SRD art
10-24-2013, 09:13 PM
Recent thoughts about the industry and where my car fits in, maybe some of you can relate...
What an opportunity it is to live the dream, more specifically to work where you get to be involved in your hobby all day, along with genuine people that love what they do and really enjoy beating on hot cars. Recently on the way home from work at Speedtech (http://www.speedtechperformance.com) it really hit me, I thought, "Wow, we talk about muscle cars all day. How cool is that."
I started out earlier this year working in the shop but my rickety 43 year old body and all my stupid ailments have been getting worse and taking it's toll- slowing me down and making it tough (and sometimes painful) to work on cars. Lucky for me Blake and the crew have been wanting a full-time guy on staff specifically for design and marketing, so now I'm at the computer all day doing my other thing- design. My desk is next to Blake and not far from Jay and Roger and I can't even describe the incredible pro touring based education I'm getting from them. At first I thought getting moved out of the shop was a curse but I now see it as a blessing.
On the not so up side, talking about, hearing about, sitting in, and being a part of some really fantastic cars has been taking it's toll on how I feel about the Pumkinator. I've loved driving the car everyday, it's been incredibly loyal (read reliable) and even gets decent gas mileage. It's an absolute blast to drive, I hit two round-abouts and a fast 90* curve everyday on the way to work and that makes for some fun pucker factor when traffic is light.
BUT, now I get to hear about parts sales not uncommon in the neighborhood of $20K on one ticket, and I get to see some killer $100K + rides roll out of the shop. I've been feeling lately, as a guy who alone supports my wife and 4 kids, there's no way I can keep up with the industry on my income. At 5:00 everyday, after seeing and hearing about high buck refined kick tail Pro Touring cars all day long, I get in my car, fart around with the ebay used auto shifter to get it into gear, listen to that slight tick of one rocker arm that I need to adjust one of these days, then drive down the road listening to factory original beat up weather strip air leaks, the rattle of the glove box and door panels, looking at the banged up dash pad, and knowing that the outside of the car is even worse. My car looks ok from 20 feet, but it's obvious that after sanding all the old bondo off and then running out of my full-time opportunity time to work on the car, the body's pretty rough up close. There's plenty of parking lot wrinkles and blemishes, I guess that's what you get when you buy a well used station wagon. The black semi-gloss sheen of the Rustoleum spray paint is shiny enough to emphasize every sheet metal imperfection in the St. George Utah sun. As I drive home I can't help thinking my car is a bit of an ugly duckling and might just win that award every time if I show up to big Pro-Touring based events. I don't come from a wealthy upbringing, so at a young teen age I learned to trade, bargain, buy used parts, and use a lot of back yard ingenuity to build fun, fast cars. Unfortunately NONE of them ever looked that nice and I never had the coin for the coolest new billet or high dollar add-ons. Just ugly ducklings that performed well while appearance took a back seat. The Pumkinator wagon has followed right along in that same build ethic.
Well, as bummed out as someone may get in this situation, I found the light tonight. I was surfing google for a good definition of "Street Fighter" for a section I'm working on in our new soon to be out Speedtech catalog. After a bit I came across this cool article hosted by Mr. Vengeance on his Street Fighter website. Ron Schwarz's thoughts on street fighters (http://www.thestreetfighters.com/2010/02/interview-with-ron-schwarz-and-his-streetfighter-66-mustang-fastback-2/) Go read it, it may change your point of view just a bit.
I realize now that the proverbial beer goggles have lowered just a bit, in a way I've taken what I have accomplished with my car for granted. During a recent work related email conversation with Jeff Smith of Car Craft mag, my car came up and he took a peek at my build thread (link in my sig below). His response was "Your wagon is cool- and lots of suspension mods." Coming from him that really sank in. Realistically it has a suspension system that should theoretically keep up with some decent higher dollar pro touring cars, but again, because I built it on a budget and utilized a bunch of used parts I've taken it for granted. The car has a killer stance, has wide wheels and half way decent tires all around. The mildly warmed over 406 SBC engine isn't going to win a dyno shootout but it has a near flat 400 ft lbs at the flywheel curve, plenty fine for a short/ nimble autocross track. And I guess even though the body is rough, well, at least it looks good at 20 feet, right? After reading Ron's words I finally felt it's all coming full circle and I realize where my budget deficient car fits in.
All in all, I took the time to post all this to give a shout out and a thanks to Mr Vengeance for hosting the Street Fighter site where it's ok to not have 20x12" Forgelines and be the Billet Specialties poster boy (not that either of those is a bad thing). Another shout out goes to a guy we can all pay respect to, Ron Schwarz. His crazy-tail ingenuity and the guts to just dig in a do what you want to is inspiring. The fact that the end result isn't a show queen, but rather focuses on doing what it was intended to, is a good thing. It sure helps me get my head out of the clouds and wake up from the comatose mind frame of thinking that I need to have a car that has all the latest and greatest parts and wins awards at car shows so I can keep up with "everyone else" around me.
