Ferrari vs.Corvette et al ;

Great stuff!  Funny how I always run into car guys :)  Had a buddy that fully restored a corvair - a car ahead of its time.  I've always liked the wagons.  The turbo volvo 740 and the Dodge Magnum are two of my favorites (back to mopar).  I was hoping Dodge would come out with a new Magnum with the Hellcat motor - that would be mean.

 Thank you for that . Now I wish I had my old Challenger back .My Malibu ? Probably a parts car in some auto salvage place . Those were definitely the days . 

 My son and I used to love to go to run what you brung races at the local oval .demolition ? That was the last part of it .

 My favorite ride then ? Station Wagons ! Why ? Besides having lots of power ( I always picked the fancier models with a strong engine .) they were built like tanks ! ! 

 I road raced 65 & 66 Turbo Corvairs against the Porsches and others of the day in road rallies .I usually did okay  ,Fourth or Third overall in points . I wasn't hungry for the win . Just wanted to do it ! Daughters and Son and sometimes the Wife , were my Navigators . T.B. P.S Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen were my best times .  

I wouldn't put Ferrari in the same class as a Corvette but I get the sentiment.

There's pleanty of places to run your performance cars legally.

I've had a few performance cars and I use them.  I had a 2011 392 dodge challenger that I took to willow springs and caught the road course bug.  Being a huge sexy sled, she wasn't suited for the twisties and got traded in for a 2013 boss 302 laguna seca which I have tracked most of the socal tracks - these are high performance driving events, not wheel to wheel stuff.

I also took my 2009 Dodge Charger and started tinkering with the 5.7L steller motor and play around drag racing.  My first build was the all stock block 5.7, 3.73 gears and a Magnuson super charger @ 8lbs of boost which got me to about 470 RWHP and 11.5 in the quarter mile.  Since then I've redone just about everything including a forged Inertia motorsports block, SHR 1000HP trans, spohn rear suspension and a procharger F1A supercharger @ 14lbs of boost and the beast is now putting out 700RWHP on pump gas and 760RWHP with Q16 on a performance tune.  Yet to put her on the track, but its a crazy dangerous beast on the street.

All that said - I get the point that there are so many garage queens.  Some folks just want to have them, but some, like myself, want to drive them.  Hell my boss 302 is one of 750 cars made and I run the crap out of it and have put it in the dirt at Chuckwalla - whoops...

My final comment is that its all relative - to ones income.  Which is why I'm in the $50K car market and not the $250K car market (and will smoke most of them with my Charger :)

Couple track videos if you're interested:

Boss 302 Laguna Seca on Autoclub speedway on the roval: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO5FrsI5BtA&list=PL_52ClA89QUcO4GfQxKNH-bt8cBGjeKJ_&index=3

Miller Motorsports Park in Utah - driving a Ford FR500S factory race car - 350HP, no computer.  Really fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rKG4I916s&list=PL_52ClA89QUcO4GfQxKNH-bt8cBGjeKJ_&index=4

Boss 302 Laguna Seca at Chuckwalla with telemetry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT1fFeH1OwA&index=7&list=PL_52ClA89QUcO4GfQxKNH-bt8cBGjeKJ_

Dyno/tuning day with the Charger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGHh6JPIwwc

1/8 Mile @ Barona with my daughter riding shotgun - I red lighted and got worked by a monster chevelle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QziUVxirLE&index=6&list=PL_52ClA89QUcO4GfQxKNH-bt8cBGjeKJ_

I got in trouble with cars.  I made them fast.  My current fast car is a Harley.  So far the only thing thats beat me is a Lamborghini Gallardo.  So far no bikes or other cars.  I havent raced other Harleys but severql crotch rockets.  Hondas.  Yamahas.  BMWs.  Whupped them all.  That Lambo though didnt just beat me.  He straight up opened a can on me.

Hmmm;

 I guess you have a point there . I mean after all , did I really a custom Turbo set-up on a Sedona Van ?

I always have one fast car in my garage.  I used to race cars on the amateur circuits.  I still autocross on occasion.  My mini van just does not cut it. 

It lets me explore other interests in life.  With cars the only thing that makes them faster is money.  If I want to race I have to pay.  We all pay too much for things we don't really need.

I do not need a fast car but I do not need to build models either, or go out to eat, or go on vacation etc... these are all things that make life more then just survival and worth living.