The Future of Pony Cars

The Future of Pony Cars

Pony cars are a segment of the automotive landscape near and dear to me. I love and respect all three major manufacturer’s versions of these cars as offered in both past and present iterations. All had their perspective strengths and weaknesses and the argument of who built the best one could go on for days if not weeks at a time. This entry is not a focus of where they’ve been or who is building a superior product, rather it’s where they are and where they are headed. I will tackle each of the Big 3’s offerings here and offer what are my opinions of the future of each car. I may be completely off on all of my predictions here or only partly correct, so just remember these are just my opinions and not any facts of production yet, but they are based on my daily readings of various blogs and news stories about the Big 3 or about the pony cars.



Is this the shape of the next Mustang?



Up first is the car that started it all, the original Pony car the Ford Mustang. Significantly revised for 2005 and updated several times since then the Mustang today offers a solid performance value.  The current V6 base model makes more horsepower than many of its V8 predecessors, the legendary 5.0 badge and displacement made their return recently and offered one of the best V8’s Ford has ever produced in terms of performance and technology. For 2013, the Mustang will get a slight bump in power, some cosmetic changes and that’s about it. The Shelby GT500 model gets the significant improvements with a revamped 5.8L DOHC V8 producing an astounding 650HP. Along with that you can get electronically controlled suspension and a top speed in the coupe of at least 200 MPH, provided you can find a police free, empty stretch of road long and straight enough for you to safely enjoy such a feat (better keep that one to the track).

The Mustang will celebrate it’s 50^th birthday soon and it would seem that the original Pony will be maturing a bit. Rumors are flying around that the long used 8.8” solid axle will be ditched for an independent rear suspension, let’s hope it’s superior to Ford’s previous attempts at offering an IRS equipped Mustang in the 1999-2004 Cobras.  Since the Mustang is to be a “World Car” in line with Ford’s current “One Ford” strategy it would make sense that an IRS is probably a sure thing in the next generation Mustang in order for it to compete on a global scale.

Rumors abound as well of a four cylinder version coming onboard perhaps in lieu of the current V6. This may make sense as well. The upcoming Focus ST will offer a 250ish HP 2.0L Ecoboost direct injected and turbo charged four cylinder. I would venture that with some tweaks to displacement or in turbo and injector size as well as computer calibrations that this same engine could be applied to a rear drive configuration in a Mustang with the same power as the current V6 offering. Let us hope too though that the next generation car is light enough to make good use of a 4 cylinder base powertrain.  As I am writing and editing this both Top Gear and Motor Trend have rumor reports of a 2.3L SVO powertrain rumored for the next Mustang.

I would expect the 5.0L engine to live on, though I would imagine it will be an updated iteration to feature direct injection allowing for perhaps more power and better fuel economy as well as lower emissions. Remember folks CAFÉ restrictions are coming soon and they threaten to strangle all manner of cars within the auto industry not just the performance cars and big trucks. Direct injection for the 5.0 also makes sense. The current engine’s cylinder heads are setup to easily allow for direct injection as designed originally. Some revisions in designs and tooling as well as a new intake manifold and valve covers are the biggest bits of what will be needed to make this change physically to the current engine. This change may also allow for another bump in the engine’s compression ratio.

The Shelby GT500 if it survives I imagine will also make use of the 5.0L. While Ford made a significant investment in the current 5.8L adding new tech such as piston cooling jets this engine is essentially becoming long in the tooth. Still a derivative of the modular platform that was developed way back in the 1980’s and first seen in Crown Vic’s as a 4.6L in the early 90’s this engine is destined to go by the wayside soon. While the 650HP number is quite spectacular from the current car and the most powerful production Ford engine ever, I don’t see how it can last in this form with the new CAFÉ standards looming.  SVT also is rumored to be going by the wayside as we know it and being incorporated into the ST line as part of the “One Ford” vision. This may also contribute to the Shelby receiving a heavily hopped up version of the 5.0, quite possibly making at or close to the current 650HP mark. A lot of this may also depend on what the competition is doing.

As far as chassis and body goes on the new Mustang. It is my hope that it will be a smaller car, lighter in weight and stiffer. Since this will be the first truly worldwide Mustang sold in multiple international markets would expect the interior to be a little more upscale. The current chassis is good but there is always room for improvement.

As far as appearance goes, what will it look like is perhaps as big a question for most people as is how much horsepower will be under the hood. I say look no further than the EVOS concept for your basic shape and design. This concept according to Ford represents the styling direction of Ford for the next several years. Looking at multiple pictures of this concept there are several things that standout as to why I believe this is the shape of the next generation Mustang. The first is the car’s layout, it is very much Pony car in it’s long hood and short rear deck or even hatchback design. Now forget about the four gullwing doors, that’s just a concept car design gimmick to get attention at shows.  Look closely at the photos too and you see some big brakes on this car, also a performance car hallmark these days. If you removed the taillights from the rear deck and replaced them with an updated variant of the Mustang three bar design that harkens back to 1965 as well as has been back in use since 1994 in some variation or another. Stretch the too thin front lamps down, move the grille up and change it from the current shape to a more traditional for Mustang trapezoid shape, stick the running Pony in the middle and there you have it.





Now for all you bowtie lovers, let’s talk about the Camaro. This car was late getting back in the party having only just recently come back to market. Like anyone who is late to the party though, the Camaro has made a big entrance. Coming on the scene besting it’s chief competitor (the Mustang) by 100 horsepower when it debuted the Camaro has made waves once again in the pony car/muscle car market, just as it did back in 1967. The styling of the current car can be a bit polarizing, it also kills visibility from the driver’s seat, some love it, some hate it. I will admit from my perspective that while the concept was great at the time it was revealed GM was too slow to market with this car and it came in far too late in the retro crazy pony car rebirth. In spite of all this the Camaro has managed to outsell the Mustang the past two years in a row, no small feat, and probably partially attributed to loyal fans holding out for the Camaro to return to the scene.

