They're too quiet, too smooth, and too powerful. They don't feel like they're going nearly as fast as they are,and because of that, drivers who don't know any better drive too fast and too hard, thinking that somehow traction control or anti-locks will magically save the day when their 200 pound butt writes a check that their 4-ton sport-ute can't cash.

 When I worked at Marshall Mize we had to walk past the body shop waiting area and we averaged about 2 new Mustang customers a week, all damaged in the front, because their GT(ruck) engine was more than their Fairmont chassis and brakes could handle (and obviously more than their driver could handle). Modern cars are enablers that lull drivers into a false sense of security, putting them in situations that they don't have the skills to get themselves out of!

Lets get back to the days and cars that made speed feel like speed. Get in a Beetle with a 1/4 full gas tank and feel the nose start to lift above 70. You know you're going fast and that's fast enough, thank you. Pilot a bus on the interstate with a 15mph crosswind that causes you to turn the wheel 1/4 turn to the left just to keep going straight.  Drive a Thing, period.

Let's put the fear factor back in driving, people! Metal dashes for everyone! No airbags, put spikes in the center of the steering wheel! No seatbelts and a well-Armor-All-ed bench seat that will slide you out the passenger door if you take a left too fast!
4-inch Bias-ply!
Gunsight hood ornaments..!
Drum brakes..!
Chrome dashboard glare...!
Corvairs for everybody..!
 :badgrin:  :bounce:  :shock:  [-o<  :badgrin:  :withstupid:  :thebirdman:  [-o<  :shock:  8-[

Discuss...

Anthony- What has prompted the above? Did someone in a new vehicle run you off the road ? Were you ranting and raving or just meerly making a suggestion......... :?:  :?

:shock: Been There Before...Yup! Nothin like stupid young punk wannabe think-they-can drive leadfoot no-paying attention drivers :twisted:

[-( Don't you just love the one's who read a novel--------------WHILE THEY DRIVE!!!!!

There's a lot to be said for cars that are fun to drive within the speed - limit. You can't have fun running through a few gears in most the new cars and be close to legal speed. My advice to my sons on driving has always been to leave room for the other guy to do the stupidest thing possible - unfortunatly it's becoming ever more difficult to anticipate just how stupid a move some are likely to pull ! At least a hopped up ghia would let you know to slow when directional control became a fond memory  

Speaking of speed,cars,and accidents. Did anyone watch the special on the National Geographic Channel? Yesterday they had were showing about the Autobahn. How it was built, all the electronics to run it, how the Polizi catch speeders. It was really interesting. Tha concrete pad is 27" thick compared to the U.S. interstate pads which are 12-14" thick. WOW!! They also said that there are 6,000 deaths per year. That sounds like alot, but when you compare that to our interstate system that is lower than the U.S. :wink:

Fun fact of the day: the Bus is the safest vehicle you can possibly be in during a head-on collision as long as you don't touch the brakes. In an old safety crash test our beloved type 2 left with only minor injuries after totaling the then safest car on the road, which at the time was a Volvo.

I'm not too sure about that one . . . I drive a bus (well, I used to drive a bus and as soon as I get off my butt and put the engine in, I will again).  When I'm cruising down the interstate at about 50 RPMs past red line and look down at my toes I can see the backside of headlight bucket is a little further back than the tips of my toes.  If I was to hit something, the bumper is the first line of defense.  Anything that gets past the bumper is going to be brought to an abrupt stop by my toes.  What makes a bus safe is I know that.  I gotta drive like my life depends on how I drive . . . because it does.  I can't trust the other guy to do what he should, I gotta believe that he is going to do the stupidest thing possible and be ready for it.

The problem with modern cars is they are like a bottle of old tequila . . . they mess with your ability to reason.  Drink a bottle of tequila or spend enough time behind the air-bag equipped steering wheel of a 4 ton SUV that the salesman convinced you will protect you from anything short of an atom bomb . . . it doesn't take long before you believe your Superman.  Your faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound . . . 10 feet tall and bullet proof . . . etc.  That kind of thinking will get you killed and can take a lot of innocent folks along with you.

The Volvo is still better. What's your first instinct going to be when getting into an accident? The thing that makes the Bus that safe is if you don't press the brakes. Otherwise the front end dips down and you rip your legs off whenever you hit something.

I wonder if the number of accidents as compared to the number of cars on the road bell curves. In the begining when there were only ten or twenty cars in the country I bet there were a lot of accidents. Then as people became familiar with them the number lowered. But now everyone wants to drive fast. Accidents went up and now we need all of this saftey crap to keep people alive. Which just makes people drive worse.