The "rice burners"
I have some teen friends that own their fair share of 21st century hot rods. Really that is what they are. We had our Chevy's, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, Fords, and Mopars. We did our share of drag racing, chasing, burnouts, and all the other stuff that we should not have done. In other words we were no angels on the road either. The cars may have changed, but the "teen testosterone" has always been the same.
In many ways the rice burners are safer than the lumbering acres of iron we used to race around in.We had more engine than brakes back then. The handling on the present day "hot rods" is SO much better, the brake sytems are more reliable, plus stopping is quicker, and the engines are much more fuel efficient.
My friend Travis just turned 19. He has two 1992 MR2,s He lets me drive whenever I want, and I have to admit they are a lot of fun.The fastest he has ever driven with me was 110 mph,and that was fast enough.
I go to his summer car shows, and he goes to mine. I am impressed with the technology that is used to make these little cars faster.I have a mechanical background, so I am intrigued. The ways in which we made our muscle cars faster was more expensive and harder to do. Today the game is easier on the wallet and the knuckles.
Here is a photo of my 58 Chevy Belair I had during high school. I changed the engine from a 283 CID to a 409 CID. It had 345 HP, and yes we raised hell in it.
I had 3 friends killed in hot rod car crashes during high school. Travis graduated in June, and none of his friends died. While I realize that both of these generations of hot rods are dangerous, I do have to say that the rice burners are less dangerous than the muscle cars we used to drive.