The upcoming ZL1 Camaro promises even more fun for those who can afford the sticker. Much like the GT500 is Ford’s top Mustang offering the ZL1 will be the top shelf Camaro. Currently boasting a supercharged 580HP as well as electronically adjustable suspension technology taken from the Corvette, the ZL1 will be a force to be reckoned with on the street and track. Make no mistake about it there will be a horsepower and a performance figures war between Ford and GM for supremacy, bragging rights and customer’s cash at least until 2015.



My opinion Code 130R = 2015 Camaro



Also due for a refresh in 2015 the Camaro faces the same challenges as the Mustang in terms of fuel economy while maintaining performance.  GM has already shown its hand in terms of what will be under the hood though.  The next generation small block Chevy V8 is set to debut in the 2013 Chevy Corvette. Much like the LS1 debuted in the mid 90’s in the C5 corvette the new small block will debut here in GM’s flagship before various versions of it make their way throughout the production line over the next few years. Technology that GM V8’s have made due without (and by made due I mean done very well for themselves)  for the last several years will be standard on this engine, variable camshaft timing and direct injection are promised. We know in the C7 Vette that displacement will drop to 5.5 liters although GM maintains that performance will be equal or better than current power outputs. It would make sense that the Camaro will receive either a 5.5 liter, 5.0 liter or similar version of this same engine, with the same or slightly less power than the big brother Corvette makes.

Base powertrain is also likely to be a forced induction four cylinder. GM has a lot more experience in this department than Ford having developed hot cars like the Cobalt SS and the turbocharged Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice a few years back. They also have already proven these types of powertrains in a rear drive applications (the above mentioned Pontiac and Saturn). I would expect these four cylinders to also deliver the same or better performance than the V6’s they will likely replace though their power output will likely be in the 300HP range.

The ZL1 like the GT500 will either remain or will be the last gasp of the high horsepower battle between Ford and GM. I fully expect the ZL1 to get even more power before 2015 as Ford and Chevy duke it out for pony car muscle supremacy. If the ZL1 remains it will likely be just as the GT500 would be a lower displacement but still high output engine. Still utilizing forced induction this GM performance bruiser could theoretically continue fighting against Shelby until the market for such cars dries up.

As far as appearance and chassis goes. Much like I believe Ford has already shown their cards in this respect I also believe that GM has shown it as well. Look at the Code 130R concept car from GM. Right now GM has an issue, an age issue. The average age of a Chevy buyer is 55. They need to attract a younger audience. However building two rear wheel drive performance cars in the current market (the Camaro and the 130R) makes little sense to me as one could cannibalize the sales of the other. This might have made sense in the 1960’s but today there is too much competition from other brands, let alone from within. Higher ups at Chevy have said they will tour the Code 130R concept this year to gauge public opinion. I see this as the next Camaro and Chevy shifting the focus from aging Baby Boomers and 40+ crowd buyers for Camaros back to the youth market that the car was originally intended for in the 60’s when it first debuted.

Other reasons I believe the Code 130R to be the next Camaro, it is built on the same platform as the upcoming Cadillac ATS sedan. This is also the same platform that the next generation Camaro will ride on according to GM. Again final shape and styling are all subject to a little tweaking but the retro theme is now literally old and will most likely see its end with the debut of the next car. This small lightweight car would be a true pony car in every sense. The concept also featured an independent rear suspension, something already present in the current Camaro.

Inside I would look for plenty of upgrades to the Camaro over even the current car. I also would imagine a new infotainment system similar to what will be offered on the upcoming ATS. Again I might be totally wrong on this prediction but the more I look at the pictures of the Code 130R the more I say, there’s your next generation Camaro.

In the handling department I expect the electronically adjustable suspension which is debuting on the upcoming ZL1 to trickle its way to the option packages on future Camaros, perhaps even on this generation car as well as the next generation much like it has over the years on the Corvette where it first appeared.

Transmission wise I think a 6 speed manual is the available transmission across the board in all models as well as possibly an eight speed automatic. Rumor is that a seven or eight speed manual trans will be available in the upcoming C7 Corvette, if this is true I would look for that to take the place of a 6 speed manual in the 2015 Camaro.

The last of the Big 3 ponycars is the Dodge Challenger. Little has been mentioned other than a few whispers about the future of the Challenger. Rumor has it that this nameplate is going by the wayside along with the current “big” car. The Challenger is a big car indeed, bigger than either the Camaro or the Mustang. While stylistically the closest appearing to its retro inspiration it is also the lowest volume seller of the three. Still the Challenger is a good car, with great power and plenty of options.  This is a car is a platform that was missing from Chrysler’s lineup for over 30 years in terms of a rear wheel drive pony car.

All of my info on the future of a Chrysler pony car is based on rumors I’ve read and speculation on my part. Chrysler has been either tight lipped or is simply behind in developing a plan for what’s next. Rumor has it that Chrysler will replace the Dodge Challenger with an SRT branded ‘Cuda or Barracuda model in the near future. The car will still be rear wheel drive. Powertrains are as yet unnamed. I would suspect a variant of the Hemi V8, perhaps even with variable cam timing and Chrysler’s displacement on demand systems shutting down individual cylinders during even or part throttle cruising to save fuel.

I would also suspect much like Ford and GM that a four cylinder forced induction base model engine will be offered that is at least the equivalent in power and performance to the current V6 base model. If the current model is an SRT brand only though, it is possible that it may only be offered as a hot V8 and in limited production. Think little brother to the Viper but not a high volume car like the Camaro or Mustang. Another possibility is that the Pentastar which is Chrysler’s new V6 could remain an option as the base engine in the ‘Cuda as this engine offers significant refinements in terms of power and efficiency, all of this is of course speculation.

