Great Amercian Cars

BAD ASP

My favorite for now is the 65 cobra replica. This one has a full injected 427 with a 93mm intercooled turbo. It made 1097 rwhp at 25 lbs of boost. The car weighs 2725 lbs.

audiobliss

FINALLY somebody brought up the Cobra.

Perhaps the most beautiful car I've ever seen. Certainly one I'd love to own one day.

And that particular one sounds ferocious!

skipf

Been a Ford man myself. I currently have a '93 Explorer with 250000 miles on it. Replaced the ball joints at 130000, fuel pump at 150000, re-built the tranny at 210000. That's it. I'd put that up against any import made. My favorite was my '76 Mustang Cobra. It had a 2.8 iron block V-6 that I had my mechanic strip off the air pump and plug the ports at 100000 mi. That lil sucker would eat Chev 350's for lunch. Won many $50 bets from the Chevy boys who just couldn't believe it had a 6 in it. I'd just pop the hood and tell 'em "count the plug wires and gimme my $50." My favorite import was my '69 911. That was one fast and beautiful car. Can't fault German engineering, but they are way out of my price range. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd be driving a new Ford GT.

madmax

I've gone to a couple of Cobra car shows. They are awesome! The only real fault I saw with them (at least in kit form) are the doors. If someone easily bumped into the door with you sitting in the car you could be injured severely. No protection, only a piece of fiberglass angled in towards you and sitting less than an inch away from your shoulder.
madmax

skipf

Yeah, the Cobras didn't offer much protection, but few sports cars do. The biggest death trap I ever had the pleasure to drive was a '72 Lotus Europa. It had a racing h beam chassis, center beam with the front suspension mounted to it and an engine mount box at the rear. The only thing between you and a side impact was a thin sheet of fiberglass. The car was only about 40" tall and weighed 1350 lbs. The lil sucker would take a 90 corner at 70mph like it was rail mounted, but I always was scared of hitting something in it.

BAD ASP

There's no question that when you drive or ride in a car like the cobra you are vulnerable. I equate it to a motorcycle. You do have to develop a different set of driving habits. For one you never run an intersection on a yellow. You never zip through a long line of cars in one lane while yours is empty. When you sit in the cobra your ear is about the same height as the bumper on a full size SUV. Additionally, because the car is so short coupled it will switch ends on you under extreme acceleration. The thrill of driving it outweighs the risk by large measure. You just don't get stupid with it. You definetely do not drink and drive this thing.....it is a magnet for being stopped. Having the turbo allows for very gentle driving and the power is on tap if you light it. If it hooks up acceleration is > 4 sec 0-60 and low 10's in the quarter. Top speed is off the chart with its 6 spd. It would probably go airborn before it would stop pulling.

hearingimpared

I've owned two of what I think are the two greatest American cars. One was the 1972 Buick Riviera and the second was the 1963 Vette with the split window (sans the girl). The Riv had a 455 with a quadro jet. The Vette had a 326 cubic inch V 8. The Vette was like a rabbit off the line, the Riv once going had the overhead to beat out street cars like the Datsun 280 Z.

I will, one day, own at least the Riviera again.

Sherardp

2007 Cadillac STS

rskarvan

One more reason to buy American!!!

TroyD

Sorry Ron, the big three and the UAW are still a bunch of toads. All the widow dressing in the world can't change that.

Imagine if the military was controlled by the UAW.....

BDT

rskarvan

Imagine if the Military were controlled by a Democrat!!!

TroyD

I've been down that road and don't care to repeat it.

BDT

rskarvan

Finally... Troy and I agree on ONE thing.

phipiper10

Read this--American cars aren't really even close to the Japanes makers in terms of reliability and issues.

They still have about twice as many issues as the Japanes makers.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0UDO/is_12_16/ai_98956236

rskarvan

The only reputable source for automotive quality is JD Powers.
Consumer Reports isn't qualified to compare vacuum cleaners... let alone automobiles.

GaryZ06

phipiper10 wrote: »

Read this--American cars aren't really even close to the Japanes makers in terms of reliability and issues.

They still have about twice as many issues as the Japanes makers.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0UDO/is_12_16/ai_98956236

I have to disaggree to a point....my last couple of cars have been American...I had a 99 Camaro SS...Consumer Reports stated it was below average...In the 2.5 years I had it...it was perfect no problems at all....next 2001 Corvette Z06....pretty much trouble free......My current ride 2006 Corvette Z06....pretty much trouble free and my daily driver 2002 Cavalier has been trouble free....according to Consumer Reports this car is below average.....we have 3 Cav's in our family and they have all been trouble free...so in my recent history of American cars they have been very reliable.

Serendipity

Wow - you have a Corvette Z06! My roommate was just talking about this car and said its ultra fast - like 0-60 in 5 seconds or something like that (don't really remember).

That's a great american car.

GaryZ06

appadv wrote: »

Wow - you have a Corvette Z06! My roommate was just talking about this car and said its ultra fast - like 0-60 in 5 seconds or something like that (don't really remember).

That's a great american car.

Yes I have a modded Z06....Bone stock one of the magazines got a 0-60 in 3.4 seconds.:eek:

sucks2beme

GaryZ06 wrote: »

I have to disaggree to a point....my last couple of cars have been American...I had a 99 Camaro SS...Consumer Reports stated it was below average...In the 2.5 years I had it...it was perfect no problems at all....next 2001 Corvette Z06....pretty much trouble free......My current ride 2006 Corvette Z06....pretty much trouble free and my daily driver 2002 Cavalier has been trouble free....according to Consumer Reports this car is below average.....we have 3 Cav's in our family and they have all been trouble free...so in my recent history of American cars they have been very reliable.

