Archive for the ‘Ramblings’ Category
The 3 reasons why we love old cars
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
I wrote my senior paper in college about the collector car hobby, specifically trying to answer the question of why we like old cars. I found that there are three basic reasons why we like old cars:
- Experiential aspects: This is basically the five senses (well except taste; I usually try to avoid tasting cars) and asking “what is it like to experience an old car?” This means looking at, driving, hearing, working on, and however else we relate to cars.
- Social aspects: This is the social events that go with old cars. From the Concours d’Elegance and prestigious rally (more…)
Picture with a story: classic Ferrari in the snow
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Ferraris and other high value classics are so revered and idolized (not to mention fragile) that they don’t often get used in inclement weather, let alone in sub freezing conditions in the snow! These pictures are from when I had the opportunity to pass through the Sierra Nevada in January in a Ferrari 330 GTC, however, and it was an…ummm…interesting experience. The car suffered from a weak battery and only partially functioning idle jets, which made starting it in the 17 degree (Fahrenheit) weather nigh on impossible. A few other items associated with sit-itis also surfaced, but on the whole it was certainly an enjoyable and memorable experience. (more…)
Another reason to like old cars: knock-off hammers
Sunday, April 19th, 2009
You could never get away with a regular procedure in a new car requiring you to hit it over and over with a hammer. The knock-off hammer is a delightfully archaic device today, and the principle of knock-offs is an ingenious if crude solution to a particular problem. It’s also typical of old cars and part of why we enjoy them. The crudeness, “involved-ness”, and simplicity of the process is (more…)
Why we like old cars, reason #64A
Friday, April 17th, 2009
My friend borrowed an old Porsche 911 (old enough to have manually controlled cable actuated heater boxes) the other day and took his girlfriend out to dinner. She complained about how hard it rode, how low it was, and how noisy it was (this one has no soundproofing on the rear firewall and SSI’s with a dual outlet muffler). As you might guess, she’s not a car person.
After dinner, it was cold, so to turn on the heat, he simply pulled up the two levers between the seats to divert the flow of warmed air from the heat exchangers into the cabin. Immediately, their feet were warmed. (more…)
Why I hate Ansa exhaust systems
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Okay, so I don’t hate Ansa exhaust systems but they annoy me. The system is made of low quality steel that seems to have the half life of burritos at midnight at a college campus, and apparently is an alloy composed of pot metal, wet newspaper, and unobtanium (hence the expense of purchasing one). The resulting system has the corrosion resistance of a sacrificial anode, frequently rusting through in a few years (so much so that flakes of rust come out of the exhaust pipes, along with the unburned hydrocarbons, when the car is run), even on a car not ever used on wet or salty roads.
Mission of the Blog
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
My plan for the blog is simply to post interesting car-related content of various kinds. This will range from observations and thoughts about phenomena in the hobby, to cool things found on the internet such as videos and perhaps the occasional car for sale (Bring a Trailer style). I may periodically rant about something as well, and event coverage is also a possibility. I also want to try and answer the question “why do we love old cars?”, which is of course a huge question, but I plan to focus on one small aspect or answer in each post. Feel free to comment or chime in with suggestions! If you want to be a contributor, tell me your thoughts and that’s also a possibility.
Thanks for following along.