To do with Ferrari and My Dodge

I understand that I'm just trying to cut him alittle slack as we all started somewhere right?

 

To try and reframe the OP's question, I believe he is essentially asking, "why do people spend so much money on Ferraris when you can get better performance for cheaper? Is it the looks, the name?"

I think this is a fair question. The answer is pretty simple, but very hard for a non-owner to appreciate. I have a Ferrari Mondial 3.2 Cab and a Porsche Boxster S. The Boxster S is arguably one of the best handling cars out there and its performance completely obliterates anything my modest little Ferrari could ever dream of. Who cares, my Ferrari is infinitely more entertaining. Ferraris are much more than raw numbers---they always have been. They are complete theater. The exhaust sound is intoxicating, the idiosyncrasies charming and the gated shifter sublime. The looks are arresting even when parked in the garage. Ferraris have so much character.

I have many friends who also own Ferraris, from Scuds to Boxers, and many of them also own other cars that offer equal or better performance---none of them would ever trade their Ferrari.

I often say, "there is Ferrari, and then there is everything else"

If you have never had the privilege of driving or being driven in a Ferrari, you owe to yourself. Afterwards, if questions still remain, a Ferrari probably isn't for you.

 

Lets see some pics of that Dodge.



though I must say that changing a 100% stock Dodge Charger from the 60's is IMHO sacrilegious

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1cLfiVSyrw&feature[/ame]

 

From the OPs last post it seems the price gap is getting closer. By the time the charger is ready to go head-to-head with the italia the prices will be similar.

 

I also own a 1969 Dodge Charger. I would bet my Charger AND my C/4 against the statement that someone could get 2-3 G's out of that B-body Mopar.

Geffen

 

Except for those pertaining to timing belts and blinker fluid.

 

Damn straight!

To 'Bullfighter': LMAO!

 

Drive one and you'll figure it out quickly.

 

I used to love the old 'muscle cars'. They really are great looking and built better than most here would give them credit for. I've been looking at 308s recently, and the much older '70 Chevelle I used to have is worlds ahead of it as far as being an 'integrated package' as far as construction goes. 308s, as well as most older European cars that I've seen are, once you look underneath the curvaceous bodywork, the oddest collection of bits and pieces of square tube metal stock you can imagine. The welding I've seen looks amateurish to boot...It looks much like they built the body first, then put some kind of frame underneath it, and just started tacking stuff on to connect the two together any which way. BUT, a Ferrari is unique, and offers interesting challenges and rewards in ownership that would be absent with any mass produced vehicle.

 

You mean this car isn't in the US any more?! It's ironic that so many more Chargers (and other American cars of this vintage) are being exported to foreign countries now than ever were originally, or at least it seems like it!

 

If you fawkup that gem/classic of a car trying to make it a G-racer I'm gonna kick your ass!!!!!

 

I can relate to what the OP is asking. When I was 18-20ish, racing Darts, and couldn't care less about Ferrari or any euro cars, I used to always wonder why spend all that a Ferrari costs when I could put a few grand into a Dart and blow it away in the straights (That was all I cared about at the time).
Now, I like what Ferrari offers: it's unique, rare, rather elite, handles well.
So, to the OP, yes, you can make a really fast well handling car for much less, but at the end of the day, you don't get the unquantifiable things that a Ferrari gives you.
By the way, great looking cars: esp the '71 Charger/Super Bee

 

It sounds like he has been totally taken in by the red mist already. What was the question exactly?

This thread is more about differences rather than what is better.

-F

 

It makes no sense to essentially destroy the Charger in a misguided attempt to completly gut and rebuild it in order to make it "better" or seem more competitive with your dream marque: Ferrari.

$200,000.00?

Good grief!

And at the end of the day, I suspect the steering feel will remain numb; the handling will not be "of a piece," and you will always be searching for "more, better."

So I say: Stop The Madness.

Keep the Charger stock; it is a great, classic car the way it is.

It was a great car in its day.

Leave it alone.

You want a great handling, modern car that can blow most cars into the weeds?

Hello, Nissan GT-R.

Of course, it too has drawbacks such as numb feel and lack of involvement, but it can come closest to giving you the objective performance numbers you seek for less than half of your $200K budget, In The Real World.

Heck, you can come close for a lot less money by buying a used, modified Subaru WRX.

But at the end of the day, you'd be left with something other than the car you really seem to want: a Ferrari.

Ferraris are not perfect, but they Inspire the Dream.

 

G-Man, sent you a PM about your Charger. Sell me that one and use this one for your project

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/2337927243.html

 

You will get alot of good info from this forum and I personaly appreciate you sharing your journey with us. Best mate but keep that Charger stock as you are sitting on a classic as they are virtually impossible to find.

 

Rodent Track always highly rates the vunderbugs on the "numbers".

But (mostly due to differences in braking), even the "old man's" 550 beats the 911s around a real track, when they run them for lap times.


Good example from top gear though: I have both an old 328 and an EVO-8.

There's no question: in a straight line, the EVO will out-accelerate the 328 and will out-brake even an Enzo (below 80, at least). With those four fat tires, it'll hit a higher peak in corners than the 328, too.

But the EVO only knows one way around a corner. The 328 is more versatile.

The 328 feels more settled in corners. So, off the track, where I have to retain a reserve of capacity, I don't have to brake as hard for turns in the 328. That, combined with the turbo lag in the EVO, means that I can exit a turn about as fast or faster in the 328 as in the EVO.

The EVO is easier to drive fast. The 328 just feels more "planted".

---
Disclaimer: I've been driving RWD Italians since the '70s. So maybe it's just me that's more comfortable with the 328's handling than with the AWD ricer.

 

+1000. G-Man...dude... DO NOT cut that car. It's a piece of history for crying out loud. Enjoy it for what it is and don't try to make it something it is not and will never be.

--I DO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE THINKING--- At one (dumb) point in my life I decided I wanted a 59 caddy series 75 (factory limo) as a race car. I talked to Art Morrison about a custom chassis etc... My budget flew past 100,000 quick. (probably 15 years ago mind you) Still I was committed to the project. I thought it was the most outrageously cool project imaginable.... Race car performance from a 1959 limousine... the world's ultimate sleeper.

Then one guy talked sense into me. He told me he would build the engine the way I wanted it but that I'd spend all this money and A) never be satisfied with the performance and B) just be destroying one of the few survivors someone with a brain could do something nice with.

I'd still like to own a 600 hp Series 75.... but I'd never even consider putting it on a skip pad or similar. The suspension work would be mostly for modernization and safety, not some insane quest to make the sled into something it will never be.

I'd redo the inside as lux as possible and use it as a limo... a very fast limo, but I'd leave it a limo.

 

That sounds like me in the '70s.

Then I glommed onto a homologation of the Toyota ST-165 Carlos Sainz took to the WRC championship. (for commuting in New England winters). I still prefer pasta to rice , but the ricers are nice (relatively) low maintenance beaters for daily use.
And, while Italians tend to be tuned to peak, the ricers tend to be detuned to reduce maintenance needs. So ricers have a lot more to find (at the cost of higher maintenance).

Your other option, if you want something custom, is to build something custom.
Pick the engine of your choice, wrap a performance chassis around it, and top it with body panels run off to your specs.
Rather than trying to convert something into something else, start by building what you want from the ground up.

Or pick up something like a Hawk HF or 427 kit and customize to your heart's content.