In the styling department Chrysler has said that the replacement for the Challenger will not be retro. This is the first of the big 3 to come out and make this statement known. Though they have said that the new car will pay homage however to the models that came before it and bore its name just not in a completely retro fashion as the Challenger does.  It would also make sense that the ‘Cuda replacement will be a much smaller car than the current Challenger.

Chrysler has in the last two years made dramatic improvements with respect to interior quality throughout its lineup, I expect this to continue here.  This really is all I have read or know about what’s coming from Chrysler with respect to their pony car, a model which may have been neglected in the recent merger with Fiat due to the increased focus on small cars.

Chances are if you’re reading this blog posting you have at least some interest in performance cars or pony cars in general. What I hope is not going to happen is 1974 all over again. Manufacturer’s back then delayed far too long and did not develop the necessary technologies and strategies to meet consumer and government demands. Performance can be had in smaller, lighter packages but without sacrificing V8 power and while netting better fuel economy. Let’s hope that the Big 3 learn from the past and don’t set our performance figures back 20+ years because they were unable to cope with changing times and standards.

A Geographical Oddity

A Geographical Oddity



On this day I nearly was a man of cosntant sorrow



I felt like I was in a movie, one movie in particular came to mind, even a specific scene from “O Brother Where Art Thou”. I’ve seen this film I don’t know how many times and I found myself now in a situation that resembled a comic moment from that movie. Let me back things up to how I got there first.

It was a very hot and humid summer day a few years back, I’m going to say around 2007, or 2008. Sydney and I had left the house late in the morning and were headed to her sister’s home outside of Bloomfield, KY. We were going to a birthday party for one of my nephews although at this time I don’t remember which one.

Since these three nephews in particular are car crazy there was no debating on which car to drive, we took my Mustang. The kids always got a kick out of it, primarily because its loud and to them it’s fast (It’s fun to me not necessarily what I would describe as fast). The car’s loud, (because of the changes I made to the exhaust), it’s shiny, it looks pretty good and it’s a Mustang so the kids are into it. I try to make it a point to bring it over on special occasions since it usually gets them excited.

Since this car is only driven in nice weather it also spends a lot of time sitting in my garage. Normally I keep a trickle charger or battery maintaining device connected to the car so the battery does not drain during long periods between drives. That being said on this particular day the battery was low because it was summer and I hadn’t hooked the car up the charger (I drive it a lot more in the summer).  I had to jump start the car to get it going. I had no reason to be worried otherwise, it had been sitting for about a month as I’d been to busy to get it out and drive it. I was working under the false assumption that a jumpstart and the drive to see the kids would be enough to recharge my battery.

Upon hitting the interstate I realized I would need to get gas at some point if I was to make it to Bloomfield. I decided that I would stop at one of the several stations that dotted hwy 55 between Jeffersontown and Taylorsville, planning to stop closer to Taylorsville since it would give the battery longer to be recharged by the car’s alternator. I chose a gas station and pulled in, filled the tank up and to my horror found that the battery still lacked a strong enough charge to start my car. Since I had yet to make the changeover to a manual transmission that I desired to have in this car from the automatic transmission it came with there would be no push starting.

I was certain that the gas station which featured a small general store/food mart would sell jumper cables as I can recall seeing them at several gas stations through the years. This however was not the case, there were plenty of fireworks and overpriced engine oil, but no jumper cables to be found.

 A good Samaritan inside the gas station offered to go to his house, retrieve jumper cables and come back to get me started, he made good on his offer and I thanked him profusely. Back on the road I knew there was a NAPA auto parts store just on the edge of Taylorsville, my plan was to stop in, buy a new battery and a wrench to install it, this would keep me going not only for the day but also be a better solution to this minor but agitating problem. I found it ironic as well that as someone who worked in the car business daily I was on the other side of the counter so to speak, now in need of someone else’s assistance so I could remedy my car woes.

Upon arrive at NAPA I left the car idling with my wife sitting in the passenger’s seat and ran inside. I was certain they would have a battery since it should have been a common size fitting many Ford and other applications . Approaching the parts counter a rather greasy man with a scraggly beard and dirty t-shirt seemed to ask with his eyes



How hard could it be to find a battery to fit this car?



“Whaddya need city boy” (he didn’t say that, he didn’t say a word).

“Hi, I need a battery for a ’98 Mustang, 4.6L.” I began.

He grunted and began staring at his computer as if it had heard my voice and was going to give an audible response.  He finger pecked away at the keys and tapped the keyboard a few more times.

“Ain’t got it, could have one Monday, probably more like Tuesday though.” He said.

“You don’t have something that I could substitute in it’s place do you? I’m not from this area and so I really can’t wait until Tuesday.” I asked.

“Nope, but you can try ole Smitty’s gas station ‘round the corner, he might have one.”  He said in between drags on his ashy Marlboro.

“Great thanks”.

I made my way out the door and kept my fingers crossed that the car had not stalled or shut off for some inexplicable reason. Five minutes later I was “’round the corner” at “ole Smitty’s”.  I found an older man, balding with white hair and glasses sitting in coveralls on a bench in the shade just outside the garage door on the side of the building.

“How you doing” I greeted him.

“Well, it’s hot” he replied grumpily.  With that reply, I wanted to smartly say “well you know it’s probably not the best weather for coveralls” but I refrained. I could already tell this was most likely also going to be futile, since I wasn’t driving a 1975 Chevy or 1984 Ford pickup it would seem that no one stocked batteries that fit anything but these two models. I would soon find that this premonition had been correct.

After telling the man what battery I needed he lead me to a room in the back where he had batteries literally stacked or piled almost floor to ceiling. After scanning his “Inventory” for a few minutes he said:

“Ain’t got one, probably have it Monday, more like Tuesday”.

