Originally posted by Evolution:
I think most decisions like these are based on age, technical knowledge, and then, obviously, plain ol' preference.
IMHO....muscle cars are waaaay more visceral. They are louder, more raucous, more in your face. And can definitely be more scary, if only because they are older and may not handle as well as newer cars. My contour handles better than my vette, but there's also 15 years difference in technology. Older cars are also much cheaper to go fast in. I can do an engine swap on my vette in a couple of hours and be done. I go from a stock 350ci @ 190hp to a crazy 350ci @ 450+hp. You just can't do that kind of stuff nowadays with newer cars. They are tighter, more compact, all the computer gadgetry, blah blah blah. Screw it, I wanna go fast, I want it now, and I want it as cheap as possible (not including NOS).
I just never understood dropping as much money as people do into these riceburner 4-bangers and whatnot. What have you got? A pretty car (to the owners) that has a top speed of 140 and a 1/4 mile in 14 seconds. And this is usually after double what it would cost for an old muscle car. And here's the other thing. A nice muscle car will almost always have a value greater than a modded riceburner (or domestic).
It just comes down to personal preference. What do ya see yourself driving? Are you driving for you? Or are you driving to be seen? If it's to be seen, then who are you trying to impress? Just gotta go with what ya like... I'd post a pic of my vette and my contour side-by-side, but I don't have the pics up on any site yet...but it wouldn't be hard to decide (in my head) which is the better car, both looking and performace-wise. If we were farther into summer, I'd have a vid of both my Contour and Vette running, one view from each car. No contest.
BTW, most people don't realize how inexpensive muscle cars are and how inexpensive they are to fix-up. Hell, even if it's a beater, you can drop a brand-new 400+hp V8 in it for under $4000...if power is your thing...
I'll say it again...it's ALLLLLL preference. Gotta go with what ya like yourself...
Evolution is right in most aspects but a modded old musclecar will not out sell a rice burner. A all original muscle car say for instance a corvette stingray would will out sell a honda. Hey evolution when are you going to come to IN so I can put your vette to sleep with my 5.0 hehe :p
