Past, Present & Future...

Topic: Past, Present & Future... (Read 2516 times) previous topic - next topic

Past, Present & Future...

January 29, 2007, 09:21:14 PM

Hit this:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/26/cavalier-love-gone-too-far/

Wow, right? That's a stupid decision in every sense of the word. He has passion for his car - that's fine! I have a passion for my car, too. Would I tattoo my particular car on my forearm? Uh...
I just don't understand young people. I'm only 24, but I feel like I should know more about AARP when I see these high school kids in their J-bodies. I just don't understand it! WHY? The first car I had was a Fox Cougar, and that's because I wanted the car; not because it was given to me. I developed a passion long before I owned a car. This is how I know it's possible to be different from the beginning.
I would love to walk up to a Cavalier/Sunfire enthusiast and say, "Dude. You're taking a common econobox, installing taillights and a body kit, and fitting in with the rest of the people your age. Do something unique; think for yourself."
I would never say that, of course. I'll wait for it to fizzle out.

I think this is a good example of how we differ from the other enthusiasts. For example, the Mustang guys can be ostracized from our group because they tend to do the same things - clear corners, Cobra R wheels, etc.
The sport compact guys differ in many ways, but I won't get into that. I think everybody here has a decent bead on the automotive aftermarket world.

So... here we are. How do you feel about the Fox Thunderbird/Cougar?

To be honest, I've never been as proud as I am now to be a part of this group. I'm on my fourth Cougar (third Fox) since 1998, and it continues to grow. I'm always thinking of new things to do with the car.
Just a few weeks ago I pulled up to the front glass windows at the local Auto Zone (I'm sure everybody here does it) and went inside. As I was floating around the gauge section, I overheard one of the employees say, "Look at that old Cougar. You don't see those too often. He's got an old turbo hood on it, too."
I was swelling with pride, but I played it cool. I think I said something like, "Yeah, it's not bad. It's a factory turbo-4 5-speed car, too."
Maybe I didn't play it cool...
In any event, the parking lot was full of FWD compact cars with Euro-style taillights. I swear to God, more than 50% of the cars in the parking lot fit that description.
This is exactly why I created this thread. Are we that unique? I mean, I see Fox Mustangs around here, but most are V6 cars with aftermarket tacked onto them; as if the owner received a $50 Auto Zone gift card for Christmas and blew the whole thing in the Import aisle. It's astonishing how people customize their cars these days. It's all in poor taste if you ask me. Chrome tint, chrome wheel covers, any aftermarket taillights, clear corners, most ground effects, spoilers, decals, painted dash panels, projector headlights, etc. It's all over-cooked and spreading like a rash.

I see a LOT of this stuff over on the MN12 message forums, which has pushed me to the stage of avoidance. I actually avoid associating myself with some of those guys! I've seen some very tasteless things done to the MN12 Thunderbird/Cougar. There are guys who will blow $80 on a pair of clear corners to match up with their yellowed stock headlights. Congratulations - you just made your car look 100% worse. I always think of the mentality behind it, too. "Look, guys! I finally got a set of clear corners! I'll be turning some heads now!"
Perhaps I'm narrow-minded because of my age, but I just can't get over it. It seems as if 80% of the "custom" cars in my city are cookie-cutter FWD econoboxes. 19% are jacked-up redneck trucks. The 1% is my two Cougars (yeah, the city is that small).
I can't explain the pride and individuality my '86 XR-7 gives me. There hasn't been one second where I wasn't proud to drive that car. It's literally one-of-a-kind in my area.
I love spooling up the turbo and shifting next to Mustangs and DSMs. The look on their face says, "Dude... they put turbos in those things?"
I'm not saying the '86 is a fast car, but it's rare and it's all mine. That means a lot to me.

Chime in here, folks. Am I too narrow-minded? I need some outside opinions. How do you feel about our cars, and how do you feel about the other cars?

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #1 – January 29, 2007, 09:40:17 PM

im going that route but im getting the mustang horse with the red white and blue stripe on my chest. and eventually the running horse across my shoulder. im a mustang nut, plain and simple.