Bottom line is long live Street Fighter cars. Some are pretty, some aren't. Some have some $ into them, some don't. The thing that brings them all together and breaks the cool factor scale remains in the fact that these cars get beat on, driven daily, and even get parked at Wal Mart on occasion. "Who cares if it's not perfect, let's go for a ride and you tell me if you think it's cool..." 'Nuff said. -Ben
What an opportunity it is to live the dream, more specifically to work where you get to be involved in your hobby all day, along with genuine people that love what they do and really enjoy beating on hot cars. Recently on the way home from work at Speedtech (http://www.speedtechperformance.com) it really hit me, I thought, "Wow, we talk about muscle cars all day. How cool is that."
I started out earlier this year working in the shop but my rickety 43 year old body and all my stupid ailments have been getting worse and taking it's toll- slowing me down and making it tough (and sometimes painful) to work on cars. Lucky for me Blake and the crew have been wanting a full-time guy on staff specifically for design and marketing, so now I'm at the computer all day doing my other thing- design. My desk is next to Blake and not far from Jay and Roger and I can't even describe the incredible pro touring based education I'm getting from them. At first I thought getting moved out of the shop was a curse but I now see it as a blessing.
On the not so up side, talking about, hearing about, sitting in, and being a part of some really fantastic cars has been taking it's toll on how I feel about the Pumkinator. I've loved driving the car everyday, it's been incredibly loyal (read reliable) and even gets decent gas mileage. It's an absolute blast to drive, I hit two round-abouts and a fast 90* curve everyday on the way to work and that makes for some fun pucker factor when traffic is light.
BUT, now I get to hear about parts sales not uncommon in the neighborhood of $20K on one ticket, and I get to see some killer $100K + rides roll out of the shop. I've been feeling lately, as a guy who alone supports my wife and 4 kids, there's no way I can keep up with the industry on my income. At 5:00 everyday, after seeing and hearing about high buck refined kick tail Pro Touring cars all day long, I get in my car, fart around with the ebay used auto shifter to get it into gear, listen to that slight tick of one rocker arm that I need to adjust one of these days, then drive down the road listening to factory original beat up weather strip air leaks, the rattle of the glove box and door panels, looking at the banged up dash pad, and knowing that the outside of the car is even worse. My car looks ok from 20 feet, but it's obvious that after sanding all the old bondo off and then running out of my full-time opportunity time to work on the car, the body's pretty rough up close. There's plenty of parking lot wrinkles and blemishes, I guess that's what you get when you buy a well used station wagon. The black semi-gloss sheen of the Rustoleum spray paint is shiny enough to emphasize every sheet metal imperfection in the St. George Utah sun. As I drive home I can't help thinking my car is a bit of an ugly duckling and might just win that award every time if I show up to big Pro-Touring based events. I don't come from a wealthy upbringing, so at a young teen age I learned to trade, bargain, buy used parts, and use a lot of back yard ingenuity to build fun, fast cars. Unfortunately NONE of them ever looked that nice and I never had the coin for the coolest new billet or high dollar add-ons. Just ugly ducklings that performed well while appearance took a back seat. The Pumkinator wagon has followed right along in that same build ethic.
Well, as bummed out as someone may get in this situation, I found the light tonight. I was surfing google for a good definition of "Street Fighter" for a section I'm working on in our new soon to be out Speedtech catalog. After a bit I came across this cool article hosted by Mr. Vengeance on his Street Fighter website. Ron Schwarz's thoughts on street fighters (http://www.thestreetfighters.com/2010/02/interview-with-ron-schwarz-and-his-streetfighter-66-mustang-fastback-2/) Go read it, it may change your point of view just a bit.
I realize now that the proverbial beer goggles have lowered just a bit, in a way I've taken what I have accomplished with my car for granted. During a recent work related email conversation with Jeff Smith of Car Craft mag, my car came up and he took a peek at my build thread (link in my sig below). His response was "Your wagon is cool- and lots of suspension mods." Coming from him that really sank in. Realistically it has a suspension system that should theoretically keep up with some decent higher dollar pro touring cars, but again, because I built it on a budget and utilized a bunch of used parts I've taken it for granted. The car has a killer stance, has wide wheels and half way decent tires all around. The mildly warmed over 406 SBC engine isn't going to win a dyno shootout but it has a near flat 400 ft lbs at the flywheel curve, plenty fine for a short/ nimble autocross track. And I guess even though the body is rough, well, at least it looks good at 20 feet, right? After reading Ron's words I finally felt it's all coming full circle and I realize where my budget deficient car fits in.
All in all, I took the time to post all this to give a shout out and a thanks to Mr Vengeance for hosting the Street Fighter site where it's ok to not have 20x12" Forgelines and be the Billet Specialties poster boy (not that either of those is a bad thing). Another shout out goes to a guy we can all pay respect to, Ron Schwarz. His crazy-tail ingenuity and the guts to just dig in a do what you want to is inspiring. The fact that the end result isn't a show queen, but rather focuses on doing what it was intended to, is a good thing. It sure helps me get my head out of the clouds and wake up from the comatose mind frame of thinking that I need to have a car that has all the latest and greatest parts and wins awards at car shows so I can keep up with "everyone else" around me.
Bottom line is long live Street Fighter cars. Some are pretty, some aren't. Some have some $ into them, some don't. The thing that brings them all together and breaks the cool factor scale remains in the fact that these cars get beat on, driven daily, and even get parked at Wal Mart on occasion. "Who cares if it's not perfect, let's go for a ride and you tell me if you think it's cool..." 'Nuff said. -Ben