Repair-It

My dad’s 68 GTO. Despite being completely restored, it drove worse than an old dump truck. It redlined at highway speeds. The steering wheel only offered suggestions for where you’d like to go. Headlights may as well not been installed. Sure made my decision to sell it that much easier. If the emotional baggage that the car carried wasn’t enough, the way the car drove sealed the deal. Driving that car killed my love for original classics in general.

Had the same experience with my buddy’s Mustang

Gorgeous car, amazing noises, and I felt like an action hero behind the wheel, but man was it exhausting to drive. The steering was so overboosted that it felt like the column wasn’t actually connected to anything and the brakes did nothing until the bottom few inches of travel, at which point your options were “eventually slow down” or “lock up.” The vinyl seats were offered no support so I was mostly hanging onto the steering wheel in corners, and it felt like there was a big delay between input and action.

That was over 10 years ago, and I’m 28 now. I guess it taught me to appreciate how far cars have come. That’s not to say that Mustang isn’t a deadly cool car in its own right, but I sometimes find it funny when people yearn for “the good old days of cars.” Sure they were prettier, and maybe a little more visceral, but an “involved driving experience” in this regard is actually pretty exhausting.

Those “muscle cars” are hardly driver’s cars. I had a ‘72 Nova (not exactly in the same class as a GTO, but anyway...) and it had all the same issues. Slushbox with three gears = can’t drive about 60 without pushing the RPMs past 4000. I liked it because of how it looked and how it sounded, and it would have been really nice with a little more work, but I have a lot more fun driving my 2015 Fiesta ST.

I bought a new GT back in ‘04. It was my first “sport/muscle” car. After the break in period I decided it was time to give the ole girl a good lashing. Boy was I unimpressed and it only got worse the longer I owned it. For Christ sakes I got beat by Passat' and plenty other four door people movers. God did that car piss me off daily. Only thing I liked about it was I put some Magnaflow Magna Packs on it with an off road x-pipe. Thing would wake the dead, scare old folks and little kids all day.

In 2014 i bought a new Ford Focus ST. It was my first new car, first with a turbo, first over 250 hp. The test drive was amazing, it felt fun and snappy. Bought the car that day. Then as time went on i started to realize what a stale car it is. It felt lifeless, bland and easy. It felt like the car did all the driving, the engine sound coming from the amplifier sounded like shitty childrens toy, it was almost laughable. The car itself had so much infotainment, entertainment, bluetooth and other bullshit that it wasnt even a driving experience. I sold the car under two years after getting it because i was no longer enjoying my drive. I never got the excitement walking up to the car. The Focus ST truely is a sheep in wolfs clothing.

E46 330xi 5 M/T. Enthusiasts told me the E46 was legendary. They told me the handling was to die for. They told me the engine was a gem. They told me the shifter was distilled Jesus. They told me the rear-biased AWD preserved driving fun while adding traction in the snow. They told me it was a driver’s car in a business suit.

So I bought one and ended up with an underpowered engine, pathetic exhaust note, generic handling, shit interior, useless AWD system, and crippling maintenance costs.

Go watch Mr. Regular’s review if you don’t believe me. The E46 was mediocre at best, and was only ever considered good because its competition was even worse.