by "Groagun" (groagun)
Published 02/21/2017 at 13:04
by "Groagun" (groagun)
Published 02/21/2017 at 13:04
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STARS: 1
I am not here to bash, by any means, any automotive icon: especially as one as revered and loved as the “Italian Stallion”, Ferrari F40.
However, it is 2017, not 1987, and life has moved on: at least for some.
I’m happy to reminisce and talk about how great the old days were: I’m just old enough to do so and remember. but can we move on please? “ But consider one more astounding feat of this pony car. 30 years ago, the Ferrari F40 was the fastest car in the world at 199 mph. ”
Yeah, 30 years a go! If your claim to fame today is that you can match, almost, a car of 30 years a go, well, that doesn’t make me feel all that great.
No, I’m not being that grumpy old man down the street but let’s stop being like our parents and grandparents and saying that everything today sucks and all would be better if we could just go back to yesteryear. What a load of shit.
Other than being cars, there is no comparison between the Ferrari F40 and the Camaro ZL1. Stop it!
Let’s just enjoy what we have today that’s within reach, and truly is amazing. Remember the episode of TopGear, real TopGear, where JC waxed longingly and poetically about the death of the super car? Series 13 episode 7 from 2009.
He was in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, an epic car. It’s a brilliant piece of film, not television, film. It was an obituary to the car itself, especially the super/sports car.
Look around today, some 8 years later and never in the history of the automobile have there been more choices or flavors of super/sports cars. That brilliant piece of film was JC’s senior moment and took the shine off of him for me.
Please, the rest of us, let’s not make the same mistakes as our forebears. We are better off today than we were yesterday, the world is a better place than it was yesterday.
just like you, I remember and reminisce about days past and the moments within them but it’s 2017 and tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities. The undiscovered country is before us and it’s as wonderful as we want to make it.
"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
02/21/2017 at 13:07, STARS: 1
Also the Camaro is good, unlike the F40
"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig)
02/21/2017 at 13:12, STARS: 0
Counterpoint: Old cars are just better .
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
02/21/2017 at 13:12, STARS: 2
I see both sides of the coin. Yes cars today are amazing, lightyears ahead of the good old days in terms of raw performance. On the other side, cars today are products of big data and lack a little of that “seat of the pants” charm that the old stuff did. There is something romantic about a car that was designed to be as good as they knew how yet flawed because of gaps in the data.
"RutRut" (RDR)
02/21/2017 at 13:15, STARS: 2
Although I get what you are saying, there is some truth to the death of the super car. We have reached a point that very few cars are really “super.” You can buy a 200mph flavor of Camaro, Mustang, Corvette, Charger, Challenger, not even beginning on the non-domestic OEMs. The F40 was THE supercar of that period because it far exceeded what everyone else was doing. The feats it takes in the modern automotive climate to really be superlative have become monstrous in scale. I’m not a big EV guy but I really think the biggest super car right now is the Tesla. It’s playing in a league of it’s own.
"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy)
02/21/2017 at 13:24, STARS: 0
Now THAT is a hot take.
"Roadster Man" (roadsterman)
02/21/2017 at 13:24, STARS: 0
What has “design by committee” gotten us?
The future sucks bro we should all be driving Corvairs and blowing each other up.
"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy)
02/21/2017 at 13:27, STARS: 0
Whenever I feel this slight feeling that I’m having supercar burnout, I just click on an archived GT race and think to myself:
“What a wonderful world.”
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
02/21/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 0
I’ve never understood the romantic notion that a car has to have a flaw in one particular way to perfect.
"Party-vi" (party-vi)
02/21/2017 at 13:31, STARS: 4
take so hot it caught the adhesives in my engine bay on fire.
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
02/21/2017 at 13:31, STARS: 0
No. They weren’t. They seem better, a simpler more mechanical form but they aren’t better.
"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig)
02/21/2017 at 13:34, STARS: 0
But they are, though.
"Groagun" (groagun)
02/21/2017 at 13:36, STARS: 1
Porsche 959?
Your right though about Tesla. While I think it’s pointless and stupid, all of this obsession over 0-60 times and ludicrous mode, I have to admit that it is drawing attention and eye balls, furthering the cause of the electric car.
I’m fascinated to see what’s next.
"knewman" (knewman)
02/21/2017 at 13:37, STARS: 0
So your definition of “super” is “different”? I’ll direct you to one of my favorite memes on this subject -
I would argue that defining what makes a car “super” should take into account more than the top speed or the acceleration. Yea maybe a Camaro/Challenger/Mustang and a McLaren 650s can both hit 200 mph, but one is definitely operating at a much higher level than the other.
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
02/21/2017 at 13:37, STARS: 0
No, they aren’t.
"Groagun" (groagun)
02/21/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 0
HA! For those of us who get that
"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig)
02/21/2017 at 13:40, STARS: 0
Except that they are.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
02/21/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 0
"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig)
02/21/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 0
The numbers are better. But cars need more than numbers.
"Groagun" (groagun)
02/21/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 0
I’m not quite sure that I said or meant that ‘different’ defines what a super car is or isn’t. Actually I wasn’t debating that at all.
"RutRut" (RDR)
02/21/2017 at 13:43, STARS: 0
Not different, better than everything else it is competing against. Tesla is far beyond everyone else in regards to their field, just so happens to be a niche area. But what constitutes a “super” car to me, is being the best in it’s field by a large measure.
"RutRut" (RDR)
02/21/2017 at 13:46, STARS: 1
959 is really the more ground breaking car of that era to me, but it never really excited people like the F40 did. I blame a lot of that on it too closely resembling the 911, but this is just my opinion.
"Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen" (distraxi)
02/21/2017 at 14:01, STARS: 0
“Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”
- Leonard Cohen, Anthem
"nermal" (nermal)
02/21/2017 at 18:42, STARS: 1
I still think they could have ended Top Gear on that segment and it would have been ok.
Agreed on everything else.