Sentimental durability, Is that a thing?

[Tommy1234]

Nostalgia. Memories. Movies.
All of that.
In my case I grew up with some racing nuts.
People who were crazy about going fast.
They bought whatever had the best available engine in the lightest body with the best manufacturer/dealer support and parts availability.
And in 1955 that was Chevrolet.
A Pontiac or an Olds or Buick was a lot more money.
And they were heavier.
And they were an "upsell" brand.
They really didnt have a base model.
But you could buy a chevy in any flavor you wanted.
And you could get any engine you wanted in the cheapest car they had.
You could buy the most bone stock plain jane no trim radio delete with a V8 and pick the rearend gear too.
You couldnt do that at Pontiac or Buick
You had to buy a certain "Package" to get what you wanted.
That, coupled with the styling of the Tri-Five chevys.
Take a 55 Pontiac and set it next to a 55 Olds and a 55 Chevy.
Really no choice to be made.
And by 1957, really really no choice to be made.
This is pretty much the origin of the RPO code car.
And also why finding a factory 4 door with a v8 is pretty rare.
Back in the day they would buy those cars just to get the engine.
And a bunch of those cars and the wagons got cut in half and shortened with modified wheelbases into A or B Altered cars .
Some of them ended up as blown rear engined methanol wheel standers.
Them boys were crazy.
And they got a little bit older and banged up.
And some of those guys sent thier kids to Viet Nam.
And some of them went to Viet Nam.
Depends on the age, time in service all kinds of things.
The Muscle Car era comes from that.
We get all of these historic amazing cars from those people coming back from hell and wanting to not drive a friggen volkswagen.
Those guys came back and bought Chevelles and Roadrunners and Dart Gt convertables and Chargers and all of that.
And then they had kids.
A bunch of kids.
All while being told that it never happened.
So they go to work and the car rots in the backyard.
And then the gas shortages.
Everybody panic bought Pintos and Vegas and even Gremlins.
Garbage cars.
Some people bought Japanese cars.
We thought they were traitors.
The end of this long story is that by the time I turned 15 our world was full of dirt cheap really cool cars that our Fathers had parked in the back yard because they knocked up too many women.
My 1964 Mercury Maruader 428 factory bucket factory tach console detroit locker car was 125.00 dollars.
My 69 440 factory tach console bucket
Roadrunner was 250 bucks.
My 70 Z28 was 300 bucks.
Nobody wanted those cars.
And then, procreation happened.
And apperently the government doesnt like babies flying around in the back seat.
Loose kids in the ass end of the wagon never bothered dad and Im not real sure if they are related to me so **** em .

Definitely have to say nostalgia's a big factor of it.

 

[thinger2]

thinger2, please never hold back from telling your stories or sharing your advice!

The last part of that reminded me of a local radio station asking people to call in and say things that were normal in the 70s but would get you in jail today... "Here honey, hold the baby for a sec so I can crack a beer and light a cig because the light just turned red."

When I was about ten Dad bought a division one 7 litre hydroplane.
Hilborn injected methanol 427 chev.
Back in those days we had to take the fuel with us in drums in the bed of the truck. So a one ton ford with 2 drums of alchohol sloshing around on the freeway in the summer.
My job was to sit in between those fuel drums with a bung wrench and vent the fumes every 30 minutes.
This is extra screwy because a hydroplane is just a wing. Our previous boats were 225 class which are narrow enough that they can sit on a flat trailer.
A 7 litre is too wide. It has to go on a tilt trailer.
So now you have a 23 foot wing tilted at 45 degrees, with a big block chevy in the middle of it,
and it is trying to make the ass end of the truck go airborne while some kid is crawling around on drums of methanol on the freeway.
And I had to remember to bang on the back window everytime so they would stop throwing cigarettes out for a minute while I was doing it.
And it was awesome.
Sometimes, my father would get us up really early to drive us to school. Early enough to hitch the truck up to the boat.
Just so we could be the kids being dropped off at school from a truck towing a hydroplane.
Pretty damn cool when you are a kid.
I wouldnt trade those memories for anything.

 

[thinger2]

Definitely have to say nostalgia's a big factor of it.

Yep. And sometimes its just some latent desire.
I went to the Detroit auto show back in 93 or 94 and I really, really,really wanted a brand new Chevy truck.
I couldnt afford one.
I think I bought my 89 k3500 just from latent desire.
It was a POS in a lot of ways.
When I got the chance to buy the 94.
I didnt need it, I had a Truck.
But I wanted it.
It ticked off a box that I hadnt been able to afford when I was young and poor.

 

[Dariusz Salomon]

I'm getting thrown off by the "durability" statement.

Something is desirable because it is "cool." Trucks are cool. Likewise, "Cameros" and Mustangs and Challengers are cool. Station wagons and full sized vans and minivans are not cool.
Edit: in other words: the single guy with a lot of money and a sports car is cool, the guy with a wife and kids is not... LOL.

If folks start restoring a specific vehicle, then there's a demand for those parts. Demand and supply? I don't know.

I don't really know anything about 70s or older vehicles though.

I like to think of trucks as the modern day equivalent of a horse. Having a horse back in the day was a mode of transportation and a prestige. Without a horse you couldn't do a lot.You rode a fine horse if you were someone important and vice versa.

The American truck (and automobiles in general) have kinda replaced that...do you agree?

Nomads are cool. Prolly cause they are 2 door. Generaly 2 doors cars are viewed as sporty-providing there was 4 door version of one. Unless they are hatchbacks,which imo are not cool(with some exceptions)-but it's because I live here in europe and they are so common.
And now it's another thing too-media push some newer cars as cool-so called modern classics. Nostalgia is a big player-what once super common,now fetches bigger bucks because it's not available anymore. And at current climate(read"electric cars") soon anything with engine will be "cool". That's the sad part. Like the 442 in "Demolition Man".

 

[Tommy1234]

Nomads are cool. Prolly cause they are 2 door. Generaly 2 doors cars are viewed as sporty-providing there was 4 door version of one. Unless they are hatchbacks,which imo are not cool(with some exceptions)-but it's because I live here in europe and they are so common.
And now it's another thing too-media push some newer cars as cool-so called modern classics. Nostalgia is a big player-what once super common,now fetches bigger bucks because it's not available anymore. And at current climate(read"electric cars") soon anything with engine will be "cool". That's the sad part. Like the 442 in "Demolition Man".

Totally have to agree with you. This is one of the most valid replies I have read.

 

[Tommy1234]

Update on this post found patch panels for my Dodge took a while.
Another update found patch panels for the G20 vans from lmc