Ok, I'll drop my . 02 into this one...
There are three types of performance car owners regardless of brand.
1) The go-fast enthusiast. Likes to race in autox or on the 1/4 and knows what he's doing (or is learning) and basically puts his money where his mouth is.
2) The collector. Buys the car as a commodity to sell at a later date as an investment. Never drives it and it lives in a climate controlled garage for the entire time he owns it unless he takes it to a show. There is a sub-cat in this one and that's the show car collector, but I don't even like to talk about some of them. (I've seen beautiful cars that had a stripped short block (no pistons or rods) and no fluids because it might leak and lose them points in a show.
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3) The rich kid/poser. Has money and a big ego. He buys what he thinks is the fastest car out there and dumps money on whatever the latest 'go fast' gimmick of the week is that he read about in one of the car mags. He likes to challenge 'inferior' cars to race so he can feel better about himself and won't race anything that he thinks might have a chance against his car.
Type three is the person the title of this thread is talking about. I've run into these people many times and they are in almost every brand of vehicle out there.
There are several cars that get grouped into the 'type 3' category, 'vettes, F-bodies, and 5. 0 Mustangs are the most common because they are fast and available.
I have lots of experience with the type 3s because I have a '65 Mustang 289 coupe and get all kinds of challenges from F-bodies and 5. 0s whenever I drive it. I just ignore them and let them go find someone else to play with.
I remember a story a friend told me about a Camero Z-28 owner who challenged his dad to a race while he was driving his grandma's '69 Mopar wagon.
One day dad drives my friend to grandma's house in his new IROC Camero and tells him to drive the Camero home because he's going to drive the wagon. My friend is floored because dad never let him drive the Camero. When Dad showed him the car he understood why. Dad decided that grandma was going to hurt herself driving the car since she was 80 years old and talked her into giving it to him. Anyway, we're talking about a 'bread and butter' white '69 midsize wagon (I think it was a Sattelite, but I'm not sure since I'm not knowledgeable about the Mopar names, but it looked similar to a Roadrunner) with dog dish hubcaps and whitewalls... typical grandma fare except for the powerplant. It seems grandma liked power and ordered her wagon new with a 440 4bbl, a 4 on the floor and a 4. 11 rearend with a locker.
So dad is driving the wagon and my friend is following with the IROC. They stop at a traffic light and this early '80s Camero pulls up beside dad with a young kid driving with two girls in the car with him and he starts acting like he wants to race the wagon. Dad gives him the 'go' signal and when the light turns green, romps it and just leaves him standing there barking all four gears. It took my friend 4 blocks to catch up to him and when he did, the Camero owner was sitting low in the seat with the two girls laughing at him...
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BTW, dad got pulled over two years later while towing his race car to a track in the Smokies of NC with the wagon. He was doing 75 in a 55. The cop said, "You know, I wouldn't have pulled you over for doing 75 because everyone else was too, but you were going 75 UPHILL with a TRAILER. What do you have in this thing?" They talked for 15 minutes about the car and racing before the cop let him go with a warning...
Sorry for the long post, I just love that story.
Later,
Joe
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Joe Hinson, 93 D-350
Stock, 3in straight pipe - For now