Every car doesn't have to be a premium, fire-breathing monster....

I blame the buff magazines and TV shows like Overhaulin' for this. People think that if a car doesn't have a 500 inch big-block or a blower on it, it's not cool. Or if it's not a numbers matching 428 CJ Mustang or 440 Six-Pack Road Runner. it's not cool. Not true. For every GTO and SS Chevelle out there, there are fifty base-model Malibus and Tempest / LeMans models that would make great drivers or project cars. Ford sold 300,000 Mustangs in 1969 alone, but only 70,000 of them were Mach 1s. That leaves 230,000 others, many with 302 or 351W power under the hood, and that's just one single model year!! Pontiac built way more base-model Firebirds than they ever did Trans-Ams. See what I'm getting at?  And not everything has to have a stompin' big block. Let's say you did buy a '73 Firebird with a 350 2bbl / TH350 powertrain. If you added a factory or aftermarket 4bbl carb and intake, a set of dual exhausts behind the stock manifolds, and put a B&M or TransGo shift kit in the trans-the improvement in performance would be stunning. Your friends would swear that you swapped in a 400. And you could drive the car just like that for the next ten years and be perfectly happy. You don't need a 455 and a 700R4, and 20 inch wheels, etc. Ditto for a 318 Challenger, Charger or Duster. A 4bbl carb and intake, dual exhausts and a shift kit will make people think it's a 340. If you wanted to, you could swap in a 360 crate motor, or a 440-but you don't have to. If your happy with a basically stock, nice running car, that's nothing to be ashamed of. So go ahead and buy that 350 Malibu or Cutlass that your neighbor is selling-you don't have to sell your soul for a 442 or SS396 / 454 because the magazines glorify them!!  For some people, happiness is a base model!  Mastermind