Ask a Car Nut - Part Deux

[onejayhawk]

What would you consider the top 5 American muscle cars prior to 1975?
If the question was top 5 most collectable pre-75 muscle cars, what would be different and why?

For myself, I like 1970 Chevelle SS with the 454 LS6 engine.

Best Corvette, the 71 with the 454 LS6?

J

 

[Formaldehyde]

Mecum just sold this '70 Hemi Cuda convertible for $2.25M. It was given to John Herlitz by Chrysler for helping to style it.



I'm not that much of a fan of American muscle cars myself, even though I did own a '71 Firebird Formula 400 for a brief period in the mid 70s. I was more into European sports cars back then.

But my short list would include a 427 Cobra, a 289 Cobra, a Shelby GT-350 Mustang, and a 427 '67 Corvette with side exhaust.

I'm also partial towards the '70 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Magnum from Vanishing Point. A friend in high school had the 383 and let me drive it on occasion while we were eluding the cops after drag racing. It made quite a contrast from my Triumph TR3A. That pistol grip shifter was something else.

 

[onejayhawk]

I like the BMW 503, particularly the cabriolet.

J

 

[Formaldehyde]

I've never even seen one before. Only 139 were made.


Link to video.

But I did own a '64 Jaguar E-type in the early 70s. I sure wish I still had that...

Before that I owned a '66 Alfa Guilia convertible. That was also a really sweet car.

 

[onejayhawk]

As fancy collectable cars go, it's fairly affordable. You could only get a small house in an affordable area for what one costs.

J

 

[Formaldehyde]

Bullet revisited in a different famous California city using a slightly different Mustang.

It must be nice to be able to get the LAPD to close down miles of LA streets, freeways, and a favorite donut shop to make this video.

Ken Block is certainly my favorite hoonigan.


Link to video.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Bullet revisited in a different famous California city using a slightly different Mustang.

It must be nice to be able to get the LAPD to close down miles of LA streets, freeways, and a favorite donut shop to make this video.

Ken Block is certainly my favorite hoonigan.


Link to video.

Bah, i do that very route everyday, and faster, and shooting at people at the same time.

 

[Zelig]

What would I get other than a semi or a Model S if safety is a foremost consideration?

 

[Formaldehyde]

A semi? You mean like this?



Yeah, there isn't much on the highway you can't just run over with near impunity with that bad boy and enough weight in the trailer. But the same is true with a bus or many RVs.

The Tesla Model S has achieved the best safety rating ever handed out by the NHTSA. But it is really more a matter of bragging rights than anything else.

As you can see from this graph, beyond a certain point you are just talking about a few percentage points safer in their tests:



Keep in mind people are supposed to survive these tests with only slight chance of injury, so it obviously doesn't mean that you are nearly impervious to any traffic accident. If you really want to be a lot safer, get a roll cage, safety harnesses, and always wear a Snell-approved helmet.

The real questions regarding the Model S are if it is worth to you the nearly $70K price tag, do you want an electric car, and can you get by with the maximum miles it offers without a recharge at home.

The Model S is also a very heavy car due to all the batteries. This is also why it did so well in the safety tests. The more massive object in a 2-vehicle collision typically fares much better.

But if you want a car that is known to be safer than others in its segment, here are the IIHS top-rated cars by vehicle type:

IIHS Gives 33 Vehicles Its Top Safety Rating For 2015

Not sure why the Tesla isn't listed, but any of them would be good choices for their particular segment based on safety.

 

[Zelig]

Yes, a semi like that. To be clear, I don't want either a semi or an electric car, but do highly value safety.

I wish there was some way to filter models for only safety in the case of collisions, and not partially based on collision avoidance. I don't care about driver aids.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Yes, a semi like that. To be clear, I don't want either a semi or an electric car, but do highly value safety.

I wish there was some way to filter models for only safety in the case of collisions, and not partially based on collision avoidance. I don't care about driver aids.

Here.

BTW the Tesla S is also listed there and while it has five Euro NCAP stars it is far of being the best rated.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Well, the best collision avoidance is to be alert at all times, and do some autocrossing or drive at the limits on snow to learn car control.

But I think you have the right idea. If you want to increase the odds of not getting hurt in a 2 car collision, get the bigger and heavier vehicle. This is why you see so many bad drivers driving larger SUVs, even though it does dramatically increase the chances that they could roll.

 

[Formaldehyde]

BTW the Tesla S is also listed there and while it has five Euro NCAP stars it is far of being the best rated.

Then it sounds like it is very subjective. They also rate the 2014 car instead of the 2015 model. That might be a small part of the reason, but it still doesn't explain why they rank a 2013 Maserati Ghibli (95%) or a 2010 BMW 5 series (95%) much higher (82%).

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Dont know, maybe because they crashed all three and saw the BMW and the Maserati were safer?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Since the voluntary Euro NCAP it is ostensibly modeled after and uses basically the same tests as the mandatory NHTSA NCAP, one would expect them to generally agree instead of radically disagree.

 

[Formaldehyde]

If you have been waiting to get an electric car, a hybrid, or an EREV (extended range electric vehicle), the time to do so might very well have arrived.

The all-new 2016 Chevy Volt EREV just got a rave review from Automobile Magazine whose slogan is "no boring cars". They likened it to the design of the Civic.

It only has a 53 mile EV range, but then the 1.5L 100 hp gas engine that gets 42 mpg kicks in (if you hadn't used it already to recharge the car or to go up steeper hills). In EV mode, it gets 107 mbge.

The base price is $34K, but that means after the federal tax incentive it only costs $26.5K. And if you live in California, it drops to only $25K.

Here is the Car & Driver review.


Link to video.


Link to video.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

That's a terrific story the Executive Chief Engineer tells at 1:42 in the 2nd.

Not a buyer of the 2016 Chevy Volt. Lovely jewellery though.

 

[Zelig]

2016 Volt has risen in price here vs. 2015 model, and is over $40k after taxes/incentives.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

Given that second generation of electric cars now is coming.. How well does the first generation hold up? battery issues? Does it need replacement? Anyone here own an electric car?

 

[Cutlass]

This'll be the 3rd generation (possibly 4th). General Motors not only killed the previous generation, but hid the corpse.