Less Is More

In an upcoming entry I'll discuss my belief that automotive styling is, for the most part, dead. I believe the success of the retro craze--which has now mostly dissipated, it seems--was a response to the uninspiring designs of a majority of today's cars. A modern take on a classic look proved to be a sales success, yet some persist on taking classic looks and making them barely recognizable.

A large part of it is the desire to personalize one's own car. When Detroit (or Stuttgart or any other factory) cranks out tens of thousands of a model they are often differentiated only by color. In the 1960s manufacturers assisted owners in creating an individual car via the long option list. Ticking certain boxes while ignoring others could result in a car being "one of one", or at least one of very few. The chances you would encounter an identically optioned car in your area of residence would likely be quite small. These unique build sheets of equipment today make some cars more valuable and interesting than others. Unfortunately in the quest for cost containment the option sheets have typically shrunk to a few 'packages'. Though a Pony Package S197 is rare-er they are hardly rare.

Today's solution lies with the aftermarket. For any moderately popular model of vehicle there will be catalogs and web sites teeming with personalizing accessories for your vehicle of choice. When I first picked up a catalog for S197s I was astounded by the myriad of 'billet' aluminum doodads one could screw or snap onto their car. Having attended a fair number of shows I've observed some cars that appear to have rolled through the Mustangs Unlimited warehouse with a super strong magnet in the trunk (of course, billet aluminum doesn't respond to magnets but you get the point). Little dress-up items like door lock knobs are nothing new and have been around since J.C. Whitney first put out a catalog. I succumbed to adding an aluminum shift knob and door lock pulls to my own S197 to replace parts that were worn or cheap looking. These little touches move it slightly away from production line and make it my own along with the dual exhaust conversion, GT rear bumper, GT500 rear spoiler and little plastic chin spoiler I added under the front bumper. I'm not certain I'm done sticking things onto the car as the blackout rear deck panels beckon along with tail lamp trim to match. But my endeavors to change the car's appearance are held in what I believe to be strict accordance with the spirit of the original design. S197 harkens back to the 67-68 Mustang, and to a lesser extent the 69-70 models. Most of my changes are in keeping with that specific style of vehicle and thus look like 'factory' options to my eye.

Where I often cringe are seeing the addition of an array of scoops, spoilers and skirts that significantly change the appearance of the base vehicle. Though I like and respect the changes someone like Chip Foose may make to a classic production car it often seems that these 'catalog' parts do little to improve upon an original design. The featured car above has an 'Eleanor' kit which is an assemblage of parts that try to make a classic car look like...I'm not sure what. It isn't really modern. It isn't mimicking a race car. The Eleanor package seems to have a purpose of simply making the car 'different' and I don't think it works at all.

Side note:  bad enough the car is--to me, anyway--hideous; that it isn't a real Eleanor (which is a 1973 Mustang and a topic for a future entry) adds further insult.

Changing up a car so drastically has me beg the question:  If you bought a classic or retro Mustang because of the way it looks then why are you so intent on changing how it looks? But...do my own changes/additions to my S197 then make me a hypocrite? I suppose this comes down to "It's your car; do with it as you like". Just don't expect the rest of us to like what you've done. If your motivation to personalize is to make it more pleasing to yourself I suppose I have no quarrel. If customizing your car is done simply to get the attention of others then I think you need to review your thinking.

The artists that penned these cars had great vision and talent, no different than the engineers who designed the engines under the hoods. Perhaps some things are best left to the professionals. Sometimes less is more.

Is "Roadkill" Saving The Old Car Hobby?

When I was coming of age in the 1970s with a rabid interest in cars of all types my parents frequently took me to antique car shows. I always had an interest in old machinery of all kinds and developed a healthy respect for history and preservation. One of the unintended consequences of being exposed to the world of restored cars was that I developed a single-minded view that historic vehicles should remain as originally built and--with rare exceptions for 'survivor' cars--returned to as-new condition. To allow a vehicle to languish with signs of age and neglect was nothing short of a crime.

With the completion of my first--and only--restoration of my Fiat 124 Spider I found myself with a very pretty car that replicated perfectly the feel of a 1970 inexpensive Italian sports car. It also had it's share of shortcomings as a result. The bright red paint and new chrome was beautiful but it came with a burden; the constant worry of damage from a flying stone or too-close jacket zipper. Worse still was my paranoia of water and salt that might reignite the ever-present rust lurking beneath the surface of any old car. Though I enjoyed the car for two dozen years the constant pampering to preserve it's appearance detracted somewhat from the joy of using it.

As adulthood brought increased drains on time and finances subsequent 'projects' often became simple tasks of preservation. My 1965 F100 was a delightful truck but with a slowly failing repaint and small blossoms of corrosion. I had to accept that I could not give it the proper restoration it needed in the near future and sold it on after ten years. Too nice to keep outside but with too many body issues to ignore, it fell in-between usable classic and show-worthy collectible. I distanced myself from old cars and trucks, choosing instead to buy S197 and relish the classic look with modern durability and no ill effects from fifty or more years of having lived in the world.

During my constant browsing of all things Mustang I came across the YouTube videos for Motor Trend's online show "Roadkill". Co-host David Freiburger has long been associated with Hot Rod magazine and the cars that grace their pages. The apparent premise of "Roadkill" is to find old cars on the verge of death and resurrect them to the point of being useable without the bother or expense of fixing the cosmetics. Though some of the projects would certainly be ill-advised or bordering on the absurd they are always fun to watch as well as educational. One of the show's repeating propositions is to enter a junkyard, find an interesting car or truck and resurrect it to driving condition. Predictably my favorite of these is the 1969 Mach 1 they nicknamed 'Disgustang', a car filled with various types of animal excrement. Though a hilarious series on car repair it also resulted in the saving of a classic otherwise destined for the crusher. Donuts and burnouts were generated with glee. The car was ridiculous fun despite it's haggard appearance.

Apparently my enjoyment of the shows is not singular. Search 'junkyard rescue' on YouTube and you'll find many other videos by others mimicking the "Roadkill" script. Channels such as Junkyard Diggs and Dylan McCool prove equally compelling. The great thing about these channels is that the participants are typically young guys of a generation many of us have dismissed as not being interested in the same cars we are. It is greatly heartening to see a twenty-something guy getting dirty and resurrecting some forgotten vehicle of the 1960s or 1970s. Cars and trucks even I wouldn't have thought were worth bothering with are finding their way back onto the road. They may not ever shine brightly or win trophies at car shows but they are not getting lost to the crusher...and are teaching another generation about how great old stuff can be.