I started off holding the light for Dad on his ‘54 Ford. First got my hands dirty on my ‘65 Mustang fastback changing the sloppy 4 speed shifter to a Hurst Competition Plus. Eventually got the Mustang to run low 14’s with a cam change, Edelbrock intake and Holley carb, Hooker headers and a rear end swap from a ‘63 Ford station wagon with overdrive that had a beefier 9” differential and 4:30 gears. The 289 was willing but ran out of breath above 6500 rpm. So switched to a ‘69 SS 396 Camaro and built a LS6 454 that ran low 12’s with 4:56 gears and slicks but couldn’t cram enough tire in the stock wheel wells to go faster without cutting the car up. Wish I’d kept the Camaro since they are increasing in value every day.
I think the Camaro and others of the era may have hit peak price. Our generation is starting to pass away and today’s kids just don’t have the nostalgia for those cars we did (as evidenced on this post).
With electronic gadgets, the Internet, and federal regs that make it almost impossible to work on your own car as well as emission regs that make it almost impossible to modify your engine, the motorhead is passing into oblivion. The new generations are just not enamored with cars. Perhaps the Baby Boomers post WW II were the last generation to know the thrill and mystique of the open road.
Cheap air travel is another likely reason for the demise of the car enthusiast. You don’t have to drive across the country any more — you just buy a cheap ticket and get where you want to be in a few hours. Who needs a car?