The Smoking Tire: Anti-Muscle Cars

You may recall The Car Show rant I had a few weeks back. One of the hosts, who showed the most lack of automotive knowledge, Matt Farah, also runs the site The Smoking Tire. I still stop in there from time to time, though the place had been growing increasingly tiresome. Today, I ran across the site's review of the Chevrolet ZL1 titled Camaro ZL1 'Ring Time Induces National Orgasm.

The writer declares they are not anti-American, or even anti-Muscle Car. I will not challenge their patriotism, yet how could one not be anti-Muscle Car? Perhaps The Camaro boasts 580 supercharged hp, is rear wheel drive, and appears to handle great. Those traits right there, with the handling included, tends to be above and beyond what most view as a muscle car.

Fit and finish? Plastic interior? To me, those are mute points. Built in navigation? Really? I mean REALLY? What is with the built in navigation obsession? Any smart phone today can offer as much or more than any built in navigation...and it's mobile. I expressed my disagreement under the comments for the article, comments in which apparently did not pass the sniff test for the admin of the site. I assume it was likely my criticism of Matt's comments regarding $10,000 Dodge Viper ACR's sitting on lots, or his equally ignorant statements regarding the new Caprice as a front wheel drive/V6 Chevy based upon a Poniac G6. Such a comment shows his total lack of knowledge of what a great car the Pontiac G8 was, and is actually he foundation of the Caprice, not the G6.

My idea of a muscle car doesn't include built in navigation, 6 way power seats, voice activation, or any other high tech gizmos I can live without. I will even let fit/finish of the body and a plastic interior slide, as while luxurious interior is nice, it's not what I look for or even expect from a musce car. I also hear the constant criticisms from automotive journalists regarding the sight lines/view from inside the Camaro. While I've never sat in a Ferrari or Lamborghini, I would venture to guess that its a bit hard to see out of them, and multiple blind spots likely exist. Do you think their owners car?

I find it amazing how many hosts of car shows seem to slip through the cracks, making it into the spotlight, without really having a clue what car culture is all about. In closing, I can't help but vomit when I see the bland station wagon looking thing the writer would rather spend their money on. Looks like a rebadged Suburu...minus the somewhat cool/out of place hood scoop....but that's just my opinion.