From Days of old and Years ago when magic rulled the air...

[gv280z]

I haven't been drinking but I'm just a little sad tonight. Don't worry, Danger kitty is fine. I saw the Datsun shirts Rob posted and it made me think of the old days of that car maker. I thought of my old 280zx I once had and just the overall magic that car had. If you had looked at the engine numbers (n/a) on paper in today's society, you'd say...uhh, okay...what am I missing.

 

But when you were in that car driving, it might as well have had 1000 hp and 12" wide ZR1 tires because of the way it made you feel and you didn't care it only had 150 hp...everyone of those hp's were very well appointed. And that wasn't even one of the really popular ones, I never got to experience any of the classic Z cars but I know they made you feel the same way. Today's cars make way more power but they are just mundane..I mean, hell I think even the Ford Fiesta is making like 180 hp or something crazy like that, which I'm proud of Ford for their recent accomplishments...but our modern cars today just don't have the same magic that they used to.

 

That's not all that's got me down. The other thing is, have you realized we are loosing our old people? I don't know if anyone understands that when the Greatest Generation is gone, we'll never have those kind of people again. Anyone born before 1935 - 1940...You know, our grandparents had to grow up hard but they knew how to cook, they knew how to farm and work hard and get things done. How many of you remember as kids going out to gramma's place for Thanksgiving or Christmas and you played with your cousins...I do remember that. We don't do that anymore.

 

Cookies and pies being baked and grandparents doting on the grand kids and giving home made confections...these things are gone here in the next couple of years because our world isn't growing those kinds of people anymore. Technology has surpassed / supplanted us as far as these things are concerned. I mean sure I guess when we get old we can bake those same confections but I don't think it's really the same. I love our old people that I see out in the day, working as a greeter at Walmart or checking my coke and chips in the Buccee's and I make sure to say Hi to them and call by their name and acknowledge them.

 

Why is it that with the relentless passage of time must we extinguish all the magic and happiness in our world?

 

 

Here's to all our Old People and fun cars of the past. I need a beer.

[Slartibartfast]

I hear you on new cars... there's no feel to them, no connection, just drive by wire crap that adjusts things for you and beeps too much.

 

It sort of seems like the idea of a car has gone from a symbol of freedom to a thing that ties you down. New cars are so ridiculously expensive that you'd better have a good job so you can make the payments, and forget having fun with it, that's not a responsible way to treat your investment. Pick a career in high school, work hard all your life so you can afford payments and parking and inspections and gas on a car that's just transportation and the mortgage on the house that's just a place to sleep, and go through the motions of life until you're old enough to retire, and then wonder what you did with your life and why you don't know your kids.

 

I dunno, that's probably just angst talking. I still stumble over the idea that I'm one of the adults now.

 

But yeah, things change, and often those changes end up sucking. Doesn't mean the world's gone to hell, it just means it's changed, and we haven't worked out how to work it yet. It sucked in different ways for the previous generations, and they more or less worked it out. Maybe we'll figure out something better. We're the adults now...

Edited May 22, 2014 by Slartibartfast

[linewar]

All of my grandparents are gone now, but they were of the Greatest Generation. My mom's parents were born in 1918 (father) and 1922 (mother), and my dad's were born in 1916 (step father) and 1925. (mother) We did all that stuff as kids - got together at Christmas, Easter, a couple of times during the summer, early fall, and again at Thanksgiving. I remember spending a week in Lake Charles, LA half of it with my dad's parents and the other half with my mom's. Lol my parents even sent me over from Baton Rouge on the big gray dog one time. (Greyhound) My Granny (Dad's mom) would take me and my cousins swimming and to the arcade, make us homemade fried chicken and bacon sandwiches, and my Grandmother (Mom's mom) would take us for walks down to the local pet store where you could pet and handle the animals. Both my grandfathers served in WW2, my Granddaddy (mom's dad) in the Navy in the Pacific and my Paw Paw (dad's stepfather) in the Army in Europe.

