids are not bored like they used to be. There is just so much more available to them today.

A car is now just a necessary tool for most people.

Cars used to be status symbols amongst the teens. Expensive, fastest, lowest, highest... While street racing still exists (fatalities go up every summer), cruising isn't as wide spread. What has replaced the car as status symbol amongst the yoots?