Thanks to CO-VID 19 no Hot August Nights this year.....

 Thanks to CO-Vid 19 Hot August Nights has been cancelled this year. I can't say it's any great loss. 34 years ago-in 1986 when they started it was a great Idea. A celebration of classic cars and rock-n-roll. For many years we had great entertainment-The Righteous Brothers, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, John Kay and Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chubby Checker, The Beach Boys etc. I realize a lot of these people got older and retired or died-sadly. But even then we had people like Paul Revere and the Raiders, Donny and Marie Osmond, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Van Morrisson. We had real drag races at the Stead Airport. Burnout contests, bikini contests, wet-t-shirt conests. All the not politically correct shit that makes life fun. Robbie Knieval would appear and jump a train or something. And the cars-used to you'd see thousands of great cars. Max Wedge Mopars, Hemi Superbirds, Hemi Darts, Thunderbolt Fairlanes, RAIV GTO's, W30 442's, Tri-Power 427 'Vettes, Six-Pack Mopars, Rebel Machines, and Javelins, Z/ 28's, T/A's Cougar Eliminators, Boss 302 and 429s, Tons of '55-57 Chevys, '55-57 T-Birds, '60's Avantis, 23 T-Buckets, Shelby Mustangs, Road Runners, Chargers, SS Chevelles, SS Impalas, Challengers, 'Cudas, Dusters, 396 Novas, V8 Vegas. Shelby Cobras. Not anymore. The last several years-the GM section is all Camaros, Chevelles, and a few GTOs and Firebirds. No Super Duty Catalinas, no Tri-Power Gran Prixs, no 427 Impalas, no SS El Caminos, no SS Novas, No Buick GSX's or Rivieras, No Olds Toronados.  The Ford section is all Mustangs. Generic Mustangs. Once in a while you might see a '67-68 390 fastback done in "Bullitt" style-but no Shelby GT350s or 500s, no Boss 302s or boss 429s, no Thunderbolt Fairlanes, no Cougars or Mercury Cyclones. No '60's T-Birds, no Torinos, or Rancheros. The Mopar section is the worst. It's all '68-70 Chargers and Road Runners. A few '70-74 E-Bodies-but no 'Cuda AARs, or Challenger T/A's, no Superbirds, no Sport Furys, no Hemi Darts, hell I'd jump for joy to see a 340 Demon. Or a 78-79 Li'l Red Express Truck. No Super Bees, no 340 Dusters. Ugh.  And what's with 1/8 th mile drag races?  660 feet???  With street tires-most of the big block cars can spin the tires for more than 200 feet!!  My freakin' all-wheel drive 4 cylinder Subaru could be competitive for 660 feet!!  The big casinos have just gotten cheap. If they don't want it to die-they need to have real drag races at the Reno-Fernley Raceway with real prize money, and we need to spend the bucks to get people like John Fogerty, John Cougar Mellencamp, whovevers left of the Temptations, etc.  And stop writing $300 tickets to everyone who passes "Boomtown"!!!    

If you want "All the Money" then it better be perfect.....

 I peruse a lot of high-end dealers that sell classic cars on the web, and I've noticed something that really bothers me. Often people are asking $50,000 or $100,000 or more for restored cars, yet there's still stuff missing or doesn't work. One had a '67 GTO that they wanted $59,900 for. It was pristine, had a 4-speed, the hood tach, front disc brakes, posi rear end, all the good stuff. However they say it's an original Factory A/C car-but the compressor and hoses, reciever dryer, etc are missing. Excuse Me?  You want 60K for a car that the Air Conditioning doesn't work on, because it's missing parts??!!  And how much would it cost their shop to put a compressor, condenser, etc on it? $1,500 in parts? Another one had a '78 Pace Car Corvette that had like 8,000 original miles on it. It was an L82 car and gorgeous. They wanted $39,900 for it. They say the tachometer doesn't work. Huh? You want $40,000 for a car that the Tach doesn't work on?  How much would it cost to fix the short, or replace the tach?  $200 bucks?  Like Ditka says on Monday Night Football-"Come on Man!!"  Another one had a badass '69 Z/ 28 that they wanted $99,999 for. I loved the wording-the 302 was "Date Correct". It had an M20 Muncie 4-speed, ( all Z/28's had M21's or M22s) it had the dual Holley Cross-Ram intake, the Corvette 4 wheel disc brakes that were retrofitted. So-you want 100 grand for a car that has a non original engine, the wrong transmission, and rare options added on that weren't original?? On the same site they had another '69 Z/ 28 that had the numbers-matching 302 and M21 tranny and was Macneish certified. They were asking $69,000 for that one. Huh? The expert certified, numbers-matching car is 30 grand LESS than the cobbled up one?  My personal favorite was the '72 Chevelle that had been done up to look like a '70 SS454 model that they wanted $50,000 for. 50K for a clone? You see numbers-matching SS396's and 454's all the time ( as long as their not L78's or LS6's)  for 50 grand!!   If it was 20K it might be a deal, but for 50 you can buy the real thing all day long.  I guess that's why they say "Buyer Beware".  Mastermind