Car Crafting is DEAD

[jcerioni]

In the past era of car crafting, men where measured by the badges of honor they wore on their bloody knuckles, you did not measure up until you spent the night in a pool of automatic transmission fluid, bench pressing a TH400 transmission into place. The language of this fraternity of outcast gearheads lays heavy with mystifying terms such as "triple duce, "410 posi", "huffer", "juice bottle". This curious breed of heathen was addicted to speed, using their ingenuity and skills to push their chariots to ever-newer heights of speed and power. Individuals thought independently. Avant-Guard was being different, not following the crowd. People had brains not money. A car crafter would get an idea and discuss it with some of his buddies over a few brews in the garage, information and experience would be shared, and the idea would evolve and become reality through the blood and sweat of the car crafter. If you could do it cheaper than the next guy could, every one listened. Our financial resources limited us, not our imagination.

As I browse through the pages of the forum and VB Garage, I get the opposite feeling, people here are limited by their imagination, not their pocket books -- $17,000 crate engines, $40,000 for a reputable body shop to do the chassis and paint. These body shops churn out one car after the other, all looking pretty much the same. When I ask some one about their car, I get no answer. It makes me think, they don't even understand the question, more or less capable of giving me back an informative answer. I get the feeling that Car Crafting has morphed into Muscle Car Consumerism. There is no honor in throwing $70-100 k at a body shop with the specification of "Build me a Cool Car". Then taking pictures of it as is slowly makes it way through the body shop, posting to the forum and saying "Look at my cool car!" If you have that much money, you would be better off buying a new Corvette Z06, Ford GT, or Dodge Viper, or dare I say it -- Mitsubishi EVO. Anyone who thinks that these body shop pro-touring cars would ever be able to match up to a modern performance car is just kidding himself or herself.