It was at that moment I realized I was trapped in a scene similar to the one in “O Brother Where Art Thou”. If you’ve seen this movie try to recall the scene at the general store where George Clooney’s character (Ulysses “Everett” McGill) is looking for parts to repair his broken down (and stolen) car as well as some “Dapper Dan” hair jelly. The store owner tells him both the car parts and the hair jelly are about two weeks away, to which Everett replies “Well ain’t this place a geographical oddity, two weeks from everywhere”.  That one line sums up how I was feeling about Taylorsville on this particular Saturday afternoon.

I am thankful to say that we made it to the birthday party, and with the aide of my brother in law Terry we hit the Wal-Mart in the big metropolis of Bardstown, KY to get a battery so Sydney and I could get home that evening.

I grew up in and still live in what I consider a small town, but I have to say that I was probably spoiled by living in such close proximity to Louisville. It always seemed if we couldn’t find what we needed as kids we were just a short drive from somewhere else that would have it.

It was interesting also to be the customer for a change and remember that helpless feeling when you’re hoping someone else can help you with your car. Sometimes in my work life I forget how much more I know about cars than many of my customer’s and how they must feel being on the other side of the counter. It’s times like that when I need to remember how I felt standing in that NAPA store or there with “ole Smitty” trying to get something as simple as a new battery so I could get on with what I had planned for my Saturday.

I loathe mediocrity

I loathe mediocrity.

I want to make a clear distinction before I even start. Trying your hardest and failing is part of life and that is not what I mean by settling for mediocrity. It is when you put forth only the minimum effort and end up with a result that is just passing or then failing that you have strived for mediocrity only.

Trying for mediocrity really bothers me. We’re all guilty of it on some level. Sometimes we just don’t feel up to the task that is at hand. Sometimes it’s a task that we’re really not enthused about. Sometimes we just don’t know what we’re doing. So instead of putting out that effort that could end up in a great result we just put out enough to know that it satisfies the criteria for completion.

This could stem from a fear of failure. Often a go big or go home, an all or nothing attitude is what it may take to succeed at a difficult task. The less difficult path may not offer as stellar of a result but may offer the safety net of no chance for failure. That’s not to say that striving for excellence is always a do or die, win or lose scenario since each situation is different. Putting out what is acceptable instead of exceptional though is what we see all too often in our society and what continues to lower the bar for others and bring us down a notch as human beings and as a society.

Too often in recent times we had discouraged competition, thwarted healthy rivalries and detracted from the hard work of those who are successful, in order to not offend or upset those who are only putting for the minimal effort. I would argue that we should instead be rewarding and incentivizing those who do well, who succeed and put forth the extra effort and encouraging those who put forth a worthy effort but fall short of the goal to try harder the next time. Those putting forth only the minimal should be encouraged to put more effort in, incentivized to put their best effort forward and praised for it only when doing so.

On several occasions I’ve read in horror stories of little league games that don’t keep score, where everyone gets a trophy at the end of the year. Really? Playing and not keeping score was called “practice” when I was a kid not a “game”.  What does this scoreless type of competition really teach those kids? I’m all for teaching equality and fairness, for praising a hearty effort. I also feel though that teaching kids that putting forth your best effort and failing is sometimes all that you can do and that you must face that throughout life. I’m also for the old cliché “to the victor go the spoils”. Teaching these lessons to kids is a good life lesson and when done properly will help make them a stronger individual as an adult. When those same kids try and fail showing them how to seize the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and try again is often one of the best teaching aides we can find. How else do we learn how to do something right if we don’t first understand what didn’t work on the first attempt? A toddler would not take their first steps without first learning what didn’t work to get them moving independently on two feet. Why would we coddle our kids and expect them to not learn the same things from their own efforts elsewhere in their lives? Why do we do this to ourselves and our co-workers or family as well?

Consider Thomas Edison. Edison was one of the great scientific and engineering minds of the 1800’s, revolutionizing the way we use electricity and coming up with a practical and safe electric light bulb (among many other fantastic inventions). Depending on the account you read it is said Edison failed to satisfy his requirements for an electric light bulb anywhere from hundreds to thousands of times before finding the right combination of correct parts and processes to create the bulb that satisfied his demands. Edison is often famously quoted as saying he did not fail hundreds (or thousands) of times he simply found that many ways not to make a bulb.

Imagine if Edison had simply strived for mediocrity. Safe, practical, longer life bulbs might have taken years or even decades to perfect if ever at all. The industrial revolution might have stalled or at least slowed down greatly. Reliable lighting in our homes and work places might have taken years to develop.

Consider this as well. There is often talk about decreasing the demands placed on medical students. These students often must work grueling hours completing internships as well as finding time in between to study what would seem to be a ludicrous amount of material in order to take and pass tests. I would argue these tests and ways of doing things exists for a reason. Physicians make life and death decisions, even treating a minor illness if done poorly could turn into a major ailment for a patient. Would you keep going to a physician who was unsure, indecisive or who appeared to cave under pressure when it was time to make difficult decisions? I am by no means saying physicians are perfect or that they never make a mistake. However if we lower the bar, relax the standards and settle for mediocrity with our medical professionals what quality of service are we going to get? Are you going to want to be treated by a mediocre physician?

Have you ever been somewhere and received bad service? Whether it was a restaurant, a retail store, getting your car fixed or buying a car? Why were you unhappy with that service? Chances are good it was because someone involved at some level, maybe not even the person you were dealing with was only putting forth a mediocre effort.

