Grain prices were high here in State College this weekend due to a temporary import duty on rice.
We had two car shows in town. One was a ricer show dubbed Modified Madness. As I was driving home from work FRIDAY night, I saw the local constabulary welcoming waves of ricers heading into town to show off their mutlicolored lowered 4 bangers with the way cool wings 4 feet in the air.
There's a section of highway between I80 and State College. It's SR220 and about 10 miles long. It's divided 4 lane that will become part of I90 someday when the feds take ownership. But, for now it's a state owned road and the speed limit is set at 55MPH. The local Gendarmes ordinarily work the hell out of this stretch of road but Friday night they were just shooting fish in a barrel. In a 10 mile stretch of road I saw 7 cruisers, 5 stops were underway, all ricers in their teens or twenties. It was hilarious!
Yeah, these understated boring GTO's really suck. Wish my car stood out more so I could get noticed.
The other show was an antique show at the local fairgrounds. My local Pontiac dealer had a display there. They were showing a 2005 Black/Black M6 GTO with "event pricing" of $30,590. That doesn't seem like a bad price. I paid $31,200 at the same dealer about two months ago.
There were a good number of 60's muscle cars on display. Chevelles, Barracudas, a Coronet, Charger, Impala SS, Corvettes, Mustangs, Firebirds. Not one GTO or 442 though. It was a jolt of reality. We tend to romanticize the 60's muscle cars but, after spending a couple of hours poking my head in them I came away with the overwhelming feeling that those cars really sucked, we just didn't know it back then.
Wow, have cars come a long way! I'd forgotten how ridiculous some of the control layouts and instrument placements were back then. And the seats. I don't know how they ever got the name bucket seats. They were uniformly slabs of vinyl that in many cases wouldn't even provide support up to the shoulders of most drivers. No head restraints. Can you say whiplash?
I drove the GTO to the show and it was just amazing to see all those old muscle cars and then climb into a well designed and executed modern car like the GTO. All pangs of lust for the "good ol days" went out the window.
We had two car shows in town. One was a ricer show dubbed Modified Madness. As I was driving home from work FRIDAY night, I saw the local constabulary welcoming waves of ricers heading into town to show off their mutlicolored lowered 4 bangers with the way cool wings 4 feet in the air.
There's a section of highway between I80 and State College. It's SR220 and about 10 miles long. It's divided 4 lane that will become part of I90 someday when the feds take ownership. But, for now it's a state owned road and the speed limit is set at 55MPH. The local Gendarmes ordinarily work the hell out of this stretch of road but Friday night they were just shooting fish in a barrel. In a 10 mile stretch of road I saw 7 cruisers, 5 stops were underway, all ricers in their teens or twenties. It was hilarious!
Yeah, these understated boring GTO's really suck. Wish my car stood out more so I could get noticed.
The other show was an antique show at the local fairgrounds. My local Pontiac dealer had a display there. They were showing a 2005 Black/Black M6 GTO with "event pricing" of $30,590. That doesn't seem like a bad price. I paid $31,200 at the same dealer about two months ago.
There were a good number of 60's muscle cars on display. Chevelles, Barracudas, a Coronet, Charger, Impala SS, Corvettes, Mustangs, Firebirds. Not one GTO or 442 though. It was a jolt of reality. We tend to romanticize the 60's muscle cars but, after spending a couple of hours poking my head in them I came away with the overwhelming feeling that those cars really sucked, we just didn't know it back then.
Wow, have cars come a long way! I'd forgotten how ridiculous some of the control layouts and instrument placements were back then. And the seats. I don't know how they ever got the name bucket seats. They were uniformly slabs of vinyl that in many cases wouldn't even provide support up to the shoulders of most drivers. No head restraints. Can you say whiplash?
I drove the GTO to the show and it was just amazing to see all those old muscle cars and then climb into a well designed and executed modern car like the GTO. All pangs of lust for the "good ol days" went out the window.
