Muscle Cars

[Armitage]

I'm looking at buying a cool car mid summer, so I'm researching early. Something I will be driving, not collecting, and no track driving etc. I'm thinking of a Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang, Chev Camero or maybe a used Vet. I get the impression the Challenger doesn't get the respect as the others do. My first car was a '74 Dodge Charger so I was even interested in the Charger Hellcat, but I really didn't like the way it drove. It's truly a monster, but drove like a bus, IMHO. 99.9% of the time you're driving at the going speed... not rocketing forward, so I want something that feels good then too!

I took a Torch Red Vet LT3 out today, with about 6000 miles on it... and it was great, and absolutely like new. Every moment you held the steering wheel you felt you were doing something special. But it was a tiny bit rainy and it was pretty slippery. I suppose there are more practical tires then the stock ones... I don't mind having a car I cannot drive in the snow, but I don't want to worry about rain. The salesman told me people often change the stock brand tires about every 13,000 miles because they're so soft... ouch.

There's also things like a used Porsche Panamera, Porsche Cayman S or BMW 435i xDrive but I imagine these cars cost a load on the upkeep. I know nothing about them. 

I was reminded to watch out for certain Gott'chas... the example given was the top of the line Camero has ceramic brakes that cost a fortune to change. I don't do my own car work, so I don't want to be killed with maintenance moochers.  

[Steve Haynie]

On 4/21/2017 at 5:20 PM, Armitage said:

I'm absolutely amazed at how many great and wild cars are sold a year or two later (after all the depreciation too) with only 2000 miles on them... yea, that's two thousand, not twenty!

There have been a lot of high dollar motorcycles like that, too. 

[jettster]

In the past I was pretty much diehard bowtie but the Mustangs do present a great value for the dollar and better day to day livability due to better seating position. Performance wise I think the Camaro is the better car if you go by the numbers and more often than not always been the better handling of the two. Just a heads up, as sweet as the GT350 looks on paper, 500+ NA horsepower they have had problems with those. I'd go for the Vette between the three.

http://autoweek.com/article/recalls/recall-stop-sale-order-hit-certain-ford-mustang-gt350-and-gt350rs

 

 

[JohnnyB]

On 4/21/2017 at 2:20 PM, Armitage said:

I'm absolutely amazed at how many great and wild cars are sold a year or two later (after all the depreciation too) with only 2000 miles on them... yea, that's two thousand, not twenty!

I suspect it takes them about 2,000 miles to find out what the cost of ownership is going to be, e.g.:

• Liability insurance rates on a car with 10:1 pounds/horsepower or less (the Challenger Hellcat ratio is about 6.3 to 1)
• Replacement cost of P275/40YR20 tires (as much as $1200/set plus tax, mounting and balancing)
• Moving violation tickets for speeding, illegal lane change, reckless driving, etc. The tickets can add up to getting your license revoked and add to your insurance rate for several years per violation. 
• Tuneups are probably more frequent and more expensive
• ... etc.

[Ralph]

Mustang!!! Nuff said.........

[kizanski]

On 4/21/2017 at 5:20 PM, Armitage said:

I'm absolutely amazed at how many great and wild cars are sold a year or two later (after all the depreciation too) with only 2000 miles on them... yea, that's two thousand, not twenty!

There's nothing amazing about it.
For many, these cars are like guitars to us; they acquire them, use them for a while, show them off, and then move on to the next thing.
How many amazing guitars have you seen that the seller custom ordered, waited 2 years to get, and then sold still with the original strings on it?

[hamerhead]

You hit on something there, Kiz: Custom Order muscle car - restomod an old rust-free whatever and have the best of both worlds. Well, without some of the modern safety features....

[JES1680]

Had to share. Picked this up yesterday 2014 C7 Z51 3LT manual 7spd. Was time to say goodbye to the M3, it was fun but out of warranty and they have a couple known issues that are very $$. I leased a truck for winter so I wanted something a bit more exotic for summer only with a removable roof. This thing is a monster.

