Schools Of Thought

Hot Rodding seems to have differing schools of thought about what constitutes a success.

With the Biscayne my concern was performance.

Bigger sway-bars, stiffer shocks and springs, wider tires, MOAR DAKKA horsepower, more grunt.

This changed the '91 B-Body from a land yacht to a solid performer.  To the embarrassment of more than a couple 5.0 Mustang owners at both the drags and the autocross.

It was not the fastest car ever made, but it was a solid performer that is still very drivable and comfortable.  I didn't go too far to the upper right of the envelope because I also want reliability.

It was not a shiny or pretty car through most of this.  In fact, making it pretty cost more and didn't last very long.  Making it pretty cost as much as all of the performance mods and maintenance AND gasoline I'd fed it since I bought it in 1996!  Yes, a good paint job costs as much as twenty years of driving it.

That paint job is coming off in huge flakes without affecting the performance a whit.

Yet the pretty is all that matters to a large segment of Hot Rodder.  Several national car shows disallow cars that only have performance modifications if they are too new.

The Biscayne will be getting another paint job soon.  Ace Hardware's flat gray in rattle cans.  Then it gets a lavender bear-claw to symbolize The Boy and lavender outline flames that symbolize hot rodding, my love for my son and my passion for my family and cars.

The new paint is something I can do in the driveway and refresh at will.  $6,500 for a basic paint job should last longer than five years!  $200 in rattle cans sure will.