Ran across this old article that I thought was pretty accurate about myself, maybe you can relate.
The throttle was mashed fully into the nap of Italian carpet as the F355 powered up the rural highway onramp, its sumptuous 375HP V-8 wailing like an F1 motor as the revs shot up to the 8500 rpm in each of the first four gears, accompanied by the dainty tink...tink...tink of the metal shifter stalk as it kissed the alloy shift gates. With the close-ratio six-speed allowing gaines of only 20m.p.h. between the redlines of first and second gear, 24 mph between second and third, and a mere 25 more until the top of fourth, I spent a lot of time shifting the F355. No complaint here, because with its 12.8 second 1/4 mile capabilities and overall ease of driving, it gets my vote as the best road-going Ferrari of all time.
I pushed the shifter into fifth and came down hard on the brakes-rapidly reducing velocity to the speed limit. "Cool, '63 Eldorado," blurted attentive passenger John Pearley Huffman as we blended into the flow of traffic. The vintage Caddy ragtop parked on the shoulder was only in our field of vision for a split second as we diced among the 18 wheelers, but I'd seen it long enough to rebuke my Editor-at-Large's sighting. "Wrong, it's a '64," I said. "The 63s had fender skirts, the 64s didn't.""No, it was a '63," Huffman insisted. "You're slipping."
That did it. I spurred the F355 into action, made a beeline for the nearest exit, and doubled back to I.D. the old car. As we approached, its age became obvious. "See, it's a 64," I gushed. "No fender skirts, different tailight shape, shorter fins, the first year of the 429 inch/340 -horse engine, the third season for cornering lights, the...""Alright, so you're the kind of all Cadillac lore, I acknowledge that," shouted a grim-faced Huffman. "But just wait until we spot an old Fiat!"
At that point, I am completely certain, we were the only two Ferrari drivers in the world arguing about he model year of a Eldorado.
And that used to be part of the fun of being a car guy-identifying the year,make,model, and engine size of a vehicle merely by spotting a piece of trim, out of the corner of your eye, traveling in the opposite direction, at night. Today, it's just not the same. "Okay, what year's that Taurus?" Huffman chided. "Jeez, I dunno, a '93, '94...they all look the same," I responded. He couldn't tell either. The same scenario proved true for many of the late-model cars pointed out in rapid succession; Camry's, Escorts, LeSabres, and Jettas resisted the best efforts of our collective auto knowledge to pare down the identification to anything closer than a two to three-year spread. It was pathetic.
Pathetic only because today's regimen for designing new cars has relegated the annual model-year change to a hazy memory. Federal crash standards require costly impact recertification just about every time a bumper shape changes or a taillight is redesigned. That's played a sinificant role in creating the same-place/same think look of many of our new cars. For the model years '57,'58, and '59, Chevrolet completely changed the look of its BelAir line three times, while other Big Three models posted similar restyling schedules. Some called it planned obsolescence. But for a nation of car enthusiasts, it was the latest thing waiting to be studied; every styling nuance and technical spec was commited to memory.
It also helps explain why may Gen Xers don't have that same burning desire for cars as did the Boomers before them. Today's 20-year old was born in the same year catalytic converters were mandated for new cars. Today's 25 year-olds didn't get their driver's licenses until the first year of the Ford Taurus. And almost everyone under the age of 30 has lived his/her entire life without seeing neighbors lined up at a local car dealer, eagerly awaiting the unveiling of the "all-new" models.
We all know that today's cars are phenomenally safer, more reliable, better performing, and in every other way superior vehicles to those of 10 or more years ago. However, as incongruous as it may seem, I rather miss the days of the annual model change-even a small modification to help us car enthusiasts keep track would be appreciated.
Motor Trend July 1995---by C.Van Tune
The throttle was mashed fully into the nap of Italian carpet as the F355 powered up the rural highway onramp, its sumptuous 375HP V-8 wailing like an F1 motor as the revs shot up to the 8500 rpm in each of the first four gears, accompanied by the dainty tink...tink...tink of the metal shifter stalk as it kissed the alloy shift gates. With the close-ratio six-speed allowing gaines of only 20m.p.h. between the redlines of first and second gear, 24 mph between second and third, and a mere 25 more until the top of fourth, I spent a lot of time shifting the F355. No complaint here, because with its 12.8 second 1/4 mile capabilities and overall ease of driving, it gets my vote as the best road-going Ferrari of all time.
I pushed the shifter into fifth and came down hard on the brakes-rapidly reducing velocity to the speed limit. "Cool, '63 Eldorado," blurted attentive passenger John Pearley Huffman as we blended into the flow of traffic. The vintage Caddy ragtop parked on the shoulder was only in our field of vision for a split second as we diced among the 18 wheelers, but I'd seen it long enough to rebuke my Editor-at-Large's sighting. "Wrong, it's a '64," I said. "The 63s had fender skirts, the 64s didn't.""No, it was a '63," Huffman insisted. "You're slipping."
That did it. I spurred the F355 into action, made a beeline for the nearest exit, and doubled back to I.D. the old car. As we approached, its age became obvious. "See, it's a 64," I gushed. "No fender skirts, different tailight shape, shorter fins, the first year of the 429 inch/340 -horse engine, the third season for cornering lights, the...""Alright, so you're the kind of all Cadillac lore, I acknowledge that," shouted a grim-faced Huffman. "But just wait until we spot an old Fiat!"
At that point, I am completely certain, we were the only two Ferrari drivers in the world arguing about he model year of a Eldorado.
And that used to be part of the fun of being a car guy-identifying the year,make,model, and engine size of a vehicle merely by spotting a piece of trim, out of the corner of your eye, traveling in the opposite direction, at night. Today, it's just not the same. "Okay, what year's that Taurus?" Huffman chided. "Jeez, I dunno, a '93, '94...they all look the same," I responded. He couldn't tell either. The same scenario proved true for many of the late-model cars pointed out in rapid succession; Camry's, Escorts, LeSabres, and Jettas resisted the best efforts of our collective auto knowledge to pare down the identification to anything closer than a two to three-year spread. It was pathetic.
Pathetic only because today's regimen for designing new cars has relegated the annual model-year change to a hazy memory. Federal crash standards require costly impact recertification just about every time a bumper shape changes or a taillight is redesigned. That's played a sinificant role in creating the same-place/same think look of many of our new cars. For the model years '57,'58, and '59, Chevrolet completely changed the look of its BelAir line three times, while other Big Three models posted similar restyling schedules. Some called it planned obsolescence. But for a nation of car enthusiasts, it was the latest thing waiting to be studied; every styling nuance and technical spec was commited to memory.
It also helps explain why may Gen Xers don't have that same burning desire for cars as did the Boomers before them. Today's 20-year old was born in the same year catalytic converters were mandated for new cars. Today's 25 year-olds didn't get their driver's licenses until the first year of the Ford Taurus. And almost everyone under the age of 30 has lived his/her entire life without seeing neighbors lined up at a local car dealer, eagerly awaiting the unveiling of the "all-new" models.
We all know that today's cars are phenomenally safer, more reliable, better performing, and in every other way superior vehicles to those of 10 or more years ago. However, as incongruous as it may seem, I rather miss the days of the annual model change-even a small modification to help us car enthusiasts keep track would be appreciated.
Motor Trend July 1995---by C.Van Tune