Surprised my son. Picked him up from school in it wearing a Batman mask.  him and his buddies got a kick out of that.

Have to get better pics once it STOPS SNOWING in Minneapolis. 

 

[kizanski]

3 minutes ago, JES1680 said:

Had to share. Picked this up yesterday 2014 C7 Z51 LT3 manual 7spd. Was time to say goodbye to the M3, it was fun but out of warranty and they have a couple known issues that are very $$. I leased a truck for winter so I wanted something a bit more exotic for summer only with a removable roof. This thing is a monster.

Surprised my son. Picked him up from school in it wearing a Batman mask.  him and his buddies got a kick out of that.

Have to get better pics once it STOPS SNOWING in Minneapolis. 

VICIOUS!

...and the Batman mask is hilarious!

[serial]

My insurance (full tort, max coverage) runs @$150/yr on my Corvette. I have a mileage limit of 7500/yr, but that's easy.

 

[Jeff R]

I told my wife we need to explore if our insurance has one of those low mileage discount options. Since I bailed on the old day job and am doing my shop full time, my car rarely leaves the premises and it's literally around-the-corner drives and like 2-3 total a week. I've put less than 1K miles on the Challenger so far this year. Not a typo.

[kizanski]

20 minutes ago, Jeff R said:

I told my wife we need to explore if our insurance has one of those low mileage discount options. Since I bailed on the old day job and am doing my shop full time, my car rarely leaves the premises and it's literally around-the-corner drives and like 2-3 total a week. I've put less than 1K miles on the Challenger so far this year. Not a typo.

Get a bicycle.
Oh no... On second thought, don't.

[Teh]

3 hours ago, JES1680 said:

Had to share. Picked this up yesterday 2014 C7 Z51 LT3 manual 7spd. Was time to say goodbye to the M3, it was fun but out of warranty and they have a couple known issues that are very $$. I leased a truck for winter so I wanted something a bit more exotic for summer only with a removable roof. This thing is a monster.

Surprised my son. Picked him up from school in it wearing a Batman mask.  him and his buddies got a kick out of that.

Have to get better pics once it STOPS SNOWING in Minneapolis. 

 

SWEEEEET!  Congrats on the C7!

[Armitage]

That Stingray is SO cool... it's what I'm looking into. One problem is they're no longer taking orders for 2017, and 2018 may be delayed 4 months, then it's winter. There's no point ordering a car I can't drive.

I was looking at a Grand Sport in white... sweet.

[Armitage]

It took a while and a lot of test driving... the order is in. I should get it in a month. A 2017 Corvette Grand Sport LT2... 

(Pictures off the Internetz)

 

[kizanski]

/\  Outfuckingrageous.

[Thundersteel]

Do those Corvettes come standard with gold chains?

[Armitage]

45 minutes ago, Thundersteel said:

Do those Corvettes come standard with gold chains?

Only if your chest is hairy enough to support them!

[Armitage]

It looks like an Offcial Michael Schenker Model in real life, I'm pretty excited...

 

BTW, this is a great video on how to set up your car mirrors, it amazes me how everyone does it wrong.

 

 

[kizanski]

6 minutes ago, Armitage said:

It looks like an Offcial Michael Schenker Model in real life, I'm pretty excited...

 

BTW, this is a great video on how to set up your car mirrors, it amazes me how everyone does it wrong.

 

 

Thanks for that.  I've always thought it should be done this way.
Honestly, though, i was expecting something more on these lines.

 

[Carl.B]

Sharing 

 

[BubbaVO]

2 hours ago, Thundersteel said:

Do those Corvettes come standard with gold chains?

No.  I think the 80s era Camaro Z-28s did.  But things have evolved since then.  Now you can have both your Camaro and your gold chain all together in one:

[hamerhead]

Today's Fun Fact: Someone paid real money for that.

[Steve Haynie]

Armitage, that white Corvette looks like it needs a number painted on it. 

[Armitage]

Drives like it should too!

[hamerboy_]

One of my toys.

 

-Bobby