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Fireball22's Blogs
| Mar 31, 2008 |
Doing Something Original
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| Mar 03, 2008 |
Historic Stock Car racing VS the "Golden Age"
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| Feb 18, 2008 |
NASCAR Golden Age Society
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| Jan 23, 2008 |
Sponsors, sponsers, and $pon$or$
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| Jan 13, 2008 |
So, just how many sites are you guys on?
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| Jan 09, 2008 |
Park and Fly?
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| Dec 30, 2007 |
Whoa! They woke up!
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| Nov 26, 2007 |
NASCAR's COT has made me an FOY
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| Nov 19, 2007 |
Carster: Asleep at the Switch?
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| Oct 25, 2007 |
Who are those guys?
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| Oct 24, 2007 |
Well, here I am! Now what...?
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Doing Something Original
Monday Mar 31, 2008 11:59:00 AM
I received what I thought was a rather odd car question the other day: "Nice Galaxie. But why didn't you do something original instead of an old race car?"
I had to think on that one a bit. And then I had a good laugh.
I guess that in the online automotive show-world we enjoy on sites like Carster, we all have different ideas of what's "original". I guess re-creating a nearly 45-year old race car as a tribute to a great driver, a race team that would set the standard for NASCAR racecars for the next four decades, and to an important era in racing history, is "unoriginal".
I could go on the offensive and point out that there are probably 5,000 iterations of '92 Honda Civics out there (and equally high numbers of other years of Hondas, Acuras, Eclipses, Legacys, etc., but you get my drift) built as slammed street racers, sporting body cladding, carbon-fiber hoods, rubber-band tires and spoilers that threaten to scrape the underside of freeway overpasses. And yet, each one of those is considered an "original".
And, in my mind, they are. Despite the fact that there are literally tens of thousands of "ricers" out there, each one is just as original as my one-off stock car replica.
It's sad that there are some car enthusiasts remaining out there that can't yet fathom the concept that other car enthusiasts have their own ideas and dreams that may not fit the molds of others. You know who these people are... we call them Haters.
Thankfully, the Carster community has fewer real Haters. Sites like Cardomain, on the other hand, seem to be overrun with them. And they tend to be pretty vocal.
Some owners' cars have few modifications, if any, yet are special to that owner. In a few cases, the owner simply isn't in the position to do something with their particular ride, limited by cash or mechanical ability, and sometimes restricted by both. But they're fellow enthusiasts. Let them have their moment in the spotlight, too.
My 72 year-old dad ("Flumer" on Carster) has built some incredible cars. He is a craftsman, pure and simple. Customized '32 Fords number in the thousands, but each one is seen as original. Their owners tend to be more accepting of the perceptions and conceptualizations of other builders. Maybe it's a matter of maturity, but with very few exceptions will you find someone in that class of owners/builders that you can call a Hater. They recognize that they are part of a brotherhood of automotive enthusiasts.
At the NSRA Street Machine Nationals last October my dad joked to some of his buddies that I have tenth of the investment in my Galaxie of a lot of other builders, yet have more fun with it. And I pretty much do.
Regardless of the fact that you won't find another '64 Galaxie street -legal stock car out there on your local highway, my car was original from the moment I turned the first bolt.
Just like yours.
That's my 2 cents. Your mileage may vary.
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Comments
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Posted By: LedZeppelin
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2008/04/21 09:41:10 PM |
| I went 48 miles on your two cents. Well concieved notion that you have shared here. Sadley, where words like this need to be expressed is in fact Cardomain. I may lift this topic and past it to my page. Again I may not. But the feeling is relevent! |
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