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #2 – January 29, 2007, 09:47:19 PM

Well, it's on his body, not mine. Thats all that matter to me

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #3 – January 29, 2007, 09:59:35 PM

There is something to be said about not seeing yourself coming down the road. Personally, I've always had a preference for what the other guy wasn't driving, and the cars I did purchase were because I wanted them. True, some of them found me, but I bought them because I wanted them. Take the 3 cars I have now. In 1980, I bought the '69 Firebird because 1. Everyone had either a Camaro or a Mustang, & 2. It hauled ass and was different. I bought my 280ZX to get into autocross on the cheap.It's the only one at the track. Like your '86 Cougar, it turns heads, 'cause no one sees them anymore. And man, do I feel great driving around town, getting thumbs up from the guys & gals in the 350Z's and spanking a few Miatas and the occasional Porshe at the track. Now the T-Bird, well I've known this car all it's life since my grandparents bought it. I am very proud and honored to have it. It may look like an old guy's car with its whitewall tires, but it is in great shape for a 24 year old car and it does not look like every other Pimp my ride" _________ (fill in the blank - Neon, Honda, Sentra, Cavalier, etc.) When I get done with it, my T-Bird it may still look like an old guy's car, but it won't take much to wake up that sleep 302 under the hood.

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #4 – January 29, 2007, 10:03:43 PM

I agree with you. There isn't much left to be done to many mainstream cars anymore. Do you know how many black GTs with tinted windows and luvers I've seen in town?

People who put the body kits on cars and think it shaves of time in the quarter mile make me smile. Heck, try to explain to a kid with an erector set on his Honda that it doesn't help much unless he is speeding on the highway.

I don't want much from by car in looks. As long as the body looks good (which I need to get on), I'm fine. I've had people call it names from a grandpa car to a boat. All I have to do is take them for a spin, and now they want one of their own. Others say not to put more money in it than it's worth, but by who's standards? I have a $1800 dent in the side of the car. Am I going to bail? No way! All I need is a new door, hammers, and a bunch of bondo and I'll give it a shot. The car is mine, and I'm too stubborn to give it up.

I'm not putting down other cars. If you like it, then go with it, but just remeber what I say to people who ask me about buying and building Mustangs: "Don't expect to be the first with a new idea." I like the Fox Bird because it is overlooked, but I do want to get a Mustang someday. Heck, wouldn't mind screwing around with a Chevy (flog me later).

I guess what I'm getting at is if you like something, go for it, but in this case, I think the guy can be legally considered incompetant.:D

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #5 – January 29, 2007, 10:04:23 PM

Quote from: cougarcragar;126508

I mean, I see Fox Mustangs around here, but most are V6 cars with aftermarket tacked onto them; as if the owner received a $50 Auto Zone gift card for Christmas and blew the whole thing in the Import aisle. It's astonishing how people customize their cars these days. It's all in poor taste if you ask me. Chrome tint, chrome wheel covers, any aftermarket taillights, clear corners, most ground effects, spoilers, decals, painted dash panels, projector headlights, etc. It's all over-cooked and spreading like a rash.

My friend refers to those cars as being "all Wal-Marted up"

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #6 – January 29, 2007, 10:17:09 PM

I just call it "riced" or "Uncle Bens"

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #7 – January 29, 2007, 10:29:06 PM

my all time fav is "is that a swarm of bees?" stupid ridiculous exhausts
and i know mustangs are around, but miens a 66 how many 351w powered 66's do you see? its gonna turn heads for sure, especially with the cutouts its getting, o baby its gonna be LOUD, any one wanna race new england drag strip in a few years, ill hand ya ass to u :flip:

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #8 – January 29, 2007, 10:37:28 PM

I am building my cougar for just that reason, cuzz there aren't many here. I do want a mustang but the first gen.

I also like my ranger, it is like all the rest but it is still different, It is boxy and just looks good.

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #9 – January 29, 2007, 10:42:31 PM

Back in 1987 after I got my first car ('84 V6) I was really upset. Here was this beautiful car and I couldn't find a ed thing for it, save for headlight covers, the front end bra, and a ground effects kit. At the same time, there were a lot more items available for other cars. That angered me severely, because my car was a hell of a lot more deserving of aftermarket parts than 95% of the boxes that were available in the late 1980's. I think the disappointment with the JC Whitney and Sears and JC Penney catalogs was what shaped me. They told me that, indeed, I would be on my own if I wanted something unique for my car. Yeah, I bought the bra, the headlight covers, the ground effects. And I liked them. But for many years I felt nothing but resentment.

