Out for a drive

Took the 1970 1/2 Falcon out for a spin yesterday. Yipes, I haven't had it out in awhile and what a ride it is. The 4:30 Detroit Locker works real well. Nothing like the chirping of the tires when turning a corner. Pulled out on the main road and gave it some gas. Hang on baby. It jumped for the sky and pulled like a freight train. Grab second gear and I'm pushed back in the seat again. It is worth the price of admission.

I don't think there is anything coming off the assembly line today that gives that kind of ride. The new cars have super charger whine and giga watt stereos. Handling like a slot car and conditioned air blowing in your face as you get into triple digit speeds. A sound tube bringing the sound of the air intake into to interior for you to enjoy. Why didn't they just have a recording in the radio of the air inrush that comes on at a specified engine rpm. Sorry, can't interrupt the i-Pod. Nice billet machined shift knob with the personality of a plum. Shifter throw like a light switch on the kitchen wall.

They lack the feel of 375 hp of Detroit cast iron sitting over the front wheels. The sound of air being sucked through a shaker scoop. The music of solid lifters as your pushed back in the seat hoping your eyeballs enjoy bouncing off the back of your skull. Hand on a piece of aluminum with an "H" and the shift pattern engraved into it. Take that shifter handle off the stick hold it in your hand and you can be arrested in 23 states of having an illegal weapon. But officer it is only the shift knob off my Hurst shifter. Grabbing a gear that is actually grabbing a real gear. There is actual linkage moving to stir the gears in a 39 year old American made transmission. The Detroit Locker making sure that both tires are being stripped of a thousand miles of rubber equally.

How can the sensations of slamming the pedal to the metal and being slammed back in your seat like the Hulk just punched you in the chest be explained. The feel of 375 hp at the end of your foot, ready for you to ask it to respond. A linkage to the carb that tells the motor what to do. No drive by wire here. Your input is moving throttle plates and sucking in enough air to knock the space shuttle off it's glide path. This is something that is being lost on the current generation of car people. Today's folks are adjusting injector curves on a lap top. No need to get dirty changing jets. Just fire up the HP and upload all the latest go fast software.

I can clean my carb with Gibbs. Use it as a starting fluid if needed. Do I put a drop of Gibbs on the hinges of my lap top. Will that help me go faster? Yes, it is a new day. I don't necessarily like it but I have grown to accept it. Think what I may, the forces moving the technology forward are not asking me for permission. Accept it or get out my red scooter from 1954 and roll off into the sunset. Excuse me, I have to put a little Gibbs on the wheels of my scooter. Want it to be a smooth effortless ride into the sunset.