Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

It's not just imports. Anything performance oriented from that era has gone up in value.
 
Ooohhh. Good one! I remember spending a long time with TD2 on my grandpa's computer.


I spent soooooo much time at home and at school on that game.

Though my first love in car video games was Outrun followed by Vette! and then Atari's Hard Drivin' simulator.
 
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It's not just imports. Anything performance oriented from that era has gone up in value.

Yes, but not like the hot imports of the day. Mustang GTs of that era haven't had their price go anywhere except maybe down, for example. Most likely because unlike the imports - especially in the 90s when the yen's rise against the dollar made a lot of Japanese machinery financial unobtanium for most people - pretty much everyone who was of legal age at the time could probably afford a Mustang. A vehicle's inability to be purchased when the now older buyer was younger and therefore was forbidden fruit is what drives demand and value in the collector market.
 
I understand what you're saying, but Fox Mustang prices have definitely gone up in price here. It's not the insanity that we're seeing with the MK4 Supra, but cars that would have been listed at around 3 grand 9-10 years ago are now listed for 5 or more. Nicer examples of a GT or LX 5.0 hatchback/convertible are being listed for over ten grand.. It used to be that the only way you'd spend that kind of money was for a seriously modified car or a 93 Cobra/Cobra R.

For example...

https://spacecoast.craigslist.org/cto/d/palm-bay-1987-mustang-gt-foxbody-302/6913928491.html
https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/cto/d/saint-petersburg-1989-ford-mustang-gt/6904861829.html
https://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/ctd/d/tampa-1988-ford-mustang-lx-50l/6915466382.html
https://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/d/cocoa-1987-mustang-gt-convertible-78k/6898832679.html
 
I understand what you're saying, but Fox Mustang prices have definitely gone up in price here. It's not the insanity that we're seeing with the MK4 Supra, but cars that would have been listed at around 3 grand 9-10 years ago are now listed for 5 or more. Nicer examples of a GT or LX 5.0 hatchback/convertible are being listed for over ten grand.. It used to be that the only way you'd spend that kind of money was for a seriously modified car or a 93 Cobra/Cobra R.

I think that's a regional variation. Around here the prices for a Fox have been pretty static for the last decade or so. $5-10K will net you a nice original late Fox GT 5.0 and mostly they're towards the lower end of that scale. Oddly (for the collector market), the modified ones tend to go for more around here.
 
I remember seeing around my Mustang groups that Fox Bodies are slowly creeping up in price, they are basically the new 240s. Stuff like Cobra R or the Terminators have risen in price but then they are special editions so makes sense.
 
I love the excuses the Saabist makes to try to make them seem better than the Panhard that kicked their arse.

Things never change. Fans will always argue and find excuses for their favorite teams. Though I do agree with you that in this case, the Saab entries were a little bit silly.
 
Things never change. Fans will always argue and find excuses for their favorite teams. Though I do agree with you that in this case, the Saab entries were a little bit silly.

Nah, race everything. Have fun with whatever you have.
 
Nah, race everything. Have fun with whatever you have.

No less a person than Stirling Moss was complaining that the Saabs were ruining the race for everyone else because they clogged the track at critical junctures. Not cool to ruin everyone else's day on the track because you want to race your outclassed glacially slow garbage bin, not to mention that vehicles that are too slow are safety hazards.
 
First of all, what Spectre said. You can race whatever you want, but in a venue where it is safe to do so. Having now seen Le Mans in person, even today's LMP vs GT speed delta is insane. As much as I would love to see Mustangs at Le Mans, I would not advocate anyone try to enter a GT4 car into the same race as an LMP1 car.

Secondly, sure, race a terrible V4 Saab if you just want to have fun, I have no problem with that. But to try to make excuses about how it was ACKCHYUALLY better but lost for other reasons, is pushing it.
 
First of all, what Spectre said. Sure, you can race whatever you want, but in a venue where it is safe to do so. Having now seen Le Mans in person, even today's LMP vs GT speed delta is insane. As much as I would love to see Mustangs at Le Mans, I would not advocate anyone try to enter a GT4 car into the same race as an LMP1 car.

Secondly, sure, race a terrible V4 Saab if you just want to have fun, I have no problem with that. But to try to make excuses about how it was ACKCHYUALLY better but lost for other reasons, is pushing it.

