A casual observer

[Buzz]

Reading many of the other threads, I find it interesting that when the going gets rough, some choose to compound the agony with woeful wails and chicken little cries of impending doom instead of finding calm reassurance in the historic failure of these doomsday prognoses to ever actually materialize.

Remember how bad things looked for auto enthusiasts in 1974 when the Mustang II was rolled out? It was the end of the world as we knew it - the guillotine that was hanging over the head of the muscle car had finally dropped. Then suddenly - by the mid to late 80's, a TPI Vette could hit 150 mph and Buick GN's were smoking tires all over the place. Trans Am GTA's, IROC Camaros and Mustang 5.0's were kicking butts and taking names. Old school big block aficionados stubbornly resisted accepting the new EFI, TPI and turbocharged breed of performance cars, but like it or not, as the new tech evolved, cars were matching the performance of the old dinosaurs AND doing it with way less fuel consumption and cleaner tailpipe emissions.

Dean and Dan and Sharroll are absolutely right. Performance cars will never die. They will just be different, that's all. Today; Vettes, Vipers and lil' Japanese 4 bangers are posting numbers that the old muscle cars could mostly only dream about on a relatively frugal sip of fuel while (comparatively speaking of course) blowing rose petals out their exhaust pipes. Compare a new Vette's performance, gas mileage and emissions to those of a '69 427 or a 70's 454 C3 to put things in perspective.

I guess for some reason it's easier to succumb to paranoia and fear than to face the prospect of change with an open mind, a pioneering spirit and a resolute faith in the inventiveness born of necessity that has come through time and time again.