Charger navel-gazing

[lloyd3]

Have you ever wondered why you like what you do?  Why you are drawn to certain things over others?  If there is a formal definition for nostalgia, it would be something like "whatever was cool when you were 16".  I would venture to guess a fair number of us here are affected by that, but with these old cars there is something more going on as well.  When you look how the mass media has used the Dodge Charger over the years (DOH, Blade, Dirty Mary/Crazy Larry, Vanishing Point, etc.) the theme has always had something to do with rebellion and/or some form of lawlessness.  There is also a youthful, sexy, prime-of-life component that seems to get woven-in as well.  

With us now well-into the era of "Big Brother and the Nanny State", with On-Star, anti-lock brakes, GPS, and computers being a large component of modern automobiles these musclecars are truly dinosaurs, but they speak to a very different time in this country, a time of more innocence, more opportunity, and of course, of more freedom (and all the inherent risks associated with it).  America was big and brash then as well, we had kicked ass and won the Second World War and we basically owned everything that was worth owning.  Gas was .22 cents a gallon, insurance was a pittance, and law enforcement was a much smaller presence (and focused on much bigger problems in most places).  "Boys will be boys" was an accepted truism and folks seemed to look the other way if you were acting "a bit boisterous" with your car.  These cars speak to all of that as well.  And, of all the 60s muscle cars, the Charger is argueably the biggest, and the brashest.  They were also affordable, well within reach of all but the most destitute, and they were easy to maintain (ie. sustainable technology!).  

Their appeal is on different levels for different folks, but when you stand next to a healthy, idling big-block, with that shark-like shape and all that sheet metal and chrome, there is something more going on. You can hear it, smell it and even feel it. It's quite a bit like being close to a large and dangerous animal.  One that does your bidding!

[cdr]

 

[shorty442]

Very well said lloyd3.  Now at the age of 66, retired, physically not as spry anymore, I too find myself flashing back to "the good old days".

Some years back I took my teenage son to the Mopar Nats and while we were standing at the approach lanes fence at the dragstrip, I raised my nose to the air, took several sniffs, and said, "smell that?, big cube high octane exhaust without a converter!  much like the old days!"  Ever since then he would look my way whenever we were near a classic burbling away and pantomime the sniff test.

[bull]

America was big and brash then as well, we had kicked ass and won the Second World War and we basically owned everything that was worth owning.  Gas was .22 cents a gallon, insurance was a pittance, and law enforcement was a much smaller presence (and focused on much bigger problems in most places).  "Boys will be boys" was an accepted truism and folks seemed to look the other way if you were acting "a bit boisterous" with your car.  These cars speak to all of that as well.  And, of all the 60s muscle cars, the Charger is argueably the biggest, and the brashest.  They were also affordable, well within reach of all but the most destitute, and they were easy to maintain (ie. sustainable technology!).  

And then came the stinking hippies who whined, cried and protested us into a "progressive" society. And look at us now. We've progressed our way right into the crapper.

[lloyd3]

Continuing on the subject of "old verses new" and "free verses controlled", I just finished reading this article about increasing government restrictions on the licencing and use of older vehicles. As a caveat, this was sourced from a prepper website I occasionally read through, so the level of paranoia is a bit higher than normal.  Still,  I do wonder from time-to-time just how long I'll get to play with these old toys.

http://ericpetersautos.com/2012/04/05/freedom-is-a-smoky-burnout-but-not-for-long/