As a country we have in many ways settled for mediocrity because it’s comfortable. We’re fat, we’re lazy, instead of playing sports we pay big money for cable or satellite or game tickets and we watch other people get paid millions to play. We spend hours in front of the TV stuffing our faces in a comfy chair, if you like that sport so much why not go out and participate in a recreational league? Their all over the place. We’ve generally accepted and decided that it’s ok to file for bankruptcy; it’s ok to be on welfare or food stamps or other public assistance. I’m fine with you being on public assistance of some sort if you really need it, what is not ok is people who mooch the system and abuse it because they’ve settled for mediocrity instead of striving to be the best they can be. Those who choose to sit at home in their subsidized housing watching daytime tv and waiting for their next check to come in so they can buy some more scratch off lottery tickets at the store. The same goes for bankruptcy, if you’ve done all you can and you’re left with no other alternative then you are forced into it. If on the other hand you went out ran up a bunch of bills and instead of paying them you just decided it would be easier not to work hard and pay it off, then you have settled for mediocrity. There are all types of examples I could keep going on about, it has become too easy to take the low road instead of the high road and that’s the point I’m trying to make. What are we missing out on, what are we limiting ourselves to?

When I run in an event/race I know my limits and I work that entire race to run at the limit I set to meet my goal. Prior to that event I have spent countless hours in the weeks or months prior putting countless miles under my feet. I spend time training my body to get faster, become more efficient and be stronger. I spend hours each week in the swimming pool as cross training, improving my heart muscle, getting stronger and my improving my lungs. I stretch, I eat healthy food. On race day I often wake up at 4 or 5 am to eat a breakfast that will provide me with the energy I will need in a few hours (I go back to sleep after I eat). On some of those training days when my alarm goes off very early and I need to get a run in, or on those nights when it’s cold and rainy and it would be easier to stay in bed or stay on the couch than go to the YMCA and swim, I remind myself that I’m working toward a goal and that settling for mediocrity is what too many other people are doing at that moment. I really think that training physically has made my attitude better, and made me a better worker and better person.

Yes these are economically and in some ways socially difficult times. No, you are not expected to be the next Thomas Edison. Hardship though is often the fire that tempers an individual and breeds innovation. If we could all strive at our daily lives the way that we do at many of our personal goals, the way that many of our relatives did during times like the depression or the second world war then we might lose that acceptance of mediocrity and might make our society and our world a better place. Think of what we could do if we would just hold those ideals of doing our best high again.

Do You Kiss Your Mother with that Mouth?

Do You Kiss Your Mother with that Mouth?

Is it a case of life imitating art? I believe that may be a part of where this particular problem stems from though I do not completely blame movies, music or media entirely. I do realize that yes this is a free country and that the first amendment guarantees us free speech. What troubles me is the proliferation and rampant use of foul language in everyday settings, which seems to be growing.

You may be guilty of it yourself. I will grant you that in private or under extreme stress sometimes there may be no better word in the heat of the moment to describe or fit the agony, frustration or turmoil you are currently suffering. I would admit to being as guilty as anyone of giving in and using this type of language in the past, though as of the last several years I have made a conscious effort to curb that to a number of occurrences per year that could be counted on both hands at the most. As an alternative I often times mutter complete nonsense to myself as I’m working on a frustrating or difficult project; it usually makes me laugh and lightens my mood.

If Ralphie were a real person today he'd go blind from soap poisoning

Back to my opening statement, consider this; Hollywood is constantly trying to push the envelope, as is the music industry in many cases. The problem with language as I see it is that they’ve gone as far as they can go. Unlike gore, sex and nudity which “artists” will continue to push the limits of, there are only so many swear words available. So the only way to go further is to just keep piling on the expletives. When the only adjective in a sentence is the constant repetition of the same four letter word (or that word conjugated various ways) it makes little sense from a grammatical or reasoning standpoint, and it completely turns me off to what I’m watching (in this example).

Given the proliferation of such language in pop culture, it would seem that it has thus become more accepted in daily life, including in public use. As a kid I can rarely remember hearing the F-bomb being dropped in any place but in a movie. Keep in mind I grew up with a dad in the car business and spent quite a bit of time around a business environment both blue collar and white collar. I can recall no times prior to my teenage years hearing that word used in an open setting.

However today I hear this word among many others used on a regular basis. Not only do I hear it, I read it where various web sites, social media, etc contain stories or quotes containing not only that one but sometimes that one used several times or worse. Recently I had two college age women in our waiting area/office at work. One girl took a phone call on her cell phone and had a conversation that I can only describe as very colorful with the person on the other end. She not only used several colorful phrases but dropped the F-bomb at least every other sentence (sometimes three or more times in one sentence). This was all casual conversation for her, she was not angry or stressed, she was just using it in the same way I might use the phrases “messed up” “not right”, “unbelievable”, “whoa”, “you’re kidding” “blue”, “pretty”, “awesome”, “oh yeah”.  People will come to my desk and speak this way across the counter to me, or when they call on the phone. They are not necessarily directing anger or hate toward me as the word might imply in some cases but instead are using it as an adjective to describe something casually. This really makes me want to ask someone to leave and come back when they can speak in a language that resembles daily English and not the script from the latest horror movie.

Does anyone realize how stupid they sound when every sentence contains the same word used repeatedly? Yet it’s supposed to have a different meaning? Or it may be used as various parts of speech in the same sentence, noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, and adverb. When the same word is used repeatedly in this manner and it outnumbers the words that actually relate to what you’re talking about I have to say you don’t look just look and sound stupid, you come across (at least to me) as a complete moron with a limited grasp of the English language.

Read this sentence aloud and see if you can keep yourself from laughing or smirking; “I loving love you you loving mother lover, you’re such a loved up little love.”Ok so I made that up, but you get the idea I have replaced most of the parts of speech used in that sentence with the word “love”. You’re probably reading that thinking, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever read. Do you see what I mean about the prolific usage of the same (or even multiple) profane words in a sentence. Replacing it with something that is not profane takes away the dagger’s edge of nastiness from the sentence and instead reveals how ridiculous it sounds.

Recently I was at my physician’s office for a routine checkup. I was alone in the waiting room. Another man came in and began talking to the receptionist. He was obviously frustrated and without getting into the details being a little bit whiney for not getting his way. He proceeded to start swearing at the receptionist. Without thinking I stood up out of my chair ready to ask him to leave (I really don’t know what got into me other than not wanting to see this young lady be bullied) she glanced my way and so did he “You will not talk to me like that!” she shouted. Glancing back at me standing up now and then back at her he backed down and apologized to her. I don’t know that I would have even done anything more in that situation but I’d like to think maybe I helped her take a stand and not be verbally abused by an abrasive person.

