Gibson vs. Dean update

Pilgrim · August 02, 2022, 06:13:53 PM

Perhaps the term is "gauche."

I confess that I find some pickups and blinged vehicles to fall in that category. The pickups flying multiple US and/or Confederate flags personify that category.

Gauche - adjective

Lacking grace or social polish; awkward or tactless.
Awkward or lacking in social graces; bumbling.

BTL · August 02, 2022, 07:10:05 PM

The Dean verdict was not the result many expected, but this is the next logical progression of that decision. We live in interesting times.

lowend1 · August 03, 2022, 07:58:07 PM

Quote from: uwe on August 02, 2022, 05:41:59 PM
I unfortunately have to confirm that in Europe American muscle and sports cars, oversized SUVs and - worst of all - pick-up trucks do not have the best image, sigh ... People will generally assume that you are either (i) a pimp, (ii) a drug dealer/organised crime person or (iii) a gym/body building shop owner, fresh out of his most recent insolvency proceeding.

But there are exceptions: My little brother (a car mechanic and enthusiast) drives a Dodge Challenger (and before that a Ford Mustang, he says the Mustang was more sporty, the Challenger, even though double the horsepower really isn't agile), he used to own Jeep Wranglers as well, one of my favorite law professors had a 70ies Corvette (never a good car with the undercarriage issues on European roads, but it sure looked the part) which in academia was unheard of and one of my tax partners kept in the Noughties a yellow customized Corvette which - legend has it - "preyed on unsuspecting Porsches". But for the most part, American cars are deemed a little, how shall I put this, loud? Or as a buddy of mine put it when we first laid eyes on a Dodge Viper: "If Pamela Anderson was a car, this is what she would look like." (Pam must have thought the same as she would soon after own one herself.)

The good news: Once American cars reach a certain age, a couple of decades, it's socially acceptable to like, protect and collect them! The wife of a friend had a 50ies Thunderbird Roadster Convertible, it would always draw spectators fawning on it, it just wasn't very reliable to get from A to B!

And people just love my Harley-Davidson! I get compliments all the time.

Well I can't argue that there some absolutely reprehensible car/truck fads that have taken hold in the US - The "Carolina Squat" pickups, excessively large diameter wheels, pointless "stancing" and exhaust that is loud simply for the sake of being loud (I love the rumble of a healthy V8, but a 4 or 6 cylinder engine with low-restriction exhaust always sounds like a crop duster to me). I am heartened that your brother drives a Challenger - I have one sitting in my own driveway. It's a big car, and fun to drive when I can find an unobstructed winding road, but the distinction between being a sports car and a "sporty" car is apparent. They stick in the corners, but are not what I would consider nimble - and I'm fine with that. I like bulky vehicles. Unfortunately, many of the big US cars from the 60s and 70s (that didn't wind up in crusher early on) are relegated to demolition derby use. A lot of the nicer ones seem to be finding their way to Sweden or somewhere else in that geographical area.

gearHed289 · August 04, 2022, 09:33:50 AM

Quote from: lowend1 on August 03, 2022, 07:58:07 PM
Well I can't argue that there some absolutely reprehensible car/truck fads that have taken hold in the US - The "Carolina Squat" pickups, excessively large diameter wheels, pointless "stancing" and exhaust that is loud simply for the sake of being loud (I love the rumble of a healthy V8, but a 4 or 6 cylinder engine with low-restriction exhaust always sounds like a crop duster to me). I am heartened that your brother drives a Challenger - I have one sitting in my own driveway. It's a big car, and fun to drive when I can find an unobstructed winding road, but the distinction between being a sports car and a "sporty" car is apparent. They stick in the corners, but are not what I would consider nimble - and I'm fine with that. I like bulky vehicles. Unfortunately, many of the big US cars from the 60s and 70s (that didn't wind up in crusher early on) are relegated to demolition derby use. A lot of the nicer ones seem to be finding their way to Sweden or somewhere else in that geographical area.

I always get a chuckle out of the V6 guys with aftermarket exhausts. So, now it sounds like.... a V6 with aftermarket exhaust! OTOH, probably 75% of the time I think I hear a muscle car, it turns out to be a pickup truck.

My Mustang goes from a nice low-end rumble to WWII fighter plane at the tap of the accelerator, and it still gives me a stupid smile.

Handles like a slot car too with some suspension mods. There are much more powerful cars out there, but all the horsepower in the world won't help you take corners the way I like to.

lowend1 · August 07, 2022, 10:16:27 PM

Quote from: gearHed289 on August 04, 2022, 09:33:50 AM
I always get a chuckle out of the V6 guys with aftermarket exhausts. So, now it sounds like.... a V6 with aftermarket exhaust!

With the right exhaust, even stock V8s (especially old ones) will put a smile on your face. There is an unexplainable infatuation among some V6ers with spending tons of money to try and get V8 level performance and sound out of them. It's not the idea that puzzles me, it's the economics of the endeavor. Dropping >$6k to add a Ripp supercharger (not counting all the other stuff that goes along with it) is hardly in the true spirit of hot rodding, which was to go faster on a budget, and generally pointless unless you're taking the car to the track. I have a V6 Challenger - it's 305hp, and has the Super Track Pak option - which is basically all the handling goodies that they offered from the factory. That's more than enough for the area I live in, with its ridiculous population density. I still have my old V8 as well and I'm generally satisfied - who am I trying to impress, anyhow?

Pilgrim · August 08, 2022, 07:30:05 PM

When GM started installing V6 engines in Camaros and Firebirds, I was amazed at how completely WRONG they were with the exhaust tuning. Every one I heard sounded like a machine generating wimpy farts.

Couldn't ANYONE at GM think about tuning the stock exhausts so they sounded decent??? Ford didn't make that mistake with the Mustangs.

That's just another example of how thoroughly GM became clueless after the 70's. I was a GTO owner and drove some Chevys I really liked. But from 1980 on I can't think of a GM passenger car I found attractive other than the Corvette. TO my great disappointment, I thought the short-lived GTO replacement looked indistinguishable from a Chevy Cavalier.

I once checked a Pontiac 6000 series wagon out of the motor pool at Texas A&M and in less than 60 seconds I discovered that the entire instrument panel was hidden by blinding reflection from the dash below it, the oversized column mounted gearshift handle blocked my view of the radio so I had to bend over to the center of the car to see it, and when I popped the glove box, I found the door's lock was so large that it prevented me from getting a hand into the glove box without sliding over to the passenger side of the car. Disgusting, and every bit should have been caught before production.