by Tom Shaw
Say sport, about
that musclecar out in your garage. Tell me, what is it about that
car that inflames your passions? What is it about that car that
could motivate you to spend so many thousands, gladly surrender
nights and weekends, and turn your garage into a virtual shrine?
Of all the hundreds of different makes, models, and years, why
that car?
Probably because somewhere along the line, that car or one almost like it, burned a deep, smoking hole into your brain decades ago. Maybe you remember one in town when you were still too young to afford it. Maybe you remember that car an older guy drove, setting the drive-in on fire with an incredible Saturday-night burnout. Maybe you remember seeing one in a showroom and, from that moment on, being hopelessly addicted in a way no 12-step program could touch. I'd bet that there's a powerful emotional link between the car you now own and one that made an unforgettable impression on you years ago. The key word here is "memory."
Consider how important your memories are in endearing the musclecars to your heart. How passionate about musclecars would you be if you had no firsthand experience with them? What if you never did the drive-ins, never cruised main street, honking and waving at your friends as they passed by, never stomped a lesser machine reaching way too far up the food chain, never got stomped for doing the same? What if you never slammed a gear, spun a tire, or kicked in the secondaries? What if your musclecar memories were suddenly deleted from your memory banks? Then how fired-up about musclecars do you think you'd be?
Ok, here's where I'm going with this. Think about your kids. What kind of memories of your beloved musclecar will they have? You remember-in fact, can never forget-the Great American Musclecar in its natural habitat. But our kids came along long after that era was over. One day they will own our cars, and as our cars pass to the next generation, will our fire and passion go along, or will they see the musclecar as a steam locomotive in the jet age? An Underwood typewriter in the age of the internet?
The memories we're making with our kids and cars right now will go a long way toward shaping their emotional attachment to the cars we love. We dig the cars because we lived them. We know what they're all about, but I think that we take for granted that the next generation will, too. Stop for a minute and try to look through their eyes.
We grew up with Creedence, Vietnam, and GTOs, they with Boy George, inflation, and 5.0 Mustangs. The point is, gang, our times were our times and our musclecars don't automatically fit into their world.
But what if we make our musclecars a dynamic part of their world today? We can't rerun the Sixties, but we can stick our kids in those bucket seats, back our cars out of the garage, bang a shift or two and let the next generation experience firsthand what serious power is all about. Put yourself in your kids' place-do they see your vintage musclecar as the pampered trailer baby that gets lots of wax, wins trophies, and has even been known to start? Or, do they see it as the rip-roaring monster that breathes fire, accelerates like a catapult and gets constant attention from other drivers sharing the road? If you were their age, which would be more appealing to you?
Conventional wisdom holds that deactivating a musclecar and using it for display only preserves it for future generations. While that does remove it from the potential perils of traffic, normal wear and tear and corrosion, it also demotes it to the level of a museum dinosaur skeleton-stationary, motionless and lifeless. Could it be that the best way to preserve the musclecar is to endear it to the next generation?
We've had a universally good response to the new "Musclecar Memories" feature that debuted last issue, wherein readers share their musclecar experiences from the Sixties. Those who lived those times enjoy the trip back in time, and those who didn't get a glimpse of the musclecar in its original context. Will those good memories stop with our generation? Will our kids have anything more than folklore?
Store your car away in a dark garage for years and its soul goes dormant. But put it back on the road and let it become the action figure it's supposed to be and the next generation will become emotionally invested too, just like you.
MCR
From Musclecar Review October/November 1997, Volume 14, Number 6
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