There was a time when using extreme amounts of expletives was reserved for combat situations, prison, R rated movies, comedians looking for shock value, backrooms, bar fights and private, quiet conversations. Such words were only shouted during those emergency moments when you’re about to crash your car, fall off the roof, stumble into a frozen pond or just smashed an extremity with something heavy or when two drunks were about to duke it out.

Not long ago using such coarse language was considered rude and disgusting in the presence of women and children. Saying such words in the wrong company was in some places enough to literally get you kicked out of an establishment, knocked out or in some cases maybe even have a gun pointed at you. In fact when I was a kid I can remember my grandmother saying that as a girl (think 1930’s) she was walking down the street with her older brother, a man walked by and said something foul (she never would say what the word was), my great uncle (her brother) proceeded to knockout the other man and leave him lying in the street for speaking in such a manner in front of his young sister.  While I see no reason for us to go back to the horse and buggy days in terms of how we deal with rude people, or the ways of life in rural Kentucky during the early 1930’s I do see a need for us to be more creative in our use of language and to exercise some courtesy, morality and civility. We should not be so coarse with each other, or so casually use these types of words, especially when we’re out in public.

Watchdog groups often cry foul over TV, music and video game violence, language or portrayal of women. They claim children may be influenced or desensitized by repeated exposure to such things. I believe as a society we may have been desensitized to the weight such foul words carry. In fact I would wager that since foul language has become so common place that not swearing may bear more leverage in a heated moment than letting loose of such words.  Just think about it the next time you’re having a conversation or are stuck in a moment where you might use an expletive, be creative and see what else you can come up with.

I’ll get off my soapbox now.

Almost Famous

Almost Famous

–why I love cars and what I’ve done about it for most of my life

It must be in my blood. That’s really what I think it ultimately boils down to. Either that or the car business itself has a sci-fi type of attraction that keeps drawing me back to it. Looking into the evidence further though I think it’s a combination of genetics and conditioning. Whatever it is, over the last nearly eighteen years I have come full circle in my work life and realized that I’m probably where I belong (or at least where I belong for now), read the story below to find out the details.

As a kid I was fascinated with cars. I can remember from a very young age sitting out in front of our house with my older brother Dan and naming the cars as they went by. By “young age” I don’t mean seven or eight, I’m thinking more like four or five at the oldest. I had a fascination from early on with cars and with anything that had wheels and moved.

 

I can remember some of my favorite toys being Hot Wheels cars, rolling them across the kitchen floor to “race” them, or constructing plastic tracks for a similar purpose. The Transformers cartoons was probably my favorite cartoon as well. It featured action hero robots that turned into cars, how cool was that, the cars saved people and turned into robots, and shot lasers and blew stuff up five days a week on afternoon prime time for kids TV. For a car obsessed kid, it didn’t get much better.

Another memory that comes to mind was probably sometime between the ages of six and eight being asked what I wanted to do when I grew up. I can remember very plainly stating that I wanted to work with my dad. My dad at that time was the service manager for a local Ford dealer. As is common with most boys I looked up to my father, he was my hero, the one who scared off monsters under the bed, took me to work with him on occasion and knew everything there was to know about anything.

Dad had a “demo” car as a job perk, which was often a station wagon or later a minivan because there were a lot of us kids to haul around every weekend (demo meaning demonstration model). Demos used to be more common than they are today in the car business, dealers would often give managers and some other employees(usually salesmen) a new vehicle to drive for a few thousand miles each month to get some new iron out on the roads. This was also a great way to show friends, neighbors, etc what came from where you work. So a new car every month appealed to me, something new to look at, explore and appreciate in the driveway.  

At such a young age I was also able to visit my dad at work on a somewhat regular basis, occasionally he would stop by his office on a Saturday to take care of something or grab some paperwork often bringing my younger brother David and me along. I had a firsthand look at the inner workings of a dealership at a very impressionable age. Looking back now on those memories it seems very surreal, and maybe that was part of the appeal when I was so young. The sounds of tools clanking and ratcheting, the hissing of compressed air, the shining new cars, the smell of wax and glass cleaner, the crazy greasy guys in the back fixing cars and the sharply dressed smooth talking men up front selling them. There were glossy books with pictures of the newest models and “technology” for me to flip through as well. To me it was always a picture too of people working together for a common cause, when customers came in to the shop to either buy a new car or get their car serviced or repaired, someone was there with a smile to help them. When everything was finished there was often a handshake and a smile. That at least is how it appeared from child’s perspective.

It didn’t help much that my older brother Dan began working at the car dealership as soon as he was old enough either. Dan was a car nut already and I would say between him and dad largely responsible for my interest in cars in general. From my perspective as a young boy it just seemed like this was the place to be, working at the dealership was doing something important. Cars were the coolest thing I knew of, so what could possibly be better than working around them.

At the ripe old age of 14 I was going to work with my dad at the dealership during the summers. I would help take out trash, file paperwork for him, organize and clean various things. I was paying my dues so to speak. At 15 I was at the dealership several days a week cleaning cars all summer. I think as a teenager I really began getting a closer look at the real world of the car business. I loved cleaning the cars though, getting new cars ready for delivery/customer pickup or to go on the showroom floor, or detailing a used unit to be put on the lot, it was hot, dirty, sweaty work, perfect for a teenage boy obsessed with cars. 

I remember that particular summer hearing from my dad “Son, don’t get into this business”, he was at the time half joking and half serious. Much like any work situation, where there are individuals there is eventually bound to be drama between them. Conflicts of one sort or another probably occurred more often than I was aware and as a manager he sometimes had to deal with these issues. That summer some of the shine on the car business might have dulled a bit and I was no longer sure working around cars in this setting was what I wanted to do. In the meantime it was work and it paid and I got to be around all those cool cars so I didn’t mind.

