Import Culture
- Thread starter Joey D
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- old-guy64
1.21 gigawatts. The power needed to be generated by a nuclear reaction, or a lightning bolt.
DeLorean went under because of Major mismanagement of funds by John Z. It's much more complex than that, having to do with manufacturing in Scotland or Ireland (I can't remember which), availablility of the engines from Renault, AND spending on the front end exceeding profit from meager sales at the back end.
As an aside, I think the V-6 from Renault was a poor choice for a car that was destined for the US. At that time we wanted way more power and performance than the DeLorean delivered.
Misnblu,
I had a buddy in High School whose daily driver was a Shelby GT350H. I even got to ride in it a few times.
We had a pretty decent "hot-rod" contingent at my school. One guy had a tri power '66 Goat, another had a Vega Wagon with a 350 V-8 in it. I drove a Ford wagon with a 429SCJ. Those were the days.
DeLorean went under because of Major mismanagement of funds by John Z. It's much more complex than that, having to do with manufacturing in Scotland or Ireland (I can't remember which), availablility of the engines from Renault, AND spending on the front end exceeding profit from meager sales at the back end.
As an aside, I think the V-6 from Renault was a poor choice for a car that was destined for the US. At that time we wanted way more power and performance than the DeLorean delivered.
Misnblu,
I had a buddy in High School whose daily driver was a Shelby GT350H. I even got to ride in it a few times.
We had a pretty decent "hot-rod" contingent at my school. One guy had a tri power '66 Goat, another had a Vega Wagon with a 350 V-8 in it. I drove a Ford wagon with a 429SCJ. Those were the days.
- 25,124
- Somewhere.
Originally posted by Gil
The floor is yours PR.
I also would like to see pix of the Integra.
Okay, here goes!
Everything started in the streets, back in the mid/late 80s, at least for the guys that are still in action. On the west coast, the Z-Man ( Dave Scholtz was his real name, IIRC, and he's part of the Slide Squad now, but i could be wrong.) was the guy to beat. He had an early 240Z, with a big 4 barrel carb, a custom turbo setup, and lots of nitrous. He was running slicks on the street! There was a saying, if you had beaten the Z-Men, it was time to hang up, do something else. He was running 11s with this setup, with a full interior and everything. He's still a legend nowadays, yet no one knows where the Z is nowadays. Rotarys were hugely popular with the puerto ricans on the West Coast, such as Abel Ibarra (later known for his wheelstanding, 8 second Mazda R100 ) and Edwin Mangune, now at the head of a speedshop in California. Abel ran an RX2 filled with nitrous, Edwing had a turbo IMSA spec engined RX3... These guys were the big guns of the street scene, at least for a while. Then the small FWD cars came around, and guys (and girls) like Tony Fuchs, Steph Papadakis, Dave Shih, Lisa Kubo etc... took the scene by surprise. The whole street scene was getting big by then (circa 1990) and Frank Choi (Battle of the Imports founder) decided it was time to do something. Battle of the Imports started in 1992, with a lot of laughter and disrespect from the "good ole' V8 boys. It was held at Palmdale Raceway, in California. Not too many people showed up, but most cars were FWD Hondas. A new era had begun, the whole Honda scene started.Junior Aspper ran a 13.8 sec. run to claim the victory, and win the first Battle. Things were pretty much custom built back then, the whole scene had just started receiving exposure, the companies had pretty much nothing for them. Junior also got the privilege of being the first 12 sec. Honda around, in 1993. 1995 saw the first 11 second FWD run, done by Darin I****ani (can't find a picture of his car...) at 11.81. Eyebrows raised, people were realising how quick these little things could go. Dave Shih was the first to hit 10 secs (10.87@131mph to be exact), in his "Silver Bullet"CRX. Notice the lack of rear bumper, a trend that started in 1996, to lighten up the cars, along with removing the rear hatch. Eddie Bello becomes the rage in his wheelstanding Porsche 911 running low 9s on street legal tires, while popping out wheelies out of the box. Not much changes in 1997-1998, except for the fact we're seeing more cars at the track. 1999 saw a lot of big changes. Ed Bergenholtz introduces the use of wheelie bars on FWD cars. Everyone points and laugh at the wheelie bars, almost as long as the CRX they are on. Turns out the wheelie bars are working, by effectively lenghtening the wheelbase of the car, giving better traction on the launch. Times drop considerably, and the first 9 second passes are attained. Nuformz racing build a tube framed, Prelude powered Civic which becomes an instant hit, with its 160+mph trap speeds. It's still the fastest FWD drag car in existence, at 8.12@182mph. Cars are getting faster and faster, and by 2000, all the top cars are running mid 9s. ]Dave Lauzier, a fellow Canuck (you can even see my ITR in the background!) creates a bit of turmoil by inviting himself to the party, and spoiling a few more powerful, better funded teams... He did not participate in many events, but his Mazda's still recognized as a pioneer over here.Chris Rado becomes the first driver to hit 8 second timeslips in a Unibody car (that started life as an Integra or Civic, or Neon, or whatever) and by 2002, there are now a total of 7 Unibody cars in the 8 second zone, the fastest being Kenny Tran, running 8.59 @ 170mph. Not wanting to be outdone, General Motors introduced 2 FWD cars, and 2 RWD cars, with the help of John Lingenfelter, renowned for his work on Corvettes and Camaros. The Cavaliers are a big hit, John's turbocharged,methanol fed Ecotec 4 cyl. tubeframe car being just as fast as the NHRA pro stock guys, with half the cylinders. Bullish Racing introduces two Supra powered Toyota Solaras which are the first to run side by side 6 seconds passes.
