One-Liners
Do you think the new GTO will be allowed at the Import Drags?
Yeah, me either.
James Salisburyb
Mesa, AZ
Project Car Fact of Life:
"The longer parts stay apart ... the farther apart the parts get!"
Keith Underhill
Poughkeepsie, NY
If you want to have a car with 500 hp, why start out with one that has 85 from the factory?Donn GeyerAmherst, NY
A Line In The Sand
I just opened your Jan. '04 issue and saw your Reader's Letter from J. Bond. His letter is interesting in that it brings to light the many arguments about who drives the better car and whose way of life is better. There is one fault with this: His letter is wholly based on opinion and generalities. While opinions are fine, and generalities can sometimes be true, I think it's time that we lay this all out on the table for the last time and really decide who gets the crown.
We really have only one place left to go in order to sort this mater out ... J. Bond, you should take this as a challenge. Let's see what you drive, and let's see what you can do in it. We all have a common reality here, and that is fast cars. So let's settle it with that. Who has the fastest car? I'm sure that one of the Car Craft staff would be more than willing to race you, and if they are not, then come see me. We'll start at one and see who can get the second line first.
Everything else aside, it is the speed of the car that matters, and I think we can all agree on that. No trash talk, no comparisons, no limits on price or parts. Run what you brung, and we'll see you at the track.
Thomas Mee
Hollywood, CA
Allow me, a bald, fat, old man who picked up a goddess in his '62 Super Sport, to tell you that it's what you learn after you know it all that counts. That was given to me by my old, fat father! What I'm getting at is musclecars have a mystique about them that fueled the sport of drag racing, and we will probably never see an era like that again. In 20 years people will still recognize a '69 Chevelle, or '65 GTO. How many will know a '94 Toyota? What J. Bond doesn't realize yet is that he will be as old, fat, and bald as I am one day.
Pete Maccarrone
Las Vegas, NV
A Longer Line inn The Sand
The stock starter motor on a Chevelle 454 has more power than his Honda 2.0L. My stock F-body LS1 makes more torque/power at 2,000 rpm than his Honda makes at 7,000. GM/Ford/Mopar big-block/small-block technology is just as advanced (if not more) than Honda technology. GM's LS1/LS6 makes 350-400-plus hp using pushrods. I don't see a Honda DOHC engine coming close by any stretch! And Ford's new GT (GT40) engine makes 500 hp!
I know various 21-year-olds who are into (and own, and work on) old Chevelles, Novas, Camaros, Firebirds, Buicks, and Oldsmobiles. I also know some old guys who are into the same cars, and they are honest-to-goodness, family-oriented people who will go to great lengths to help you out-just look at the Hot Rod Power Tour-and their whole family is involved in their hobby.
This guy has a big chip on his shoulder, does not even know how his slammed/decaled Honda works (let alone wrenching on it himself). He's been watching too much FF/2F2F fantasy, and gets awarded letter of the month. This award should go to honest, hard-working people who love musclecars and write a good letter. Don't let your faithful readers down.
Joe Carnuccio
Via e-mail
Joe, we ran the J. Bond letter as what you could call the Notorious Letter of the Month-we didn't send him a CC license plate and we don't consider his opinion to really matter much. But it sure generated a ton of mail from the CC faithful!