I spent the summer that I was 16 again washing cars. That summer was even better, I had a license, I could now drive the cars that I was being paid to clean, now I got paid to drive them, put gas in them and organize them on the lot. Less enthused about being in the heat I spent as much time as possible tidying up the cars that were on the showroom floor. That job though was something that we rotated each day, since you could literally spend at least a half hour basking in the air conditioning while you were cleaning those cars we took turns everyday on who cleaned the showroom cars.

Like many teenage boys I became increasingly obsessed with how cars worked. I had built and still did build model cars, I had a clear model engine that I could move by hand. Keep in mind at this point in time computer animation was still in its infancy, Jurassic Park had been the high point of CGI to that day and the internet was still a dark and mysterious place that was not so easily navigated. Much of what I read in magazines was left to my imagination to visualize with only a few usually very grainy black and white photos to help.

I read nearly everything I could get my hands on about cars, various car magazines with reviews, magazines about hot rods and how to modify your cars to go faster or look cooler. I can’t count the number of car stereos and stereo components I installed not only in my own car but in my friend’s cars as well. I detailed a few cars for friend’s parents on the side and even did a little side maintenance work for some of them. Much to my dad’s chagrin I did or attempted to do a lot of maintenance or repair work on my own cars, changing spark plugs, changing engine oil, I was still a bit intimidated in doing anything more extensive but that was changing. . I was able to get a fairly good grasp on most concepts though, probably better than most people my age at the time. That technical mindedness has continued to be useful nearly every day of my adult life. 

During this same time in my life I met Tom Milazzo. Tom and I were both bored in Chemistry class and the teacher had the misfortune of sitting us next to each other. Not knowing, but quickly discovering it we were both car nuts, particularly Mustangs. There really is no way I can calculate the amount of hours I spent with Tom during my last two years of high school. Working on our cars, reading magazines or cruising around. Lifelong friends are hard to find, but Tom and I still swing wrenches together on each other’s cars over sixteen years later. 

At this point in my teenage years I also loved to write, what a great thing I thought it would be to combine my love of writing and cars with a job in the car magazine business, writing for a publication. I didn’t realize it at the time but my opportunity to do this was just a few short years away.

Much like the weather, the many pastimes of teenage boys (and my wife tells me grown men as well) can change quickly. By my senior year of high school I was looking at going into computers and technology over working with cars. After spending nearly every summer at the dealership working in some capacity the car business itself had further tarnished in my eyes.  The world of technology was changing rapidly and PC’s because they had become so much cheaper were finally in wide proliferation, the internet was about to explode and change the world forever. I thought that computers were my golden ticket to the good life so that’s where I focused a lot of my attention at school. I figured I could get into computers, make a bigger paycheck than in the car business and fund my car hobby/addiction without working in the car business. At the time I didn’t realize how deeply ingrained in my DNA cars really were. I had also not yet experienced the mystical car business vortex.

A year after graduating high school I landed a job with a local company working the helpdesk for their IT department. It was good money for a guy who wasn’t even 19 yet and the benefits offered by that fortune 500 company were substantial to say the least. 

November 1998, me with my 1986 Mustang. I miss that car like an old friend

In nearly all of my free time I was working on my own Mustang that I had bought at the end of my senior year of high school. I raced that car almost weekly (sometimes twice weekly). I had also started and was working on a web site that featured write ups and photos about local Mustangs from the track and their owners. I was writing about cars and racing one in my spare time. The internet was still pretty green in the automotive journalism area so I was having a good time and a little success as I created a nice niche for myself.

In the fall of 1998 a new drag racing organization the NMRA (National Mustang Racers Association) came to Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, KY. I headed to the event with my brother Dan who was the track Chaplin for Beech Bend through a program called RFC (Racers For Christ). Taking my camera along I shot race coverage of the event and rushed home Sunday night to get my film developed and post the story to my little web site. By Monday morning I had the first online version of the race coverage anywhere. Apparently I drew more attention than I realized when I received an e-mail from the then head of the NMRA, James Lawrence asking me to call him about my coverage. Keep in mind these were the days before digital photography was widespread, internet coverage of events of any kind and live streaming were nearly nonexistent or seldom lived up to their hype, after all it was 1998. 

Through that phone call with James I developed a relationship with the NMRA that lasted for about five years. James asked me to check in once a month, let him know my thoughts on both the local and national scenes with concern to drag racing and Mustangs, racing trends and the performance industry. The NMRA was going through its early development phases and obviously they wanted to establish as many links around the country as they could (keep in mind that no one had ever thought of something like facebook or myspace at this point). That winter during a regularly scheduled phone call with James I received an invitation from him to talk with the then editor of NMRA’s monthly magazine Race Pages, Rob Kinnan and become a regular freelance contributor. 

That moment changed the way I viewed and participated in racing forever. Rob Kinnan to me was a giant of the car magazine industry. He had begun his career at Hot Rod Magazine, served as editor at 5.0 Mustang Magazine, both of which I read feverishly on a monthly basis, he had only left that job to purse a then better opportunity with the NMRA and subsequently the parent company they formed ProMedia.

This situation at the time was ideal for me. I had switched full time jobs to work for the IT department at KY Lottery. This job required that I work 12 hour shifts but in a two week pay period (14 days) I only worked 7 days and still made a full time salary (this was due to the number of hours worked). With my typically cooperative schedule at KY Lottery I was able to travel to NMRA events around the country on my weekend’s off. I was able to checkout a lot of cool cars and trucks, watch tons of great racing, get to know some of the racers and people I had only ever read about in magazines as well as meet all kinds of new and interesting people. If that wasn’t enough of a benefit I could often find enough material for freelance articles that I typically covered at least what it cost me to go to the events from my stories being published in Race Pages.

