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I had a buddy in high school who was about the only non farmer friends I knew. Rich as we considered in the area.  He bought (grandmas money) a 1984 Mustang 5.0.

Polished it.  Babied it.

Never opened it up.

I flat out challenged him to drag vs. my 1984 VW Rabbit.

Only time I saw him drop the hammer on that fucker other than to use it as a status symbol.

Wasn't much of a friend to be honest but he felt good about dusting a fucking VW Rabbit.

Funny thing is I low torqued him off the starting line.  Then I saw the smoke.

Last edited by Henry

My dad plopped me on a Ford 9N tractor when I was 8. I had to stand up to work the clutch and brakes. I've had a few stick shift vehicles in my past. We don't have any now, but my son bought himself a red Corvette convertible last year. I keep forgetting the exact year, but it's a stick. He lets me drive it. "Like riding a bike..." My first car was a '66 Mustang convertible. That guy who wrecked his Ford GT should be forced to drive a '75 Vega for the rest of his life.

My grandfather had an old 60s Ford pickup truck on their farm and I recall the first time entering the vehicle and seeing the 3 pedals and was like WTF. 3 on the tree moment lol.

Most cars I’ve had were manual transmission.  Newer vehicles are almost exclusively automatic transmissions.  Quite frankly, they are better and more reliable.  

As for dum dum stories, I had a buddy that jazzed up his VW Rabbit and dropped a 2.0L into that thing along with downpipe and exhaust and all the other goodies and he would routinely lay waste to late 80s and 90s 5.0L Mustangs despite their owners talking shit. Given how light those cars were (MK1) it didn’t take much to make them really fast.  I had a  MK2 GTI 16V that I souped up and that thing was pretty damn fast as well.  

My MK7.5 GTI is a bit heavier but the concept is the same.  It’s all about power to weight ratio.   With the mods I’ve made I can easily run with a number of so called faster cars because it’s basically a 3,000 lb car.  A lot of newer vehicles might pack a lot of punch, but they are carrying a lot more weight (ie 4,000-4,500 lbs)

Last edited by Tschmack

In the early 80's my older brother used to take me to golden sands speedway a couple times a summer to see some racing.  Friday night was spectator night and they had spectator racing.  It was two cars on the oval, usually modified muscle cars. One guy had dropped two bigger bore snowmobile engines in a hollowed out chevette and won that season's championship.  No peeling just really steep powerband.  It was hilarious.

I learned manual shifting on mini bikes before getting behind the wheel for the first time so I already had the timing down.

Awesome!  The first car I legally drove was a 1969 Charger with a 383 mag in it.  All original, all numbers matching car from AZ that my dad found in the classifieds back in 1985 for $1700!  It was sun faded a bit but otherwise spotless.  I had an older sister who started driving it to school and got into trouble drag racing.  So my dad took the mag out and put in a 318, which is what it had when I started driving it.  Thanks, sis.

It’s crazy the fastest muscle cars of the late 60s and early 70s would be no match for a lot of 4 and 6 cylinder cars today.  

My car is a 4 banger turbo and yes I’ve done work to it but it’s easily pushing 350HP at the wheels and 400 ft lb of torque.  If I swapped out the turbo and went E85 fuel it’s close to 500HP or basically a 3.5 second 0-60 11-12 second quarter mile car.  

Electric cars have a huge upside given power transfer (no loss).

Crazy

I learned how to drive a stick the hard way. Was working for the parks department one summer. All their vehicles were Jeeps. Supervisor asked if I could run back to the shop to pick up some supplies.

Sure!

You know how to drive a stick?

Yeah!

First few block were rough. By the time I got back I had it down pretty good. Might have taken a few K miles off the gears and/or clutch tho.

@PackerHawk posted:

I learned how to drive a stick the hard way. Was working for the parks department one summer. All their vehicles were Jeeps. Supervisor asked if I could run back to the shop to pick up some supplies.

Sure!

You know how to drive a stick?

Yeah!

First few block were rough. By the time I got back I had it down pretty good. Might have taken a few K miles off the gears and/or clutch tho.

You weren't tipping garbage cans over and dumping them all over a golf course. You had it easy!

@Tschmack posted:

It’s crazy the fastest muscle cars of the late 60s and early 70s would be no match for a lot of 4 and 6 cylinder cars today.  

My car is a 4 banger turbo and yes I’ve done work to it but it’s easily pushing 350HP at the wheels and 400 ft lb of torque.  If I swapped out the turbo and went E85 fuel it’s close to 500HP or basically a 3.5 second 0-60 11-12 second quarter mile car.  

Electric cars have a huge upside given power transfer (no loss).

Crazy

Sure.  But we're talking about when we learned to drive stick.  Unless you had access to an exotic, american muscle ruled.  Comparing modern cars to 60's vintage is more a matter of style and driver experience than performance.  There is a rawness to driving a 60 year old big block that isn't there in today's cars unless you're driving a super car or even a Viper, though those are also very refined in comparison.  I've driven late model twins, euro and domestic turbos and superchargers.  As much of a kick in the pants they give you and can corner on a rail, it's just not the same as 440 or 454.  No anti-lock breaks or traction control.  Just leaf springs and shocks.   It's digital vs analog. 

I also learned to drive stick shift vehicles.  For most of my life my vehicles were manual transmission.  Along with tractors and other motorized vehicles I’ve operated.

My father owned a number of muscle cars.  67 Mustang fastback, 68 Firebird 400, and Javelin SST (perhaps my favorite).

I still think the first generation Camaro is one of the coolest, most iconic vehicles ever produced.

Still, it took some effort and patience to drive those types of cars.  The tires and suspension were garbage.  Brakes (for most of them) were mediocre at best.   Bottom line, all gas no brakes summed up those cars pretty well.

Yet the vehicle of today are faster, handle better, and are simply more reliable.   Doesn’t mean I don’t like muscle cars, but in terms of comparisons (performance) there aren’t many worthwhile.  The fastest Camaro or Mustang or Challenger of yesteryear would be overwhelmed by their modern versions.

Last edited by Tschmack

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