Cars are not the same...or am I getting old!

[flyboyron]

While my Silverado is at the dealer for a few days, they gave me a dealer rental car, a 2015 Chevy Malibu.

 

As I am driving down the freeway I started reminiscing about my Malibu I used to own.

 

Back when I got out of high school, one of my first cars was a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS.

 

I fixed the car up and had all the bodywork done and painted. I did the interior and did all the mechanical work on it. It had the 283 with the Powerglide 2 speed transmission.

Do you remember those days of points and condensers, vacuum advance, and my car had to have that green smog device on the radiator hose with the two vacuum lines going to the engine, I don't remember what it was called. Darn California smog laws of the 70's!

 

Now today, if I see any Chevelle at a car show, I am pulled towards it to check it out and see the beauty of muscle cars of the past.

 

Driving today, I don't think in 20 years...if I am still here, I would be saying, "Wow, check out that 15 Malibu, I want to check it out."

 

I just don't think today's cars have the appeal like cars of the 60's or 70's and I may be wrong...men 40 years from now may be proud to own a 2015 Malibu.

 

So do you think you will be drooling over the current model cars 20 - 30 years from now?

 

 

[RyanbabZ71]

You're looking at a 4 door car

 

Time to start looking at Camaros, Challengers, Mustangs this is a better representation and comparison

[kstruckcountry]

Maybe not.... but the 2015 daddy wagon will blow the doors off the '64.

 

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[RyanbabZ71]

Maybe not.... but the 2015 daddy wagon will blow the doors off the '64.

 

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Heck yea CTS-V would make those "old" cars look silly with the power and handling

[The Zip]

 

I just don't think today's cars have the appeal like cars of the 60's or 70's and I may be wrong...men 40 years from now may be proud to own a 2015 Malibu.

 

So do you think you will be drooling over the current model cars 20 - 30 years from now?

 

 

The current cars listed above in another post (camaro/mustang/challenger) may not have the lines but today those cars are transitioning into the sports car category. If you have less than 450 hp, you're not even in the game. So they may not be remembered for the lines but you will surely remember the hp.

[RyanbabZ71]

Its called the Modern Muscle category.

[waumo1]

Definitely not the same. Some are better, most are boring. You could have most models with a "big" engine back in the 60s and most were available in a 2 DR version. Very narrow category today.

[LaserBlueZ71]

It is hard to like the old cars when you look at the new ones.

 

Frankly, no matter what is done to an old car, whether it be a muscle car or not, I am never impressed. You spend 100 grand, what are you left with? Something that is still low on power, heavy, handles like crap, noisy, leaks water and air, and is inefficient....why? Today you can buy a production vehicle, street legal, like the stingray Corvette, that is 10 times the car of race cars even 20 years ago. So, what was considered impossible to own 20 years ago, guys are getting groceries now in 600+HP cars that are completely usable as a daily driver, yet track capable in stock form.

 

There is a certain generation that is stuck on old technology. I do agree that the newest vehicles can be a huge problem when diagnosing electrical problems, but that comes down to the engineering. I am a mechanic for a living, and even I wouldn't trade in my 2015 truck for an old, simpler vehicle. I just enjoy the features too much. Quiet ride, tons of power, great fuel economy, comfortable, handles great.

 

The hot rod generation is fading away, kids today are too busy trying to find out how they can get their hands on the next new phone, not what kind of carbs they should run on their old big block. While I do think it is a shame people aren't mechanically inclined anymore, I can also see no real reason to be interested in old vehicles.

[barry G]

there is a generation of people inbetween. My dad draws lines like that..remembering condensors and points, banging on a carb...and a big jump to today.

I was the last generation that would be driving a late 60s or early 70s at the tail end of its life in the 80s. Not even as a classic. I mean drive through the slop all year round, complain of dim lights, all the classic stuff elders suffered.

I lived it all.

 

in fact my military tour was just as dynamical. I was quickly trained on 3 different engines on the kc135. the last of dial gauges, the manual ruler for weights and balance...

right time and place apparently. The last of cold war onto the new.

 

 

40 years from now, I'd still stop for an all original 5 liter 1996 truck with a manual tranny and the xcab.

 

the last of the 305 I'd say, first of multiport obd2, and it was bigger than all the 350s.

I was not taught to open my mind...I had to. I really enjoyed building through the generations as well.

