Old Muscle Cars vs. New Muscle Cars

[SamSS]

Whenever someone's talking about muscle cars, everyone thinks about the ones from the 60's and 70's. I don't have anything against that. I think those were the "real" muscle cars too.
I wanna know what the people with those older 10 second muscle cars actually think of the people with the newer muscle cars. I know I'm gonna be tons of mods to my 2010 SS in the near future. Would you say we belong in the same group? What is your mind set?

[SlingShot]

Back in the old days, the only big difference I see is the attitude of the owners. Today you have "Fanboys" back then it was more just "Car Guys" , it didn't matter what type of car you drove as long as it looked cool and was fast.

[SamSS]

Originally Posted by SlingShot

Back in the old days, the only big difference I see is the attitude of the owners. Today you have "Fanboys" back then it was more just "Car Guys" , it didn't matter what type of car you drove as long as it looked cool and was fast.

Well I gotta say I used to be one of those "fanboys" but then I realized a while ago what you said is true. It shouldn't matter whether it's a Ford, or a Chevy, or even an import as long as it's fast and looks cool.

[DkknightX]

Originally Posted by SamSS

Whenever someone's talking about muscle cars, everyone thinks about the ones from the 60's and 70's. I don't have anything against that. I think those were the "real" muscle cars too.
I wanna know what the people with those older 10 second muscle cars actually think of the people with the newer muscle cars. I know I'm gonna be tons of mods to my 2010 SS in the near future. Would you say we belong in the same group? What is your mind set?

Muscle cars were built to be affordable. Power was at the center of muscle cars back in the 60's and 70's. Performance, handling, suspension, all was an afterthought at that time. Today, muscle cars are all about finesse, performance, and refinement. My gripe with today's cars is the sheer amount of computer controlled parts. I find it annoying that all these sensors and everything can trip at a moment's notice for doing virtually nothing and they are a pain in the ass to reset. Examples:

- I think the muscle cars of yesteryear were simple, easy to upgrade, even for casual drivers/owners. Didn't have to worry about calibrations, and all these transmission sensors in auto transmissions like you do in modern cars. This was probably the sole reason I will never own an automatic transmission anymore. One sensor trip and it's right to AAMCO for a $2000.00 job just to lift the transmission out to get to the bad sensor so it would STOP tripping the "Check Engine" light. Done with that crap.

- I hate the idea of trying to mod my vehicle and if you don't "tune" things exactly, the car's computer gets all flustered and puts out all this crap about error reports, etc. If I owned a '68 Camaro, I'd never have to worry about problems replacing tires or adding a supercharger. All these car companies want to reaffirm that they have elements of control on you by creating "sensitive" computers to error out so that you are either dissuaded from modding your car or you have to pay THEM to do it. Unless you are a gearhead, an average car guy like me would find all of this nonsense a waste of time and money.

Give me an old muscle car to mod, but unfortunately if you want refinement, power and finesse of modern muscle cars, you'll have to deal with a lot of crap. At least I've experienced this.

[SamSS]

Oh man, I agree with everything you said DkknightX. If I only could get my hands on one of those old muscle cars...

[SlingShot]

Originally Posted by DkknightX

Muscle cars were built to be affordable. Power was at the center of muscle cars back in the 60's and 70's. Performance, handling, suspension, all was an afterthought at that time. Today, muscle cars are all about finesse, performance, and refinement. My gripe with today's cars is the sheer amount of computer controlled parts. I find it annoying that all these sensors and everything can trip at a moment's notice for doing virtually nothing and they are a pain in the ass to reset. Examples:

- I think the muscle cars of yesteryear were simple, easy to upgrade, even for casual drivers/owners. Didn't have to worry about calibrations, and all these transmission sensors in auto transmissions like you do in modern cars. This was probably the sole reason I will never own an automatic transmission anymore. One sensor trip and it's right to AAMCO for a $2000.00 job just to lift the transmission out to get to the bad sensor so it would STOP tripping the "Check Engine" light. Done with that crap.

- I hate the idea of trying to mod my vehicle and if you don't "tune" things exactly, the car's computer gets all flustered and puts out all this crap about error reports, etc. If I owned a '68 Camaro, I'd never have to worry about problems replacing tires or adding a supercharger. All these car companies want to reaffirm that they have elements of control on you by creating "sensitive" computers to error out so that you are either dissuaded from modding your car or you have to pay THEM to do it. Unless you are a gearhead, an average car guy like me would find all of this nonsense a waste of time and money.

Give me an old muscle car to mod, but unfortunately if you want refinement, power and finesse of modern muscle cars, you'll have to deal with a lot of crap. At least I've experienced this.

Times change, old guys back in the 60's and 70's use to say the same thing about the cars of their time period. They hated the new fangled stuff they were seeing. As technology changes, so do the products it's used in. Remember back in the 60's there weren't any electronics, they didn't start coming into play until the mid to late 70's ...