I omitted a lot of cars and fact, i'm quite conscient... Pictures of the early days are hard to come by, and it's difficult to find truthful infos...
Joey D
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- GTP_Joey
- GTP Joey
First off Gil what the hell is a kewpie doll??? You confuse the great Joey D on many levels.
As for the whole chevy/ford thing I feel a lot more educated then I did 4 minutes before I read all of that. Thanks for the insights.
And PR man thanks for the great explination on the Import scene!
I have another question to...when did the whole Import Show scene come into play. I mean it really hasn't even become big here in Michigan but I'm sure its been popular in the rest of the USA.
Also back on to the old street racind scene to. I knew this guy and his dad used to tell us stories about back in the day when he raced. He said there used to be this guy who owned a very stock looking Nova...well in fact it was quite the POS looking car. But he said that the car was full racing under the hood. He told us that car packed some serious go power and if you could beat him you were the man. I was just impressed how someone could build such a sleeper. Jeez that takes me back to when I was 7 or 8...wow!
As for the whole chevy/ford thing I feel a lot more educated then I did 4 minutes before I read all of that. Thanks for the insights.
And PR man thanks for the great explination on the Import scene!
I have another question to...when did the whole Import Show scene come into play. I mean it really hasn't even become big here in Michigan but I'm sure its been popular in the rest of the USA.
Also back on to the old street racind scene to. I knew this guy and his dad used to tell us stories about back in the day when he raced. He said there used to be this guy who owned a very stock looking Nova...well in fact it was quite the POS looking car. But he said that the car was full racing under the hood. He told us that car packed some serious go power and if you could beat him you were the man. I was just impressed how someone could build such a sleeper. Jeez that takes me back to when I was 7 or 8...wow!
"Can" is a relative term. It's not like swapping an NSX V6 into a CTR (and that isn't even that easy). It'd be easier to get a LS1 in to the 510's engine bay. There's so much re-working to be done, and almost all of it is custom-fabricated. But once you have it, the light engine with mucho power in a light car.... Well, it's kind of ideal, IMO.
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- old-guy64
I'm pretty sure that they came in to the U. S. with the underpowered Renault engine.Originally posted by misnblu
Ok, I thought the DeLorean was fitted with the venerable and p.o.s. 305 v8 by Chevy??
I could be wrong but every one I have seen, had these.
Please correct me if Im wrong on this.
Im envious man, that engine is sweet.
Misnblu
I loved driving that 429 cid Ford wagon. SLEEPER.
1mic
(Banned)
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advan before u talk **** u should know this
1. 510's are good reliable cars that can last if u can maintain it
2. i can have any avatar i want, hmm lemme see yours has a guy dancing maybe that means your gay....
3. sorry not everybody here is 50 like u, so i can talk however i want & punctuate horribly too
4. get use to it cuz nobodys gonna change for you
- 4,473
*typing what my grandfather is saying*
Back in the 60's I was able to get my hands on a Dodge Hemi Dart. Oooh what a ride and street legal too. Could whoop the ass off of any camaro. Dodge's most powerful engine at the time in their lightest car made even lighter made a great package. How I envyed the Ramchargers, I could have took 'em lol. I remember the day I got it, the plain white, so you could add your racing paintjob, the fat racing slicks on the back, plastic windows, and the engine......what an engine squeezed into such a small car (at the time). Took it to the strip and punched the gas.......WHOA. I wanted more but it scared the **** out of me and took me a week to get back in. Afterwards I never looked back. I just added to it and added though it never really needed more. I still have it though my son drives it now, I want it back.
