đź”· Open Thread

tobyjug said:
Nice Corvette picture. Too bad they don't price the cars so that younger drivers can afford them. Now mostly only old guys like me can buy them, so that they scream mid life crisis.
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The folks at GM went down a false path when they decided to turn the Corvette into a supercar.

Wouldn't you much rather have one of these, Toby?
 
Yes, absolutely! More eccentric. The Bristol engine is actually a prewar BMW 327/328 engine. The Brits did some Soviet style war reparations and walked off with BMW's tools and dies. Check out the Bristol 400!

My only mid (late?) life excuse for those with "knowing" glances is that I've had my red sportscar since my 20's, but it doesn't see the track anymore. I have another late 50's track car (also red), but I'm going to sell it.

Kids ought to have more affordable sports car options than a used Miata, or my nephew's ash can exhaust blindingly yellow Scion.
 
The "big" Bristols are really cool. An "affordable" alternative to a Post-War Bentley Continental or Jaguar Mark II.

"Tuner cars" don't belong in this conversation...
 
I don't mind the vette being a supercar as much as I hate the fact that neither the new mustang, challenger, charger, dart or camaro comes in a barebones power nothing radio delete package with the biggest engine. Wasn't that the whole point of muscle and pony cars back in the day? Massive, cheap power with no options.

Its not just the US companys that do this, I can't buy a barebones VW Golf with a 2.0t without a bunch of stupid crap I don't want either. I just want to go fast, not sit in leather seats, have auto parallel parking, or all the other BS.

When did fast engines become entwined with the luxury packages?
 
You are right. (Although the Mustang is deadly to drive. The rear suspension is too primitive and it is very easy to put into the weeds. Great car for doing donuts, though.)

Even the Japanese have blown it. A kid 40 years ago could afford a decent 240Z if he wanted to hustle a bit. A 370Z today, forget it. These are "nostalgia" cars for old guys like me. And we must have our luxury options to ease the lumbago.
 
Sweet! That is the first car I drove legally: a powder blue Custom 500 two door with dark blue vinyl roof and a 351 Cleveland.
 
davem said:
When did fast engines become entwined with the luxury packages?
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The average consumer already can go as fast as they wish when their typical vanilla Camry can do 0-60 in eight seconds. Or take the base Mustang, which has gone from 150 horses in 1998 to 305 today...that's amazing, but I think it also leaves the average consumer desensitized to speed when even the base model of a cheapo sedan will give them more power than they really need.

So people now look to--what else--technology for their automotive thrills. Will my iPhone sync up? Does it have cool LED lights? Can I get a pretty little flower graphic to show me I'm using my fuel wisely? Or how about a power sunroof?

Manual transmission? The fuck is that??

But really, the tide started to turn back in the '70s when the government, et al. killed the muscle car market. In place of barn-burning 454s we got opera windows and opera lights. And although there was a bit of a resurgence in the '80s (GTIs, CRXs) the market for bare-bones rockets (and coupes in general) never fully recovered.

--

As for the new Corvette, I think it's way too fussy looking. But they say every vent is functional so alrighty then...I guess I'll keep dreaming of cars that aren't the Vette.
 
STATE OF THE STATE is on all local channels right now.

Deval is currently talking about investing in education and infrastructure. Setting up to talk about the new budget.

And Jesus, he is a good speaker. I wish we saw and heard more from him. His DNC speech will certainly never be forgotten.

Haha, South Coast Rail just made its debut!
 
datadyne007 said:
STATE OF THE STATE is on all local channels right now.

Deval is currently talking about investing in education and infrastructure. Setting up to talk about the new budget.

And Jesus, he is a good speaker. I wish we saw and heard more from him. His DNC speech will certainly never be forgotten.

Haha, South Coast Rail just made its debut!
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who on earth would take the commuter rail from fall river to boston, daily?
 
He rightfully wants the CR to cover essentially the whole state. He kept mentioning bringing it out to Western Mass (via reactivation of a disused corridor) and the South Coast.
 
It would probably be cheaper to buy the regular daily commuters chauffeured Town Cars.
 
If the population, job density, or strategic resource isn't there to merit commuter rail (or a highway) then the state should not be funding either form of transportation.
 
What it comes down to is this, New Bedford and Fall River with their welfare rolls that could stretch across the state and back again, those are Deval's people. That's who he works for.
 
Lurker said:
If the population, job density, or strategic resource isn't there to merit commuter rail (or a highway) then the state should not be funding either form of transportation.
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^^This. As much as I want the state to be covered by commuter rails, if there isn't enough of an economic justification to support it, then leave it alone and wait until there is. If they really need public transportation, consider running daily coach buses instead like they do in NYC.
 
kmp1284 said:
What it comes down to is this, New Bedford and Fall River with their welfare rolls that could stretch across the state and back again, those are Deval's people. That's who he works for.
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Actually, New Bedford and Fall River are doing a decent job of attracting the factories and back offices of companies headquartered in Boston/Cambridge. This will give 'those people' access to greater job and educational opportunities not available there.

Transportation infrastructure also encourages and induces future demand. Would you build a highway that is only capable of handling the traffic currently on the road? No, you overbuild for the future because people will be attracted to it. This is how every suburb in the country came to be.

Based off what F-Line has said, the lines are way overbuilt for their purpose. But my point is you have to also look at this as infrastructure that will be there for the next hundred years and has a much easier time adding a marginal rider then a highway ever will.
 
I'd rather get the red/blue connector, the Blue Line extended to Lynn, the Washington Street stretch of the Silver Li(n)e converted to light rail from Boylston and extended along the 23 & 28 bus routes, the Somerville/Medford Green Line extension, and all the existing commuter rail stations upgraded to full time full service accessible stops, than continue low ridership commuter rail expansions to nowhere.
 
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