Ever wish you had the exciting version of your car?

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:42 am

I have a 4-door Chevy Cavalier (I didn't choose it), and in high school there was this girl who had this 2-door Cavalier with a huge spoiler and stuff on it. I guess that could sort of be the exciting version of my car.

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:04 am

Congratulations wrote:I have a 4-door Chevy Cavalier (I didn't choose it), and in high school there was this girl who had this 2-door Cavalier with a huge spoiler and stuff on it. I guess that could sort of be the exciting version of my car.

::whisper::
there's nothing exciting about a Chevy Cavalier

chas · Post by **chas** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:18 am

Congratulations wrote:I have a 4-door Chevy Cavalier (I didn't choose it), and in high school there was this girl who had this 2-door Cavalier with a huge spoiler and stuff on it. I guess that could sort of be the exciting version of my car.

I don't understand cosmetic souping-up of boring cars. Why does someone spend 500 bucks on a spoiler for a Cavalier or the thousands for shiny alloy wheels, stainless exhaust systems, etc. for a Civic rather than getting a slightly more exciting car? My two favorite examples:

In the mid-80's I saw a Yugo with a custom leather bra. After a year, the bra was probably worth more than the car.

Around the same time, I saw (I kid you not) a Pontiac Fiero with a hood scoop. The Fiero was a rear-engine car. IOW, the hood scoop fed air into the trunk.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:56 am

I remember hearing about a car factory that located to Ireland. (South, I was told, although it doesn't signify.)

After it had been operating for six months, a trickle of complaints seemed to grow into a flood - some of the small cars produced there seemed to use more petrol that they should - some of the large cars seemed somehow to lack power.

It turned out that one particular guy was given the job of putting the badges on the chassis. He was an artist. He picked out the badges he liked on the days he felt like it. He had no notion at all that the badge carried any kind of specification to correspond with the engine.

I believe that the factory is still working, although I'm not so sure about the badge man.

"Ach sure it'll all be all right."

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:59 am

chas wrote:
Congratulations wrote:I have a 4-door Chevy Cavalier (I didn't choose it), and in high school there was this girl who had this 2-door Cavalier with a huge spoiler and stuff on it. I guess that could sort of be the exciting version of my car.
I don't understand cosmetic souping-up of boring cars. Why does someone spend 500 bucks on a spoiler for a Cavalier or the thousands for shiny alloy wheels, stainless exhaust systems, etc. for a Civic rather than getting a slightly more exciting car? My two favorite examples:

In the mid-80's I saw a Yugo with a custom leather bra. After a year, the bra was probably worth more than the car.

Around the same time, I saw (I kid you not) a Pontiac Fiero with a hood scoop. The Fiero was a rear-engine car. IOW, the hood scoop fed air into the trunk.

But man... they had 'the look', and 'the look' counts!... (cough)... of course, they could have been joking...

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:54 pm

chas wrote:
Congratulations wrote:I have a 4-door Chevy Cavalier (I didn't choose it), and in high school there was this girl who had this 2-door Cavalier with a huge spoiler and stuff on it. I guess that could sort of be the exciting version of my car.
I don't understand cosmetic souping-up of boring cars. Why does someone spend 500 bucks on a spoiler for a Cavalier or the thousands for shiny alloy wheels, stainless exhaust systems, etc. for a Civic rather than getting a slightly more exciting car? My two favorite examples:

In the mid-80's I saw a Yugo with a custom leather bra. After a year, the bra was probably worth more than the car.

Around the same time, I saw (I kid you not) a Pontiac Fiero with a hood scoop. The Fiero was a rear-engine car. IOW, the hood scoop fed air into the trunk.

That's what those of us who fall into the category of "real performance car owners" call "Rice-boy Syndrome."

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:59 pm

Tyler Morris wrote:
Congratulations wrote:I have a 4-door Chevy Cavalier (I didn't choose it), and in high school there was this girl who had this 2-door Cavalier with a huge spoiler and stuff on it. I guess that could sort of be the exciting version of my car.
::whisper::
there's nothing exciting about a Chevy Cavalier

I agree.

missy · Post by **missy** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:39 pm

Tyler, you'll appreciate this:

Nate once hooked a Folger's can (with both ends cut off) to the exhaust of his pickup!