And back then, there were no chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight so the speed differential there was even greater than it is today. 50s machinery could actually achieve speeds on the old straight comparable to what the LMP2 or GT1 classes do now with the two chicanes. The Jaguar D-Types would routinely turn in 165-170mph runs and would peak at 172.8mph (measured, not indicated)....in 1954. So imagine that you're rocketing along about midway down the Mulsanne, with 50s lighting systems at night, and you're doing 150+ heading for 170. Suddenly the yellow pools of light pick up a Saab 93 pootling along at maybe its top speed of 90 miles an hour, probably more like 50-60 as it took forever to get to its top speed, at very close range.

Yeah, no, get that garbage pile off the damn track before it kills people or gets people killed.

Related viewing:

Listen to Jaguar's Mike Hawthorn talking about the major problems with the slower cars on the straight - while driving the D-Type down the straight!
 
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Never thought engine rebuild were this easy!

JPLWkJh.gif
 
First of all, what Spectre said. You can race whatever you want, but in a venue where it is safe to do so. Having now seen Le Mans in person, even today's LMP vs GT speed delta is insane. As much as I would love to see Mustangs at Le Mans, I would not advocate anyone try to enter a GT4 car into the same race as an LMP1 car.

Secondly, sure, race a terrible V4 Saab if you just want to have fun, I have no problem with that. But to try to make excuses about how it was ACKCHYUALLY better but lost for other reasons, is pushing it.
This is super confusing to me because like... if you can figure out how to get into Le Mans you can probably manage smaller races? I can't even figure out how it would be fun. It's like if unathletic people entered foot races out of spite and just... got continously lapped. You didn't prove you are out of shape.

Like if I was someone who could get a reasonably priced car lap on top gear I would ABSOLUTELY insist on doing a lap in a beetle (even if a rental) but that is a TIME TRIAL and I would be trying to see if I could do a better job in my own terrible car. I take great joy in the "don't let faster car escape on highway" game because the better car is also being handicapped by the threat of surcharges. I would never enter it in a real race.

Also like, speed isn't the only way a car can be good. If we are talking a long uninterrupted road where the beetle does not have to slow down then speed up, that happens to be a nice area like the roads near the beach? Yeah, I would rather be in the bug then the fiat. It's the better car for a 40mph beach cruise. And honesty? Sometimes the car sucking can be fun itself, because you can push it to the limit on public roads because the top speed you can take the corner sometimes is under the speed limit ?

Today in random driving thoughts:

Sign: blind child, go slow
Me: no it's ok, this car is Accessible I will just Turn Volume Up downshifts
I am very safety.
 
The problem isn't that a car is slow. The problem is the speed delta, the number of cars and the size of the track. During qualifying we even saw a Ford go off in a corner because it came in with a LMP2 car and got shunted off just because there was no blue flag and the prototype likely got caught up in the Ford's blindspot.

I'd send GT4 cars out there with GT cars, but in no way mix the 3 classes all together. Keep in mind, parts of the track like the Dunlop chicanes are 35-40 feet wide and are two 90 degree turns back to back with elevation changes. LMP cars approach that corner at full tilt and the last think you want is a GT4 car on the brakes halfway through holding up traffic.
 
Classic video, it's been in my YouTube favourites seemingly forever. I long to have an engine that's as easy as that to take apart, Mini engines and air-cooled VW engines sound very tempting to me sometimes. I'd love to have an old Land Rover 2.25 again as it's incredibly simple but when it actually comes down to it I would always buy a 3.5 V8 Stage 1 instead.

Anyway, I've just got back from Lanzarote where I got the chance to drive a Renault Twizy - I'll put some words together as a mini review at some point - and noticed that not only are the local drivers complete nutcases but half of the local taxis are basically falling apart and there are oil stains all over the roads. I don't think I saw a single parking space that didn't have a big, black stain on it. I'm not sure if it's the general lack of rain, the poor condition of the cars or a combination of both.
 
well, tonnes and tons are pretty similar, but a quarter tonne isn't that much... do you really need a truck for that?


3 terrible posts to start out and you claim to have a Ferrari? Really? Prove it.
 
Urge to tell Chase AKA Subaru Motors Finance to eat a dick and pay cash for a Supra Turbo rising.

In the past 24 hours they've gone from "approved" to "FRAUD ALERT" to "approved but you're gonna have to put cash down" to "nevermind that cash" to "we need more concrete proof of residence" (this is apparently impossible to satisfy with anything other than utility bills, which is great unless you don't get utility bills)

Broker is really working for his money on this one
 
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