Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness

There's a few things I wanted to mention before we delve into this week's blog; First and foremost, for the people in Texas who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey - our thoughts and prayers are with you and we hope for a quick and coordinated relief effort. Second, for those of you who have not been affected by the hurricane - and you're not exempt if you're pissed about the 50 cent per gallon gas spike that's happened over the past week - support those victims any way you can. Financially to the Red Cross or other organization, or your time, or perhaps other resources at your disposal. Lastly, and I realize this is old news, but I've been remiss on not mentioning this earlier; our sympathies to Vic Edelbrock Jr's family since his unfortunate passing in June. Us humans are a quirky bunch in how we truly take life for granted. We think we're invincible or perhaps our mentoring heroes are going to be around forever. But if we're not careful, time and ultimately life, will just slip through our hands like grains of sand. It begs the question - what are you doing today to engage in life? Or will you start thinking about that tomorrow... or next month... or next year?

I must admit - I broke out of my automotive box and attended a very cool antique and vintage motorcycle meet yesterday. The weather was perfect and the number of classic bikes was staggering. A few of the rides present were about 100 years old. That number sank in for the first time yesterday after I arrived back home and started going through the pictures I took. It seems I have no problem accepting the fact that the automobile has been around for well over 100 years, but why not motorcycles? Granted, I'm not around bikes anywhere near as much cars and trucks, but still there's a great deal of vintage iron to appreciate. I also have to come clean about another aspect where vintage motorcycles have an advantage (in my humble opinion - please hold the hate mail) over numerous hot rods, street rods, and muscle cars.  Motorcycles have the opportunity to become absolute works of art in regards to custom paint. What I mean is, with designs, patterns, and colors, bikes have way more options in this respect. Face it - we've all seen some wicked designs on a motorcycle that could never be pulled off on a car. Bottom line - the true liberty of design.

Speaking of pulling things off, especially automotive wise, I was reading an article recently about how still incredibly popular the Dodge and Plymouth winged cars are, as are the NASCAR special editions that the Ford division put out in 1969 as well as 1970. I believe it represents an absolute crazy time in our history that will never be repeated. Whether at auction, through a dealer, or a private sale, these cars still command big bucks regardless of condition. Even clones can go for stupid money. But being the age that I am, and living just south of New York City, I can remember these aerodynamic rides when they first arrived on dealership lots - and how much they were avoided, how long they sat going unsold, how much they were discounted in order to sell them, and how they were considered just about the opposite of what they are today - massively ugly.

While racing fans and gearheads knew the reasoning behind these minimally produced vehicles, the general public just couldn't get passed their outlandish style. The Daytona and Superbird had rear wings that were commonly referred as "towel drying racks". The reason why the wings were so tall? So the truck lids could clear them. I can remember some dealers in our local area in northern New Jersey converting Superbird's into "regular" Roadrunner's just so they could get them off their lots. Even a number of Ford fans had a hard time swallowing the flat square nose on the Torino Talladega, never mind the Torino King Cobra. But, after all that negative hoopla, what the car buying public didn't foresee was that regular production vehicles, about 15 years later, would look very similar to the Ford King Cobra in regards to a swooped pointy nose with exposed headlights. By that time frame however, that kind of styling was okay - because it was all in the name of better fuel economy through aerodynamics, not winning NASCAR races. It's amazing the excuses we come up with in the pursuit of something that's deemed "acceptable".

During the golden era of drag racing, there was one type of funny car that never really caught on until the very late 70's - the Corvette. Ironically, while it was a hit with fans, it was a different story with the drivers. No one is really sure what the problem was throughout the 60's and early 70's with these tube-chassis nightmares. Some thought it was the wheelbase; but all lengths were tried to practically no successful avail. Some thought it was the chassis; the proper chassis had yet to be sorted out. But after more than a decade of trial and error, teams still couldn't get it right. Many a driver dealt with evil handling, stability with launches, and for whatever reason, drive-train explosions and fires. It wasn't until the great Tom McEwen got something right with his 1977 Corvette body funny car and was massively successful between 1979 through 1983. Many historians still refer to this dark period of Corvette funny cars as the years of the "Corvette Curse". I guess it was McEwen won the pursuit of funny car happiness.

Until next time, peace out.
Dave