cars hotrods ????

[na_th_an]

I have a question for the USA people here.

I've been all my life watching US films and series, and you USA people always name the car using the year it was built. It is really odd. Why is this? Is a Ford Mustang from 1970 different from one from 1971? I've been always curious about this thing. "He came in a delorian from 1985", or "a white chrisler from 1973". Really odd

Here in Europe you see a car and you have no idea of in which year it was built. An Opel Astra from 1998 is exactly the same as one from 2002. Some models change by the passing time, but say they are 20 years using a design and then they change slightly, so all you can say is "old model" or "new model".

[Plasma]

Depends on the car...sometimes there are big changes in the body style between years, other times there's only a few differences.

The Mustang changed quite a bit between 70 and 71.

[na_th_an]

Thanks for clarifying, now I understand it. But anyway people has to be great car lovers to be able to remember those years and tell which year a car is just looking at the car. Wow.

Btw, I always though that the Ford Mustang is a cutie. Appart from those 80s models, of course.

[SJ Zero]

I like the Triumph Spitfire and Triumph TR-7.

http://www.triumphcars.com/images/tct100307uf/1.jpg
http://www.maxspeed.it/manifestazioni/sp...kIII.1.jpg

I'd like to pick up one cheap someday for a poject I'd like to do where I'd strip the whole car down to the frame, sandblast the frame and coat it in fibre glass, make fibre glass copies of all the body panels and such, completely replace the old engine and other infastructure with something out of, say, a wrecked 4wd japanese sports car, and hopefully end up with a light, durable, gas efficient car that goes like a motherf***er.

It sounds crazy, but imagine what a car in such unkillably mint condition could fetch in say...50-60 years? Imagine how fun it would be to drive around in such a car, blowing rice boys off the road as your car does things the original simply wouldn't be capable of.

[Bluffer]

with gas prices reaching near $2.00 a gallon I drive a toyota alot but I still like to drive my Buik Reagal on weekends

How much is gas where you all live per gallon ?

[Zack]

*Forgets conversion between gallons and litres*
In Canada "Land of the metric system", it varies. Highest I've seen in a year is 90Cents (CDN$) per litre, lowest I've seen is something like 50.

[na_th_an]

Fuel is really expensive here. 1.60 € I think a litre.

[Moneo]

My God, Nathan, that's over 6 dollars a gallon! No wonder lots of people in Europe drive around with motor scooters (like a Vespa).

Getting back to your comment about car years or models, US manufacturers generally make drastic changes to their cars every 4 or 5 years, which not only includes body changes but also engine changes. The famous Mustang has undergone many, many changes since first introduced in 1964. First it only had a 6 cylinder engine. In the late 60's it had a 289 cubic inch V8 engine. This 289 was very popular and still offered for many years although the 351 V8 was more common. Then in the 70's came the 302 engine, which could outperform the 351 due to it's better design. In 1979, the Mustang again was redesigned, and the 302 engine was re-baptized as the 5.0 liter engine. They also introduced metric sized tires to give the car a "European" flavor. I bought one of these new, and frankly it was a disappointment. The 5 liter Mustang is still around today having gone through several body style changes. There are also lots of smaller engine Mustangs aroung like some supposedly hot 4 cylinder versions with fancy names like SVO.
*****
So, the thing is that in the USA you generally remember the exact year of a car that had the combination of body and engine that you liked.

[relsoft]

Blame the cartel(OPEC)

[na_th_an]

My God, Nathan, that's over 6 dollars a gallon! No wonder lots of people in Europe drive around with motor scooters (like a Vespa).

Will, our cars simply spend less fuel. That's why nobody buys american cars in Europe: they can't aford the huge amount of fuel they spend. That's why I don't want a car, as well

Getting back to your comment about car years or models, US manufacturers generally make drastic changes to their cars every 4 or 5 years, which not only includes body changes but also engine changes. The famous Mustang has undergone many, many changes since first introduced in 1964. First it only had a 6 cylinder engine. In the late 60's it had a 289 cubic inch V8 engine. This 289 was very popular and still offered for many years although the 351 V8 was more common. Then in the 70's came the 302 engine, which could outperform the 351 due to it's better design. In 1979, the Mustang again was redesigned, and the 302 engine was re-baptized as the 5.0 liter engine. They also introduced metric sized tires to give the car a "European" flavor. I bought one of these new, and frankly it was a disappointment. The 5 liter Mustang is still around today having gone through several body style changes. There are also lots of smaller engine Mustangs aroung like some supposedly hot 4 cylinder versions with fancy names like SVO.
*****
So, the thing is that in the USA you generally remember the exact year of a car that had the combination of body and engine that you liked.

Anyhow, you have to be a car lover for that. I couldn't retain so many details. Mainly 'cause I am not a car lover