[04Ram2500Hemi]

I remember my cousin was given a 68 Mustang when he was out of high school (his step dad built it for him). It was a fun car, and seemed pretty fast off the line. However, there wasn't much else to it (other than the $3,000 sterio my cousin put in it). It was a really fun car, but I always liked getting in my full size Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer Eddition at the end of the day because it was more comfortable.

I do however, look forward to driving my very first muscle car when it arrives. Sure it's the modern version, but is there really anything wrong with heated leather seats?

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by SlingShot

Back in the old days, the only big difference I see is the attitude of the owners. Today you have "Fanboys" back then it was more just "Car Guys" , it didn't matter what type of car you drove as long as it looked cool and was fast.

Originally Posted by SlingShot

Times change, old guys back in the 60's and 70's use to say the same thing about the cars of their time period. They hated the new fangled stuff they were seeing. As technology changes, so do the products it's used in. Remember back in the 60's there weren't any electronics, they didn't start coming into play until the mid to late 70's ...

SlingShot, you "hit the nail on the head" I feel the same way. the technology we have now is why we have a little v6, out of the box making 304 hp, "Back in the Day" if you had a little v6, it was gramma's grocery getter, and small blocks didn't make 426 hp from the factory either. Times have changed, and for teh better too. but we old timers do pine for "the good old days".

[2010 SSRS]

I have a 71RS, 88 IROC with a 502BB and my 2010 Camaro, I love them all.

[2010SSRS]

i sold my 72' Chevelle project so my wife could have this Camaro. i love the car too, don't get me wrong.......but i'd rather have my Chevelle.

as far as the folks who are buying these Camaros.........even in the forums you can tell who the gearheads vs. fanboys are. to each there own, but i find it repulsive (my opinion) to put 24" wheels on it. guess i'm in it because of the 67', 73, 80, and 84 Camaro's i've had........Camaro = performance muscle.........not a "unique whip".

one thing i will say, is that an LS3 driveline in a Chevelle might be a future project down the road!

[ron10]

OH,THE OLD DAYS.I REMEMBER THEM WELL.(boy am i going to tell my age).I WILL TELL YOU ,THE CARS OF TODAY WILL RUN CIRCLES AROUND THE MUSCLE CARS OF THE 50s,60s,70s AND 80S.YOU CAN TAKE A BONE STOCK 2010 V6 CAMARO AND OUT RUN ABOUT ANY OF THE OLD CARS.REMEMBER BACK THEN,IF YOU HAD A 14 SECOND CAR,YOU HAD A BAD MACHINE.A CAR NOW,WITH LESS CUBIC INCHES AND LESS HORSE POWER WILL BE FASTER THAN ONE OF THE OLD BIG BLOCKS.(yes it's true.)A LOT OF YOU OUT THERE COMLAIN ABOUT YOUR ON BOARD COMPUTERS HAVING TO RE-TUNE THEM,BUT THEY ARE THE REASON THE CARS RUN AS GOOD AS THEY DO.IN 1957 CHEVY CAME OUT WITH THE FUEL INJECTED ENGINE.WE ALL WENT NUTS.IT WOULD RUN,BUT WITH A SEASON OR TEMPERATURE CHANGE THE FUEL INJECTION WOULD NOT WORK,.EVERYONE WAS TAKING THEM OFF AND REPLACING THEM WITH A 4 BARREL.WITH THE INVENT OF THE COMPUTER WITH ALL THE SENSORS,EVERY THING HAS CHANGED.I COULD GO ON AND ON,BUT I WILL STOP HERE.TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION.THE CARS OF TODAY ARE MUCH BETTER THAN THE OLD MUSCLE CARS.THE CARS OF TOMORROW WILL BE MUCH BETTER AND FASTER THAN THE CARS OF TODAY.

[Drew10]

Originally Posted by SlingShot

Back in the old days, the only big difference I see is the attitude of the owners. Today you have "Fanboys" back then it was more just "Car Guys" , it didn't matter what type of car you drove as long as it looked cool and was fast.

Exactly, and thats not just Camaro owners. I see the "fanboy" attitude on the Mustang, and Challenger forums also. I think for the most part, a majority of us appreciate any muscle car no matter what the brand.

[myold88]

Check out Jay Leno's web site. (jay Leno Garage). He talkes about old muscle vs new all the time when compairing his cars with the new ones. He has done a review of the new Camaro as well.
It's my second favorite site. www.jaylenosgarage.com

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by SamSS

Well I gotta say I used to be one of those "fanboys" but then I realized a while ago what you said is true. It shouldn't matter whether it's a Ford, or a Chevy, or even an import as long as it's fast and looks cool.

Don't start with the crazy talk!!!!