How to know when to bring the classic car out [Archive]

TripleTransAm

04-30-2006, 04:55 PM

I used to put great consideration on exactly when to take out my GTA, back when I had only one Trans Am (otherwise known as the Dark Ages). There had to be a number of real solid rainy days to wash away the salt, and there was a bonus if I spotted street cleaners washing away the pebble accumulation from the roadsides. Of course it helped that I'd store the car in a temp/humidity-controlled 24-hour-a-day security-guard-patrolled direct-hookup-to-the-police-station 2-code-controlled-access-layers 10x20 storage cubbyhole. So, out of sight, out of mind... but oh the excitement on those wondrous days when I'd go bring the car home!

By the time I had two Trans Ams (the Renaissance period), I'd also bought my first house w/ double garage and so the cars stayed with me. At that point, one or two rainy days was enough for me to consider driving through my suburb every so often until things were clean enough to hit the highways safely. The arrival of my '78 (the third, heralding the Age of Enlightenment) meant I had to store it in a dingy sub-sub-sub-basement garage what felt like several kilometers under an old apartment building (with a slope from Hell to navigate in order to get in or out... sometimes the car would just sit there spinning the rear tires if I didn't get enough of a head start!). I'd go get that car whenever I had some spare time... no hurries, there was plenty of work left to do on it.

Now, even after owning two 300+ hp RWD 4-door "musclecars" as winter cars, I'm SO chomping at the bit to get behind the wheels of ANY of my Trans Ams. My wife stayed home with the kids one day in early early April, and by God that day I felt compelled to attack the commute to work in my '78... just because there's no chance I'd ever commute in that thing if I had to transport my wife and kids in daily traffic. I *just* finished installing a second baby seat into my WS6, thereby officially making my car a two seater as I HATE removing baby seats to make room for lunch outings at work. Consequently, I had to take the car around for its first shakedown run through the neighborhood (10 minutes around the main boulevard before I end up back at my street)... MAN what a monster! I forgot what it was like to have pedestrians stop dead in their tracks and throw thumbs up as I rumbled past... and a few very docile blips on the throttle brought out explosive bursts of power, I cannot remember what it must be like to keep the pedal planted for a steady length of time! Absolutely brutal! Not to mention finally enjoying clean undistorted wide-range rattle-free bass from the sound system, and no hood latch groans or suspension wobbles.

Latest long-term weather forecasts have perhaps 1 day out of 14 showing a possibility of rain, so I have a feeling the remaining Marauder will be seeing a sharp drop in use.