(For those who may not know, a "riceburner" is a tricked out Japanese car - Honda, Toyota, whatever - and those huge chrome exhaust tips are called "coffee cans").

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:48 pm

Wait a minute! Cavalier's aren't cool?!?! I drove mine like it was:

Avanutria was with me on that trip heading to Wyobadger's place. We were nothing if not adventurous! And we thought pretty cool as well (mostly for not dying after we spun off the highway at 70-ish miles an hour!

) I have since replaced that car with a much nicer, blacker and sexier variety. Nope. no more Chevy's in MY future! LOL

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:43 pm

Had an 83 Cavalier station wagon... I've stuck with Fords ever since.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:26 pm

missy wrote:Tyler, you'll appreciate this:

Nate once hooked a Folger's can (with both ends cut off) to the exhaust of his pickup!

(For those who may not know, a "riceburner" is a tricked out Japanese car - Honda, Toyota, whatever - and those huge chrome exhaust tips are called "coffee cans").

Oh Geeze, don't even get me started.....

We used to joke that every Neuspeed sticker was worth a good 25 hp to those guys with the coffee can exhaust tips.

Hey Tyler, he's a funny one: I swung by this VW tuner's shop one day to pick up a high flow oil impregnated air filter, since no one else local had one. The guy had just recently Finished doing a full race set-up and Turbo install job on his VR6 - full roll cage, five point restraints, coil-over suspension, custom exhaust, etc, and the turbo, which added 100 + hp at full boost (really) which the guy had cranked all the time, of course.

So I'm there buying my air filter and the owner is talking to me and a dude who's an Vee Dub enthusiast from out of town. The shop owner is bragging about the car, how fast it is, etc., and he asks if we want to go for a ride. (One at a time, cause there's no back seat now) and figure, what the hell, it's got 5 point harnesses and a full roll cage, how bad can I get hurt riding with the guy for a few blocks around Tampa, right?

The other dude from out of town says yes too, so I say "Hey, you've got to catch a plane in a couple of hours, you might as well go first, I'm in no rush." But he says he'd rather go second cause he needs to finish buying some things. Fine by me. I get in and strap up while the car warms up, and then off we go.

Well, the car really was bloody fast, and the guy wasn't a bad driver, but he was very smart about the risks he was taking on the street........

We get back after about a 10 minute drive, and the other guy gets in and off the go.

15 minutes later, they haven't returned, 20 minutes later we get a call - they hit another car that changed lanes without signaling, and were going nearly 100mph at the time, this on a back street in the city

We all hop in our cars and drive over to the accident scene, and fortunately no one is hurt (amazing!) but this guy's brand new project car, which he has a ton of money into, is now completely and utterly totaled - even his racing rims are shattered from hitting the curb at a nearly right angle.

Needless to say, the poor guy from out of town missed his plane, and needed to change his pants as well.

You just gotta love those guys.......

Loren

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:37 pm

anniemcu wrote:
chas wrote:Around the same time, I saw (I kid you not) a Pontiac Fiero with a hood scoop. The Fiero was a rear-engine car. IOW, the hood scoop fed air into the trunk.
But man... they had 'the look', and 'the look' counts!... (cough)... of course, they could have been joking...

Not a bit. It's to aerate the bodies.

I have no idea what I could do to make a white Chevy Malibu sexy. I think it'd be better to artify it instead, like covering it with duct tape or hot-glueing shoes all over it. A surface of globby epoxy splooge would be cool, too. Stuff like that.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 5:41 pm

chas wrote:
Around the same time, I saw (I kid you not) a Pontiac Fiero with a hood scoop. The Fiero was a rear-engine car. IOW, the hood scoop fed air into the trunk.

Comes in handy if you want to prevent your abductees from asphyxiating.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:03 pm

Somehow, I don't think you can find an exciting version of one of these (which almost looks like my car, but mine is older, with white on it)