My son works for an extended auto warranty company in claims.
American cars have improved. Not up to Toyota standards yet.
They have knocked out some of the lesser imports, and most European
models in quality, but Toyota is still king. I believe Honda is still up there too.
Nissan had dropped down a bit.

GaryZ06

sucks2beme wrote: »

My son works for an extended auto warranty company in claims.
American cars have improved. Not up to Toyota standards yet.
They have knocked out some of the lesser imports, and most European
models in quality, but Toyota is still king. I believe Honda is still up there too.
Nissan had dropped down a bit.

I agree 100%.....American cars have come a longway...

audiobliss

GaryZ06 wrote: »

I agree 100%.....American cars have come a longway...

Yeah, they sure have. I can't argue that quality and reliability have always been a strength with domestics, but it is certainly on the rise and, in my opinion, now is pretty much on par with most of the **** stuff.

The only problem is stupid average Joe consumer is brain washed to think the **** stuff is the best and worth its weight in gold, and won't hear of anything from America. So no one will buy anything domestic, but runs out to buy something from the ****. And the ****, having us stupid consumers under their thumb, raise their prices and let their quality go down (the only two factors they've ever had over domestics). But your stupid, misinformed, apathetic average Joe consumer still raises high the banner of Japanese automotive supremacy and shuns anything domestic.

Now we just have to sit back and see if the general populace will realize what's going on before there are no more domestic manufacturers left to choose from.

GaryZ06

audiobliss wrote: »

Yeah, they sure have. I can't argue that quality and reliability have always been a strength with domestics, but it is certainly on the rise and, in my opinion, now is pretty much on par with most of the **** stuff.

The only problem is stupid average Joe consumer is brain washed to think the **** stuff is the best and worth its weight in gold, and won't hear of anything from America. So no one will buy anything domestic, but runs out to buy something from the ****. And the ****, having us stupid consumers under their thumb, raise their prices and let their quality go down (the only two factors they've ever had over domestics). But your stupid, misinformed, apathetic average Joe consumer still raises high the banner of Japanese automotive supremacy and shuns anything domestic.

Now we just have to sit back and see if the general populace will realize what's going on before there are no more domestic manufacturers left to choose from.

I agree with you...Most people are sheep and follow others...I buy American now cause I like high performance cars and the Japanese don't have any that fit my needs....super fast:D

Systems

GaryZ06 wrote: »

Yes I have a modded Z06....Bone stock one of the magazines got a 0-60 in 3.4 seconds.:eek:

Nice:)

audiobliss

GaryZ06 wrote: »

I agree with you...Most people are sheep and follow others...I buy American now cause I like high performance cars and the Japanese don't have any that fit my needs....super fast:D

Thank you. I'm sure you're the ONLY person on this forum that will agree with me.

GaryZ06

audiobliss wrote: »

Thank you. I'm sure you're the ONLY person on this forum that will agree with me.

heiney9

audiobliss wrote: »

Yeah, they sure have. I can't argue that quality and reliability have always been a strength with domestics, but it is certainly on the rise and, in my opinion, now is pretty much on par with most of the **** stuff.

The only problem is stupid average Joe consumer is brain washed to think the **** stuff is the best and worth its weight in gold, and won't hear of anything from America. So no one will buy anything domestic, but runs out to buy something from the ****. And the ****, having us stupid consumers under their thumb, raise their prices and let their quality go down (the only two factors they've ever had over domestics). But your stupid, misinformed, apathetic average Joe consumer still raises high the banner of Japanese automotive supremacy and shuns anything domestic.

Now we just have to sit back and see if the general populace will realize what's going on before there are no more domestic manufacturers left to choose from.

Oh yes, blame on the stupid consumers. Must feel good to be so smart.......and drive an american car. Let me just toss this out there many of the more reliable american cars are derived from Japanese models or joint design agreements and *gasp* use foreign made and designed parts :eek: .

Oh no you say..........that can't be!!!! My Pontiac Vibe certainly can't have anything in commom with the Toyota Matrix.

sucks2beme

audiobliss wrote: »

Yeah, they sure have. I can't argue that quality and reliability have always been a strength with domestics, but it is certainly on the rise and, in my opinion, now is pretty much on par with most of the **** stuff.
.

Detroit is still more worried that fixing problems will cause class action lawsuits than making us happy. It must of been defective, or you wouldn't of improved it!
They haven't made any front wheel drive stuff worth crap. Their stregth
has been rear wheel/V8 combos. The latest gas crunch will really hurt them.

Toyota's new push into full size trucks might backfire. There are few
small trucks left. The traditional small ones are now close to full size in
size, weight, MPG, and price. If gas hits and stays at $4, the big trucks are gonna take a hit.
Toyota built a huge truck plant South of San Antone. Time will tell if it was a good time to not go with where their traditional sales base was at.

audiobliss

I never said anything about design, engineering, collaboration on such, where parts came from, or where they're assembled. I've made no allusions to any such things.

I just commented on 'domestics' versus 'imports'.

heiney9 wrote: »

Must feel good to .......drive an american car.

And yes, it does.

Mike682

audiobliss wrote: »

Thank you. I'm sure you're the ONLY person on this forum that will agree with me.

I also agree.:D

audiobliss

Woohoo!