 

Both families had gardens, lived in houses that were paid for, and prioritized relationships over attainments and goals. Since they passed, my mom's side has stayed close and we all still get together, though it's different without our matriarch. Since my Granny passed, my dad's side rarely gets together. She was the glue that held a very diverse and opinionated group of people together and when she passed it dissolved. We still see each other from time to time but we are not close. More like Facebook friends than family.

 

I'm hoping for the day that I'll be able to have the space, money, and leisure time to lovingly restore a classic car. Believe me, a Z car would be near the top of the list of cars I would look for to do that with. When I was 16, a guy down the street was selling his, a 280 somewhere around 76 or 77 model. I was fascinated with that straight 6 because I had never seen one in real life before. Unfortunately it was an automatic, needed work, and I was an irresponsible teenager so I wouldn't have taken care of it the way it needed, so it's for the best that I didn't get it. C'est la vie.

[linewar]

Oh, and I dig the Zeppelin homage in the title. . . "Ramble On."

[Precise1]

Quite maudlin!

 

I disagree somewhat, but mainly because the some of the current generation will say the same thing in future years, just how previous generations have in the past; it is all relative. Progress is relentless, but not always completely positive, and just because something is new, it doesn't mean it is better. I think most people learn this as they grow older, but everyone needs to change with the tide or risk being swept away.

 

Cars definitely had more style and diversity, but they were simpler yet not as reliable. 50 years ago there were about 3x more auto makers then there are now, they either went under or were absorbed by the borg(s) that should have been allowed to go under themselves. New growth would have filled the vacuum with in years; when something gets to large and clumsy to sustain it's self, it needs to die...

 

 

I don't know if anyone understands that when the Greatest Generation is gone, we'll never have those kind of people again. Anyone born before 1935 - 1940...You know, our grandparents had to grow up hard but they knew how to cook, they knew how to farm and work hard and get things done.

Again, I don't think this is correct. I know plenty of hard working people who are skilled at many things, from farming/ranching to mechanics, electronics, building trades, etc, often all in the same person. Jack of all trades certainly still do exist, in this area at least, so I suspect you are specifically talking about suburbanites who just pay attention to their career/pay check and just pay for services and take the rest for granted? I call those technoparasites, because if it wasn't for technology, they would not have any purpose or be able to compete/survive. Don't worry though, I am certain hard times are coming to people in general, and suspect that there will be a shift back to independence and broad skill base. Society is currently set up in a non-sustainable model, and the world is a self leveling system...

 

B

 

 

[gv280z]

tim-BERRRRR!!!!!! You're right, I guess I don't have long to worry about that, the things that set us back also make us stronger. Un-sustainable society, you mean like how we're 20 trillion in debt, the Fed has no gold and we've all forgotten how to get anywhere without a GPS and a smart phone, or parallel park because now our cars do that for us. Yeah...hard times ahead.

[kdj]

Just thought I'd comment on the Datson thing. I was back in the woods tonight and saw a pile of doors, hood grille etc from the first car I was ever in that was rolled-1968 Datson 510. The first time I every did over 120 mph was a 1970 Datsun 240 Z. I still have a bunch of parts from the car I came home in after being born. 1960 Rambler American. I have a 1968 Beaumont from high school and my first car...'62 Belvedere I got it when I was 14 years old. I have the '74 Nova that I bought over 25 years ago. Oh before I got my Pathfinder I drove a '77 VW Westfilia-would sleep 4 adutls and 2 kids, with sink and beer fridge. And yes I still have it. Plus Dans' dads' Mercedes . I think it's time for a garage sale.

[gv280z]

wow Kdj, that's quite a vehicular history there...I don't think I've ever gone 120 in a car either It's cool you've still got the VW, that's a unique one. I like VWs but I've no experience with any except my piece of junk rabbit I had once, my worst car ever. I'm talking about the boxer engine cars though..I don't know if I'll ever get to play with one.