Back in the 60's I was able to get my hands on a Dodge Hemi Dart. Oooh what a ride and street legal too. Could whoop the ass off of any camaro. Dodge's most powerful engine at the time in their lightest car made even lighter made a great package. How I envyed the Ramchargers, I could have took 'em lol. I remember the day I got it, the plain white, so you could add your racing paintjob, the fat racing slicks on the back, plastic windows, and the engine......what an engine squeezed into such a small car (at the time). Took it to the strip and punched the gas.......WHOA. I wanted more but it scared the **** out of me and took me a week to get back in. Afterwards I never looked back. I just added to it and added though it never really needed more. I still have it though my son drives it now, I want it back.
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- Misnblu
- Misnblu
Frustrated, that was awesome man. Tell your grandfather he rocks.
I wish I would have been old enough to have driven such machinery.
I was fortunate enough to be in the middle of it and remember all the cars.
From '66 (came into the U.S. from Germany in '65 and was 5) to the mid 70's, I had a crush on the muscle cars.
I knew the difference between a Mustang and Mach 1 Boss. Not many at that age could tell the difference between cars, especially the sleeper of the day. Kind sounds like your Grandpa had one himself.
The Import Culture is partly or wholly based on the street racing. The Muscle Cars were stepped on with the CAFE standards that said, you had to have 25mpg or better by such and such a year.
Since those times, the imports became more popular due to good gas mileage and reasonably priced. This is why I got my Honda in '83.
With a desire to drag race with the muscle cars and the like, we (import culture) took it upon theirselves to be fast and has cought on since.
Street racing and drag racing is what has been going on since the advent of cars. There was a race between a car and horse&buggy to see which one was faster.
Heh, maybe the first drag race??
Anyway, thanks for the memories Grandfather, it brought memories to me too. 
Misnblu
I wish I would have been old enough to have driven such machinery.
I was fortunate enough to be in the middle of it and remember all the cars.
From '66 (came into the U.S. from Germany in '65 and was 5) to the mid 70's, I had a crush on the muscle cars.
I knew the difference between a Mustang and Mach 1 Boss. Not many at that age could tell the difference between cars, especially the sleeper of the day. Kind sounds like your Grandpa had one himself.
The Import Culture is partly or wholly based on the street racing. The Muscle Cars were stepped on with the CAFE standards that said, you had to have 25mpg or better by such and such a year.
Since those times, the imports became more popular due to good gas mileage and reasonably priced. This is why I got my Honda in '83.
With a desire to drag race with the muscle cars and the like, we (import culture) took it upon theirselves to be fast and has cought on since.
Street racing and drag racing is what has been going on since the advent of cars. There was a race between a car and horse&buggy to see which one was faster.
Heh, maybe the first drag race??
Anyway, thanks for the memories Grandfather, it brought memories to me too.
Misnblu
- 4,473
He said he would be glad to tell more stories about his racing days if your ever bored. He likes street racing still. I have never really been in his part of the garage. When the construction co. built it my dad had it sectioned into 3 parts. One for him and his collection, one for my grandfather and his set of cars, and the third just for me and the family car. He finially let me in there, you know what I found? A Skyline R33 GTR! He is a big Import fan but I never knew he actually had an import except for his Lexus. The last time he had let me into his part of the garage was when I was like 5. I could remember seeing what I think was a Porche and maybe a BMW with some sponsering. ITs kind of fuzzy to remember back about 11 years...
He is a big Import fan but I never knew he actually had an import except for his Lexus. The last time he had let me into his part of the garage was when I was like 5. I could remember seeing what I think was a Porche and maybe a BMW with some sponsering. ITs kind of fuzzy to remember back about 11 years...
- 6,977
- old-guy64
It goes back to when I was fourteen or so, I also have a boat-load of Hot Rod, Car Craft, Super Chevy, and CarToons.
My current collection (five or six copier paper boxes) consists of Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Player, Guitar One, Super Street, Import 2NR, etc.
You would need the S-10 to get all my Boxes of Magazines out of here.
Make sure the Air shocks are pumped.
- 6,977
- old-guy64
I am my father's son. Major packrat. I'm just neater about it than he was. You never know when those old mags will come in handy.
When I was majoring in Public Relations we did projects on major PR disasters. Being a car guy, I chose the Audi debacle with "unintended acceleration".
With the stuff I got from Audi, and my years and years of back issues, I easily wrote the required 10 pages. And was able to do a 20 minute presentation.
Yes, I got an "A".
When I was majoring in Public Relations we did projects on major PR disasters. Being a car guy, I chose the Audi debacle with "unintended acceleration".
With the stuff I got from Audi, and my years and years of back issues, I easily wrote the required 10 pages. And was able to do a 20 minute presentation.
Yes, I got an "A".
- 4,473
When I need a report like that Im going to you for research ...
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