 

Today I have a last carbed subaru with the msd all digital programmable ignition.

 

the sideways engines are a tragedy, not sure who even invented the madness... sure not american by nature. I remember the first of them, like a citation, or buick skylark. Ford escorts.

Deciphering toilet paper cars from the real thing is easy.

[Jernik]

You spend 100 grand, what are you left with? Something that is still low on power, heavy, handles like crap, noisy, leaks water and air, and is inefficient....why?

I've been trying to figure out how to word this... the best explanation I can come up with is that cars today don't have any soul. Sure, they are far superior in every way that can be instrument tested and scientifically documented, but they lack whatever it is that makes the car transcend into the realm where the owner emotionally bonds with the machine.

 

I remember my dad's old 69 ford f100. 360 2bbl. She was cold blooded. Even in the middle of summer you had to choke the shit out of her and beg her to start (I can still hear exactly how it sounded in my head - that damn rhythmic whirring of the starter, just waiting for the faintest sign of any ignition). It didn't matter if it had just been tuned up or not, she just didn't like cold starts. Once you got her going for a few minutes and warmed up, she ran great! Restart as much as you want all day and she'd fire with the slightest touch of the key. But first thing in the morning? You'd have less of a fight getting a lazy teenager out of bed for school on a Saturday.

 

Actually driving it was another experience! She was so loose in the steering and front end, you floated her down the road just trying to keep between the lines! The steering wheel was just for suggesting where you might want to consider going.

 

In winter, if you cranked the heat up I swear it'd singe the hair off your leg if you put it up close to the vent. And the AC would freeze you out in summer.

 

There are other things I remember about that old truck, some good and some not so good. But these things all made it seem like it was part of the family. One who definitely wasn't a morning person, but never let you down even when she wasn't functioning at her best.

 

How will you remember your truck 25 years from now?

[ccdies]

got any pics of that 64 Malibu

[KARNUT]

I'm old enough to have had the best of both, the old ones were grate to look at but didn't drive that good in most cases. My favorite car from the time was my 70 Chevelle , my 4door Geneses is quicker.

 

 

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[waumo1]

How will you remember your truck 25 years from now?

 

I probably won't be around to remember it but if I am - it is a nice vehicle and I have no complaints to speak of but there is nothing memorable or standout about it. I guess that sums it up regarding most current vehicles. I'll remember fondly my 69 Grand Prix and I'm sure the '15 Hellcat but there is nothing memorable about several in between. So not all old vehicles are memorable and not all new ones are "soulless".

[Jernik]

 

So not all old vehicles are memorable and not all new ones are "soulless".

 

Totally agree on that point. My initial post was maybe a little too "all-encompassing" in regards to newer vehicles. Perhaps hindsight will change my opinion in 20 years, but right now it seems more cars are simply efficient "appliances" and little else. But like you say, there are still "car guys" making cars, so there are some that will be remembered fondly for sure.

[Squirrely]

It is hard to like the old cars when you look at the new ones.

 

Frankly, no matter what is done to an old car, whether it be a muscle car or not, I am never impressed. You spend 100 grand, what are you left with? Something that is still low on power, heavy, handles like crap, noisy, leaks water and air, and is inefficient....why? Today you can buy a production vehicle, street legal, like the stingray Corvette, that is 10 times the car of race cars even 20 years ago. So, what was considered impossible to own 20 years ago, guys are getting groceries now in 600+HP cars that are completely usable as a daily driver, yet track capable in stock form.

 

There is a certain generation that is stuck on old technology. I do agree that the newest vehicles can be a huge problem when diagnosing electrical problems, but that comes down to the engineering. I am a mechanic for a living, and even I wouldn't trade in my 2015 truck for an old, simpler vehicle. I just enjoy the features too much. Quiet ride, tons of power, great fuel economy, comfortable, handles great.

 

The hot rod generation is fading away, kids today are too busy trying to find out how they can get their hands on the next new phone, not what kind of carbs they should run on their old big block. While I do think it is a shame people aren't mechanically inclined anymore, I can also see no real reason to be interested in old vehicles.

 

 

I disagree with so much of this. Kids come around to the classics... it just takes time. And if I spent 100K on a car and it did anything you wrote, I'd burn down the garage of whoever built it. Even my own.

 

I have a 75 c10 with a 454 that's pushing 550hp... And I'm only 10k into it.