I contributed anywhere from one to four articles in nearly every issue of Race Pages for over three years. I also changed the way they dealt with photography. I bought an Olympus digital camera (I believe an E-10 was the model). It was a 4.5 Megapixel camera at a time when most digital cameras from a retail store were 1 or 1.5MP at the most. I worked with my local camera dealer and a few friends at how to correctly process digital images for print. Through my work I was able to convince NMRA and ProMedia to allow me to stop submitting film or slides and start sending work in on disc. Before I ended my freelance career with ProMedia and NMRA they were no longer accepting film or slides and instead had made the transition to all digital photography. I’d like to think I get a little credit for starting that trend.

During my freelance time with ProMedia they had also started a second magazine. There was a time when I contributed a large amount of content to it as well as Race Pages. Rob Kinnan called me on the phone one day; overwhelmed with his workload he was offering me the position of editor at this new magazine. Rob and the chiefs had met and decided Rob needed less work load, (I can hardly imagine being editor of two magazines at once). There was a hitch though; the job would require me to move to California, thousands of miles away from most of my friends, all of my family and a stable job. The pay would not be enough either for me to support myself and live on my own. Having no connections in the area near where I would be working and having no means to move on my own, I had to decline the offer. I did counter offer to do the work from where I lived, since most of it required traveling to races by car or plane, or dealing with freelance writers on the phone as well as a lot of work that would be completed on the computer. The in house staff needed someone present in the flesh though and we had not yet reached the age of telecommuting that we live in today where this might have been possible. 

My childhood friend who has known me the longest, Kelly, once remarked that the entire experience that I had as a freelancer reminded her of the movie “Almost Famous”. In some ways I might agree, a young guy from a small town gets to rub elbows, hangout and travel with some of his childhood heroes, while getting an inside glimpse at an industry he’s fascinated with and write about the experiences. With the exception of falling in love I think we have many of the key plot points from that movie (though I will admit to being infatuated with several girls that I met along the way during that time).

A few years into the freelance endeavor I decided to attempt taking my writing and photography skills into a full time career. I started my own business and spent the next year traveling the country to various racing events including NMRA both selling my photos to racers and fans as well as working on freelance articles. Unfortunately this was not an optimal full time career and between mistakes made on my part and a lack of sales I had to cease operations in late 2003 and close the company up for good in 2004. Having left KY Lottery nearly two years prior I was jobless for the first time in my entire adult life.

It would seem though that the mystical vortex of the car business would open up again and suck me back in. In January of 2004 I received an opportunity to work at the same dealer group as my dad. Byerly Nissan needed a person to serve as both service adviser and a parts truck driver. I could fit both ends, I knew enough about cars, the car business and how they worked to be a service adviser, I was good with people (which was a big plus) and I could “sell” work to customers that their cars needed. I had a clean driving record too so I could fill the second part of this dual role. My dad was the service manager for Byerly Ford located in the building next door, I was finally about to do what I said I’d wanted to do as a little kid, work with my dad, for real, as an adult.

I stayed at Byerly for about a year and a half eventually becoming solely the full time service adviser for the Nissan dealership(they needed me more on the service lane than in the parts truck so a new driver was hired). Driving to Dixie Highway from Crestwood each day, leaving at 6:30 in the morning and not getting home until 7:00 or later each night was wearing on me though. I found a job with an independent shop closer to home and left the dealership. I stayed in that next job for a little over a year, then I was made aware of a better opportunity at Pro-Tech, and I jumped on it. 

So today here I am, still in the car business. I’m the shop manager, service adviser, office manager, tech guy, whatever hat I need to wear today guy. Mostly I’m the manager/service adviser. I work for two very good owners who do a very good job not only taking care of customers and running an honest business but also at taking care of their employees (I’ve been here for over five years now). Like any job I have days where I go home and wonder if it’s really what I should be doing with my life, but those days when things click and go like they should, when everything falls into place and all the pieces work together like the gears of a clock, I know I’m where I belong, and doing what I’m meant to do (at least for now).

I will say that I sometimes miss traveling to the races, seeing all the action, the smell of tire smoke and racing fuel, standing on the starting line and feeling my chest shake from the sound of the engines, and meeting all those interesting people. Camping with the Dedpedal Racing guys, hanging out with the ProMedia staff, heading up to Indy to see my friend Jason McGrane and his now wife Audri. Riding with Beefcake in his latest toy and being the seat of the pants dyno in the passenger’s seat somewhere on an interstate in the Tri-State area. Spending the night on the couch at Ian and Sherrie Mullane’s hosue so Ian and I can leave early the next morning to drive all day heading to the next big event. Sitting in the race control tower and talking with Mike Galimi, Dr Meyer, Cindy Edwards and others during bad weather. Strange hotel rooms, late nights at the track, sleeping in my truck or in my photo trailer a tent or a friend’s RV and long hours on the road. That stuff was for the young single me. Married now, with a house, a nearly 50 hour a week job and trying to start family I have little time for those particular adventures. I do make it to about one NMRA event each year, and Sydney and I occasionally go to the local drag strip to watch or participate in some racing. During the summers we try to hit some local car cruises and shows when time allows. I still talk with a lot of the friends I made in the racing world, and I read about it online or in print, though I don’t follow the race results like I once did. I’d love to write some articles here and there but I have little inside info these days, my finger no longer on the pulse of the racing world like those glory days so long ago.

My current toy, a modified 1998 Mustang GT

You could say I’ve come full circle in 18 years. These days writing this blog, swinging wrenches on my own Mustang and my friend’s cars during some of my leisure time seems to be my two best creative outlets. Cars will always fascinate me and I’ll always have something in the garage to tinker with, change and modify. I will also continue to use this blog as a creative outlet for the part of me that enjoys writing. That for now is more than good enough.