My most recent acquistion!

[sYc]

I hope one unfortunate accident does not stop the way these rare cars are treated. If we put them out to pasture and drive clones, we might as well put up a tombstone for out hobby, as it will soon perish. Ask anyone who has raced and or cruised at a SCR and see how they feel. It does not get any better then that. Yes, I would hate for something to happen to one of the cars, including one of mine, but I would hate it worse if I, other owners, and the public, were unable to enjoy the cars outside of a roped off show area.

[olredalert]

-----I guess,what I was trying to say(not too eloquently)was that the only true way to protect these "musuem pieces" is to build bomb-proof buildings and never take them out,or show them to anyone.Well,,,,,there go car shows,cruises,and a huge number of similar fun get-togethers.Tom is right,you have to get them out!Thats the fun of all this.Of course,much care and diligence must be applied.That goes without saying,but you can limit the danger to the best of your abilities and still get a tremendous amount of pleasure out of this hobby!........Bill S

[SS427]

Tom/Bill,
I tend to agree on this one. Using the warbirds as an example since they were brought up. I was not around when the (now) million dollar plus aircraft were being flown. Thank God there are several collectors who still fly them so theat some of us can get to enjoy them. If not for those people, I would never have gotten the opportunity to fly a B-17, P51,T-6, B-25 and many others. I cringe every time I hear one has crashed but I don't want to have to drive to a museum every time I want to see one either.

If not for the people who bring their cars out to race or show, some of us who are less fortunate and do not own one still get a chance to see them and possibly ride in them. Nostalgia Drag Races are a perfect example. This is a place where people who where not fortunate enough the see these cars in action in the 60's and 70's can now see, hear and experience it. Yes we will have unfortunate accidents but unless these cars and aircraft are shown in the theater of operation, our youth will never appreciate them for what they are/were. If you have ever had the opportunity to hear a P51 or B-25 fly overhead at speed, you will appreciate it. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif[/img]
Rick

[TimG]

What a shame, once a car is sold it should be taken off the road. Race cars should be raced, every summer I watch Grand Sport Corvette #1 run at Road America. This car is worth well over one million. Many valuable cars participate in wheel to wheel vintage races.

[whitetop]

SS427
I guess I'm alone on this. Your point about the warbirds is good. However while flying them to shows is o.k. with me, the owners are not flying sorties over Iraq dodging SAMS which is akin to taking ZL-1 #1 and Red Alert down the drag strip proceeded by a 3 ft. wheelstand.

SYC
I don't equate Yenko 427 Camaro's with the 2 cars mentioned above. Many more Yenko's were made and survive. If one get totalled there are many more that look identical to take it's place. Like I said above these cars are "one of one" with a grand history. Also, if an identical clone is made how is it going to look/sound differently than the original going down the strip? How can anyone really compare these cars to the originals anyway. In my mind the aura is faded somewhat-they are a caricature almost(Red Alert is more close to the original). Why? tubbed out, modified rear ends with new fangled aluminum cover plates, modern tachs and gauges, modern intakes/fuel systems, paint schemes changed (Bill P. put his name on the front fender, modern style decals) etc.

Olredalert
Yes these cars can be destroyed in a myriad of ways other than drag racing but as you increase your goal for increased speeds/elapsed times you are increasing the odds something will happen. These cars are much faster than they were when originally run.

I've noticed other famous race cars that are restored to like how they were way back and for some reason the owner has to go faster and faster and parts start geting updated/changed. Why can't anyone be satisfied with the times these cars originally ran?

[sYc]

Maybe the clone looks and sounds the same, but IMO, there is NO comparsion, which is why I go to great lengths to get these cars to perform in public. I get goosebumps just watching the video from from SCR5. To see some of these cars on the cruise and at the track, well, hard to put into words. To be there as Charley airs out ZL-1 #3 in the hotel parking lot, standing only a few feet away as Barnhart launched his ZL-1 at MAR or watching Joe S. dropped the hammer on his low mileage, ALL original Harrell Chevelle, I will never forget.

If it gets down to just clones participating, I will stay at home and play with the grand kids.

[whitetop]

Tom
Doing a burnout or dropping the hammer in a hotel parking lot is a lot whole different than what Zl-1 #1 and Red Alert are subjected to. I don't have a problem with running the cars and getting on them on occasion but someday the *alls to the wall, all out runs these cars do is going to catch up with them.

[Kim_Howie]

Kevin, what a sad loss. The car was sold should not been driven period. I in turn will race my 70 camaro. It is NOT a yard ornament. Kim [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img]

[Jeff H]

I will say I can appreciate seeing a musclecar or supercar driven. It's great to see. But I have to wonder what kind of insurance you guys have to be able to run your high dollar supercars down the quarter mile? Every insurance company I have spoken to will not cover your car(new or old) if it is raced. That being said, I know that I can't afford to restore my car twice(I can barely afford it now) so there's no way you will ever find me racing my JL8 anywhere. I thought the same thing about the vintage racing. Do those guys actually have insurance on those cars that are being raced?

[TimG]

I really don't know what most vintage racers have, my vintage race Corvette (beat Don Yenko in 67 & 68 June Sprints) is raced by me without physical damage coverage. I break it, I pay for it. GS #1 had an incident at Road America a few years ago. It was during the practice session on Thursday if I heard the story correctly. The car lost a wheel and hit a guard rail or concrete wall. It may cost $20,000 to repair but you still have a valuable car. Most of the cars have been hit before.