Best Muscle Cars
Concepts And The Love Of Car Shows
By Mark Weisseg
Like you I have been to many cars shows in my life. It started with our Father and progressed all the way to SEMA.
But every car show has a section of concept cars and when we were young, we wanted them all built because they were so different and cool. Take a look at this ride. Keep in mind when we went to car shows in the 60’s in a station wagon of all things.
So, what do you expect out of young boys when they see something like this?
Finally Dad explained what the concept cars were all about so every time we went, we looked at them in awe but still wished deep down they would build these cool cars so us regular folk could buy them.
Fast forward now all these years later. Dad is gone now but all the “boys” minus two went to the Chicago auto show.
The other “boy” went skiing in Colorado so maybe he was the smart one after all. But all of us guys trudged around the auto show each with something in mind. The young adult new fathers were looking at the dreaded mini vans and the guy who has been a father a while was looking at the four door trucks.
The youngest of the guys was looking at electric cars and hybrids because to him they make the most sense. So, that leaves the three old wise men. Meaning, myself and my two older brothers. I was watching them to see what grabbed them. The oldest was and is still looking at Jeeps. He has a Rubicon all loaded up and loves it so he was checking out the newer models and actually left that day with about ten brochures.
I asked him what he was looking at to buy and in his usual demeanor said he wanted to read up on many different models. That’s my brother. My other brother remains in the car business and does my restorations for me.
He drives many types of cars and changes up what he drives quite a bit. I admit I saw him checking the Challenger Hellcat and the new Ford GT out but it was more curiosity than a need to buy. He and I will attend SEMA this December and we invited the oldest along but it’s not his bag.
Me, I was looking at the Ford GT and the BMW I 8 first. Wow is all I can say. But I am a truck guy at heart so all the big four wheel drives were on my bucket list. My one nephew is a truck guy and he and I had a lot of fun looking at all the rigs. But, I had a secret plan while there that I did not tell anyone about. I was car shopping and determined to sit in the Challenger Hellcat and Mustang GT. Why? Well. At six foot three, 265 pounds I need space. I grabbed my nephew who is into trucks like me and asked him to sit in these cars first. Why? He’s a bigger guy than me by a lot so if he fit I would fit. He dragged me willingly over to a Mustang live dyno show where they got the Stang up to 158 mph before backing off.
I finally got to sit in the Challenger and loved the dash and layout of the interior. It had a sunroof that really made the car look nice. It was a plum crazy color which made it even better. And, FCA was right around the corner doing burnouts in Chargers, Challengers, 300’s and doing Jeep runs through man made bad terrain. My only issue with the Challenger was my head barely touched the headliner.
Now, maybe the seat could be adjusted but no keys were available of course. I really liked this car but I could not nor could my big nephew make any adjustments. Later, we worked our way to the Ford section and we both jumped into Mustangs. Holy cow, leg room, head room and I loved the interior. My big nephew did as well.
Home run for me but I still kept quiet on my plans. I kept thinking about that plum crazy ride and I was a torn guy. But, now I came to peace with what I came for so we all walked about looking at the new Lincoln, a cool concept from Buick for once, a cool SUV from Caddy, a wild Ram truck with a 6.4 hemi in it and so on. It was almost too much for the brain to keep them all.
Even the concept cars, motorcycles, and a device from BMW that was like a cycle car that we all hated. We try to make this an annual event so that all the boys can get together at least once every year.
We are just a bunch of guys walking around a car show dreaming like we were all young again and told not to touch anything. But now we can touch because we all can buy and that is the entire idea isn’t it? Yes, the car show is expensive as is the parking and the food vendors but for one day and one day only we are all one. I can tell you this first hand that the concept cars and trucks are experimental balloons. If half of what they are displaying is in our future we are in good hands.
For all muscle car parts – http://fastmusclecar.com/muscle-car-parts/
2 Comments