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« on: August 27, 2007, 02:20:39 PM »
Went Sunday to the car show in Arvada, CO. Lots of interesting cars there. I always scratch my head when I see the 1998 Ford Ranger sitting in the row or the 2006 Ford Mustang. Just odd.
Pretty good mix of cars -- lots of Mustangs and Mopar cars and a smattering of Camaros. Quite a few early GM trucks. Not as many Belairs as I'm used to seeing. Here are my thoughts:
Pre-Muscle Car Cars: I don't really get too excited about roadsters, high-boys, and the like. I can appreciate the work that goes into them, but I don't have any interest in owning them. Even less with the town-cars of the 30s and 40s. There were some nice models out there and some really odd ones, too ... such as one that was painted a Dino (the Flintstone's pet) pink. Still, there was a good variety of these types of cars. There was a 51 Mercury with a 56 Hemi engine with 8 single-barrel carbs atop it. Sort of the epitome of the way I feel about these cars. Very nicely done; incredibly interesting engine; but nothing that I'd actually want to own.
1970s Cars: Fairly decent representation of Mustangs, Camaros, and Corvettes from the 70s. Nothing to get real excited about, though -- no perfect specimens or anything that jumped off the page. Don't recall seeing any 3rd gen Camaros.
1980+ Cars: Why bother? There were some new Corvettes there that looked like they came right off the lot. Great, they have the new LS1 engine. OK, but why am I looking at it at a car show? I mean, if I really wanted to see it, I'd go to my Chevy dealership. There were some new Mustangs in the same category -- why is this car here? There was a newer Ford F-650 (competition to International's monster consumer-grade trucks), which was a cool novelty to see. I have been to my Ford dealership and not seen the F-650.
Mopar: Looked like some nice representatives, but I just have never been able to get into those cars. Some really interesting engines and they seemed to have done a lot right when it came to performance, but the styling has never appealed to me. So, I didn't spend much time looking at them.
Mustangs: Sorry, but I like 'em. I've always liked Mustangs and I admire Ford for the effort. They beat GM by 3 years with the idea, they continually beat GM with styling (other than the Mustang II), and showed their innovation by bringing back the retro look Mustang (again, 3+ years before GM could figure it out). I like my 67 better than any Mustang, but I do tip my cap to Ford. However, this is where it gets really unfair. I don't know jack about Mustangs. I can take one look at a "nice" Camaro and see the 14 things that are wrong, but the similarly incorrect Mustang looks good to my eyes. Anyway, lots of Mustangs at the show in varying degrees of options and restoration. Good representation.
Camaros: I didn't see the Colorado Camaro Club, so maybe you were dispersed throughout the show? I pay more attention to the 1967s, because I have one and because they are more complete in the trim tags. I saw a few clones and a few that were question marks -- trim tags were not factory attached to the firewalls. In fact, even among the 68s and 69s, I don't think I saw a single trim tag that had not been removed at one point. Really a shame. I saw some abomonations -- a 67 with rally stripes that were extendes down all the way onto the front spoiler; a 69 with RS badges, SS paint and an SS-454 license plate (and engine badges) -- the RS badges on the car + SS badges on the license plate and engine were confusing, to say the least! There were some really nice 69s, though. There was a green 69 Z that had a nos matching 302 (at least that's what the sign said), a 69 RS/SS with a white vinyl top that I liked real well, etc. Though the 69 is far from my favorite Camaro (I'd take a 69 Mustang over a 69 Camaro), among the Camaros at the show, I like the 69s the best.
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