Quote:
Originally Posted by olrocker
What I want to know is, what happened to all the guys from my generation who grew up in the 80s and 90s with what was a resurgence in the muscle/performance car segment?
I'm 46. As a car buff I know that the period from 1973-86 or so, the Malaise era, performance and pretty much everything went downhill due to the emission and fuel economy regulations that choked out and nearly killed the original muscle and performance cars of the 60s and 70s.
I remember then, as computers and emission and fuel economy could improve with power and performance, the engines getting bigger and better after '86 to reach the pre'73 levels of performance, and then surpass them in the 90s.
All the while my friends and I were all going "man I can't WAIT to get old enough to afford one of these!!!"
Not just the Camaro and TransAm, Ford had the Mustang, Thunderbird, and Cougar which could all be built to be performance or sport coupes. And then before bankruptcy GM had the GTO and G8, and the Cadillac V-series. I figured these cars would always be there because not only me but every cool guy I knew my age wanted one. It was like our Dad's generation all over again.
Did all of a sudden everyone but me decide they just want a boring SUV for life after 40? I ain't dead yet!
|
I'm 60. I grew up lusting after fast cars and fast motorcycles. Over the years I've owned a bunch, starting with a 69 GTO and ending up with my current Camaro. In between were a twin turbo RX7, WRX STi, MR2 (still have that one)
and several very quick motorcycles. Looking back, even as a big time enthusiast, I've still owned more non-performance vehicles than performance vehicles.
I think that's just a function of differing needs as we get older. I couldn't haul the wife and 5 kids around in any of the performance vehicles I've owned, so there has very often been a people hauler in the picture as well. Accords, Element, a Corolla station wagon (yuck), a Sienna (double yuck), a few trucks. Practical, but very little fun.
Face it, we're moving to a place as a society where many people will be stretched to the limit just to have a single car, let alone one car for amusement and a separate car for practical needs. Performance cars will increasingly be toys for the very well off.