More Goodies

[Strat Avenger]

Wow. I haven't seen one of those babies in a helluva long while. I thought they'd all gone the way of the Pintos, Mavericks and Vegas of the time, just naturally becoming landfill and returning to the dust from whence they came. Where are you finding those things?

You should never mention Mavericks in the same sentence with Pintos and Vegas (damn, I just did, didn't I?).  That's like grouping American Standard Stratocasters with Squire Stratocasters. Not in the same class.

While I can appreciate that you may have a soft spot in your heart for those things, they were pitiful cars. I remember when they first came out, you had your choice of any of the three for $1,999 brand new. Of course, taxes, title, registration, and assorted dealer rapes were extra. But, it was the rare one that lasted more than a couple years. They were very disposable cars.

They weren't pitiful, they were just terribly abused. They were actually a "poor man's Mustang".  They had the same underpinnings as the Falcon and Mustang. I have a friend who has one, and it is nice. 38 years-old and good enough to be in a car magazine. It came from the factory with a V-8. They happen to be majorly popular in Brazil, in fact every bit as popular as the Mustang and Camaro. You might just for s#!ts & giggles do a search online or on YouTube. Those Brazilians are nutz for those cars, and fix 'em up real nice & make 'em fast. They had a good body-style.

"Disposable cars" don't last 30 to 40 years. The Pinto and Vega were smaller, much cheaper, and had no performance whatsoever. They were the American version of the Yugo.

'Not telling you that you should like Mavericks, just pointing out that they are not in the same category as the Pinto and Vega.
 :glasses10:

 

[Cagey]

Ok, if you say so. Just remember I was born and raised in the Motor City, and still live in the general area. I also spent a substantial part of my professional career in automotive engineering departments and on plant floors all over North and South America. I seen things, man... terrible things... <grin>

Also, "magazine-worthy" doesn't mean anything at all. There are Model Ts, Edsels, Caddies, Dusters, etc. among many other outputs from those plants that are in magazines and shows all the time. Doesn't mean they're worth a tinker's damn engineering or quality-wise, or have any sort of longevity. People cocoon things for emotional reasons, and take great pains to maintain their original state. They're outliers, and no indication of the original product's pedigree.

As an aside, you're not helping your argument by comparing Mavericks to Mustangs. The Mustangs were junk, too. But, they were much prettier and ushered in the age of the "Muscle Car", and so tugged at the heartstrings of America. So, they're given a great deal of credit for integrity they don't deserve by any stretch of the imagination. And while we're at it, the Cougars were the same way. Those were actually much closer to the Mustang design underneath the skin, to the point where probably 80% of the parts were interchangeable.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Ok, if you say so. Just remember I was born and raised in the Motor City, and still live in the general area. I also spent a substantial part of my professional career in automotive engineering departments and on plant floors all over North and South America. I seen things, man... terrible things... <grin>

Also, "magazine-worthy" doesn't mean anything at all. There are Model Ts, Edsels, Caddies, Dusters, etc. among many other outputs from those plants that are in magazines and shows all the time. Doesn't mean they're worth a tinker's damn engineering or quality-wise, or have any sort of longevity. People cocoon things for emotional reasons, and take great pains to maintain their original state. They're outliers, and no indication of the original product's pedigree.

As an aside, you're not helping your argument by comparing Mavericks to Mustangs. The Mustangs were junk, too. But, they were much prettier and ushered in the age of the "Muscle Car", and so tugged at the heartstrings of America. So, they're given a great deal of credit for integrity they don't deserve by any stretch of the imagination. And while we're at it, the Cougars were the same way. Those were actually much closer to the Mustang design underneath the skin, to the point where probably 80% of the parts were interchangeable.

Yes, but I wasn't lumping any of those cars with World-Class cars such as Bentley, Rolls, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bugatti, McLaren, Ferrari, etc.
I am well aware that it was no "engineering marvel". I just hate when people put it in the same category with the bottom of-the-line cars.

As it relates to guitars, from Fender you have your Squire, your Mexican Standard, your American Standard, American Deluxe, and Custom Shop models.

The Mexican Standard (Maverick) is a cut above the Squire (Pinto), even though it's a step below the American Standard (Mustang, Cougar, LTD, Torino, etc.

Yeah, I'm weird... :confused4:

Yeah,

 

[Cagey]

No, you're not weird, and you're right in that the same manufacturer can make a variety of grades of product. Look at GM. The same company that brought you the Vega and the Chevette brought you the Corvette and the Cadillac. But, Ford's Mavericks were junk. You just have some emotional attachment to them that only you could answer to. Maybe you got to third base for the first time in one, or scratched off a big winning lottery ticket in one or narrowly escaped death in one or something like that. But, there's no logical reason to believe for a moment that Mavericks were anything more than a $2,000 car that would only last 2 years, kicking and screaming every inch of the way.

I understand that some people liked them, and that some were able to keep them on the road longer than their design life, but as I mentioned before, those are outliers. Way at the far end of the bell curve, where unicorns and Sasquatches live <grin>

 

[mataguri]

I love those EHX Poweramp pedals. I have a Magnum 44 which I used as a poweramp for my Axe FX, sounded amazing! If I didnt make the move to active fr monitors I'd still be using it.

 

[mayfly]

Back when I was in high school, a buddy of mine did a 302 conversion in his pinto.  The thing rattled and shook, but it really went.  And then came the event:  We were racing down the road in front of school (where else are you going to race?  )  when a cop with a radar gun stepped out in front of us.  My buddy tromped on the 'brakes", and the car went seriously sideways... and crashed into the car that was in the lane beside us  :doh:.  The whole mess came to a screeching stop right in front of the speed trap.  One cop had me, and about 5 cops had my buddy.  After giving my name, address, etc, the Cop just said "you may as well hoof it - your friend is going to be here awhile". 

Never did see that car again  :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

I had a buddy do a similar thing with an AMC Gremlin, of all things. Put a tricked-up 350 in it, since it would fit. It would behave in a similar fashion to your buddy's Pinto, since the wheelbase was so short and the ass end was so light. Looked kinda like this, but with slightly smaller rear tires...

It's actually kinda cute, in a Tonka Toy sorta way.