Way too nice to be crushed! Save this Duster (Washington state)
Gotta say I agree with Blu on this one. Seems like 90% of the time someone asks about modern tires or posts a picture of an A-Body with a set of wheels bigger than 15", they get blasted by people for ruining their car. Yet I rarely see anyone from the "big wheel crowd" (as I recall us being labeled) doing the same. Maybe it's just my perception, but it feels pretty unbalanced and has been that way for a number of years.
And if you want people to continue to join the old car hobby, might be best to start accepting that there will be some (a bunch?) of modernization going on. Last time I made it to the big show in Seattle (in Lynnwood, drawing a blank on the name), half the show was made up of modern muscle. There were something like 50 late model Challengers (I counted them) and only something like 10 A-Bodies in total and only one of them in the modified class. The fact that most of the older cars were restorations tells me that the owners were enjoying reliving their youth, which is great. But the lack of younger folk in older cars (all most all the newer cars were younger people) tells me that that people are figuring out modern cars are more fun to drive due to a more planted feel, better acceleration, increased economy and some modern amenities. And without the memories of growing up with these cars, a stock A-Body kind of has some drawbacks that can be hard to overlook. So if anyone expects a younger someone (excluding those exceptional folk like Valiant Princess) to want to drive an A-Body, best expect they will be asking how to make it feel like the Mustang their buddy has or the Challenger they sold.
Truth is, I have one of both (an old and new car) and really struggle with which one I like better. The dream has been to drive Route 66 in my Duster but can't say I would choose it over the Challenger. I have my Duster riding and handling like my 2015 Challenger R/T and am really please with how well it does. Loved driving it into town yesterday afternoon and passing the yahoo who went 7+ over the speed limit to pass me on the straight and then slowed down heading into the curve where I went around him doing the same speed I went into the curve. Love how the car drives right now. At the same time, I really missed the AC of my Challenger as the sweat trickled down my rib cage. And I have memories from this car, too. It was my daily driver from about '93 to '98, so I have fond memories of some of the adventures I had in it, but that doesn't make up for hard seats and no cruise control at 65 mph.
To sum it up, if you like your car original, more power to you. But either accept that there are people that are going to want to modernize their car or admit the hobby is going to die. Cars have gotten way better and without some modernization, older cars will be left to people that want to sit in the grass and talk to other people about their memories. Excluding the select few individuals like Valiant Princess who are a rare breed.
Exactly.
The poor Duster sitting in that wrecking yard was clearly being driven, or at the very least being upgraded so that it could be. And then it got wrecked, and somehow ended up in a yard stacked on another car. The damage looks relatively minor, but the insurance was probably for a driver and it was totaled out because as a 73+ car it just isn't worth much.
@MRGTX goes out and does a great thing, he posts it here so maybe somebody can save it, or at least try to get some of the remaining good parts off of it because the forklift operator likely buggered the thing for good.
And what happens? A bunch of people bash the
wheels that are on it because their sense of taste and understanding of technology is stuck in the past? That car could easily belong to a member. Heck the previous owner of that car probably put more miles on it recently than some of the members bashing the car. What if that IS a members car? Some young gun getting started? And this is how people react? You think that helps anybody?
Sorry, but the reaction to this thread has been absolutely pathetic.
I actually agree with his point in general. That there are much more modern and better choices to get your car to handle into the 21st century.
But to come on here totally bashing and insulting members because they have a different view is uncalled for. Had we been in person, I would have knocked some sense into him......if that's at all possible. That was just way wrong and so rude.
I'm rude? You're threatening me with physical violence. How's that for rude?!
Go back and read what I wrote. It was far less rude that what diymirage and princessvaliant said originally. Maybe more personal in diymirage's case, but you know what? That guy has been insulting me for years. And when he asked me for help I helped him! I went out of my way to make sure he was able to get his car set up the way he wanted it. And then he's going to keep saying stuff like that? Yeah, I called him out. And sorry, but if you think "conversations" are private you're mistaken. It's the internet. And it's not like he confided some private, personal secret. He used me for my advice and then turns around and insults people that don't share his exact personal taste. Well that's me.
What I said to Rani wasn't even out of line compared to her "abortion" comment. She changed it, and props to her for doing that. I didn't call her names, I gave some colorful examples that show why making a sweeping assumption like she did is wrong, because she doesn't fit the broad assumptions I made in my reply, just like not all cars with modern wheels match hers. I said her
statement was ignorant, and it was.
And Rob, just a reality check bud. You're far closer in your life to dislocating a hip because you stood up too fast than you are to winning a physical altercation.
This is one of the things I see wrong with the age we live in. Unfortunately, the internet and FB has removed that personal sense we have when talking to someone face to face which makes it much harder to dialog on a topic we might be able to disagree on in an amiable fashion.
As an example, had dinner with a relative of my wife's couple of days ago. I guess the individuals views on FB are 180 degrees out from ours, but when sitting down for dinner we had a very enjoyable time. It reminded me that people are more than a comment on FB and we sometimes lose that when responding to a block of text.
That said, you have to agree that Blu has been on the front lines of modern tires for many years. And as such, has probably receive more than his fair share of hate that IMO has been almost all one way. Due to that, seems reasonable that he might react more strongly than might seem reasonable based on one instance. Based on a history of pointed comments, might not be unexpected. Did he overreact? Not my place to say. Just saying this didn't happen in a vacuum, there is history behind it.
What I wrote might have been an overreaction, but it was no more rude than what was posted originally (and has now been altered).
Want to talk about an overreaction? Rob is threatening physical violence. That's a bit more than "rude" now isn't it?