And now I look back, and thank God that there was nothing else available for my car. Because then it would have been tacky. I would not have known, more than likely, where to stop because I was young and couldn't see too far into the future.

That's the problem with most customized cars.

Just because some company makes a custom part for your car doesn't mean you have to put it on your car.

But people still do. I think some just get obsessed with customization. I'm all for making your car unique, don't get me wrong. It's just that somewhere along the line, these clowns lose sight of tastefulness. And when they do it becomes painfully obvious to everyone else. Which makes for entertaining conversation, of course.

It's not just limited to the young, though...I've seen older guys junk up cars too. You know what I'm talking about. The ones with enough pinstriping for half a dozen cars on their single ride. The ones who install fender flares--bought or custom made--on a car that never had them from the factory. When they start using words like "all the gingerbread", "cream puff", and my personal favorite, "fancy", to describe their car...then you know how mentally unstable they really are. The sad part is that they think it's cool, nobody else does, and when they die, what USED to be a perfectly good car will end up getting parted or junked because ain't nobody else gonna love that foo' again.

But you know...that's what makes America what it is. It takes all kinds. Right or wrong, tasteful or tacky. You just gotta shake your head and laugh sometimes.

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #10 – January 29, 2007, 10:50:41 PM

there might not have been anything then eric but man i love your car its so different, can uve got such a nice car, and xr7cat, i love my first gen mustang, man when i turn that key, and the 351 rumbles to life theres no feeling like it, not to mention roasting the tires through first and second. I love it to death, and plan on taking to the grave with me, it may just be another mustang, but its MINE and no one else can have it!!, nvm drive it.

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #11 – January 29, 2007, 10:53:52 PM

Quote from: cougarcragar;126508

Chime in here, folks. Am I too narrow-minded? I need some outside opinions. How do you feel about our cars, and how do you feel about the other cars?

Seriously though, even though I don't like all that stuff, I need to catch myself because we in the fox Cougar community are often subjects of the same type of criticism. I think we got some of it on UTube the other year with the Cat Jam videos and I hear it occasionally at work. I like a lot of different cars out there (with the Cougar at #1) and can look past my Cougar world to appreciate other cars. I find it odd though how some self-acclaimed "car people" have or like only one type of car and talk trash about anything that isn't the same as what they have. If it isn't a Mustang, then it's junk, or if it isn't a Corvette, Camaro, or Z then it's junk. These aren't car people, they are Mustang people or (place car model here)_________ people. (Zach, this is not directed at you, your thread just brought these thoughts to mind.)

Quote from: cougarcragar;126508

So... here we are. How do you feel about the Fox Thunderbird/Cougar?

I also agree that these cats aren't as common or frequently sighted as other types of cars. Hell, I have seen less than 10 83-88 XR-7s on the road in the past five years. However, I would like these cars no matter how common, how rare, popular, unpopular, or whatever logo is on the sill plate. The unpopularity is an added bonus.
The Turbo Coupes however, get a much warmer welcome and have a greater following. Look at how many 87 TCs were at Carlisle vs how many 83-88 Cougars. I often think those cars validate the Cougar. If it wasn't for the TC, the Cougar would be completely ostracized.

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #12 – January 29, 2007, 11:02:05 PM

"Past, present, and future"

i keep wondering where things will go. how long the whole "fake hot-rod" scene will last, and what the next big thing will be...

better call up Hollywood and tell em to make a movie about us! THEN all the posers will suddenly see the light!

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #13 – January 29, 2007, 11:06:22 PM

That tatoo is funny. Why do people do stupid sh't like that. A guy I know that has a Trailblazer SS and before that had a Silverado SS, has a big baby blue and white tatoo on the back of his calf. It reads "SS", soo stupid. Just because in the past year and a half he's had two SS trucks he's Mr. SS. He is 25 years old and has never owned many Chevrolets. Before these trucks he was always all about Toyota, had several of them. Toyota's and Firebirds, 1970's p.o.s. Firebirds. But now that he owe's the bank twice what his Corvette/mini van is worth, it's a good enough reason to put this on the back of his leg. Idiot.

Past, Present & Future...

Reply #14 – January 29, 2007, 11:12:48 PM

by comparrison to what eric said,, i also remember that frustration as well and my first car was an 84v6 burgandy coug.

I remember waiting for years to even see the full length window vent visor available.