Mike Savage New Canaan

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SAVAGE NEW CANAAN | THAT SIXTY SOMETHING IN THE MUSCLE CAR

IT TOOK A WHOLE LOT OF SKILL TO DRIVE THE CARS OF YESTERYEAR.

IF YOU ARE SIXTY TODAY, YOU'VE PROBABLY BEEN DRIVING FOR ABOUT FORTY FIVE
YEARS. YOU PROBABLY BEGAN YOUR DRIVING CAREER WITH CARS BUILT IN THE
EARLY SIXTIES, MAYBE EVEN THE FIFTIES OR FORTIES.

CARS WERE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THEN.

WE DIDN'T HAVE RADIAL TIRES. IF WE WERE REALLY LUCKY, WE HAD TUBELESS BIAS-
PLY TIRES. YET OLDER TIRES HAD RUBBER TUBES IN THEM TO HOLD IN THE AIR. THOSE
OLD RUBBER SHOES DIDN'T HAVE QUITE THE GRIP THAT TODAY'S TIRES DO. THEY
DIDN'T STEER VERY WELL. THEY GOT A LOT OF FLATS. THEY BLEW OUT JUST EVERY
SO OFTEN.

POWER STEERING? WE DIDN'T START TO REALLY SEE THAT EXCITING OPTION UNTIL
AROUND THE MIDDLE SIXTIES - AND EVEN THEN IT WAS AN EXPENSIVE OPTION. OH,
AND OF COURSE THE STEERING WAS STILL USUALLY "RECIRCULATING BALL." RACK
AND PINION? PRACTICALLY UNHEARD OF.

SAVAGE NEW CANAAN

YEAH, WE DID HAVE VACUUM ASSISTED WINDSHIELD WIPERS (WHEN THEY WORKED)
BUT MCPHEARSON STRUTS? MORE OF A SEVENTIES TYPE OF THING. YOU WERE
HAPPY IF YOUR EARLY SUSPENSION SYSTEM KEPT YOU UPRIGHT WHILE YOU WERE
STANDING STILL - MUCH LESS AT FIFTY MILES AN HOUR!
YOU COULD GET LOOSE (SKID SIDEWAYS) IN HALF A HEARTBEAT AND IF YOU DID,
THE SLIGHTEST WRONG TWITCH ON THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD PUT YOU UPSIDE
DOWN HANGING FROM YOUR SEATBELT. OOPS, ALMOST FORGOT. DIDN'T HAVE
THEM EITHER. WELL, ACTUALLY SOME CARS DID. SIMPLE LAP BELTS WERE AN OPTION.
AIRBAGS? WHAT A CONCEPT!

SPEAKING OF TRANSMISSIONS (WERE WE?) - MOST CARS WERE STANDARD SHIFT.
AUTOMATICS WERE STARTING TO HAPPEN THEN BUT THEY TOO, WERE EXPENSIVE
OPTIONS. MOST CARS CAME WITH A THIRD PEDAL -- WHICH NEEDED TO BE PUSHED,
IN ORDER TO SHIFT GEARS WITH SOMETHING CALLED A GEAR SHIFT. YOU NEEDED AT
LEAST A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF HOW A TRANSMISSION WORKS, TO EVEN PASS
YOUR DRIVERS TEST. TODAY WE HAVE COUNTLESS DRIVERS WHO HAVE NEVER EVEN
SEEN A CLUTCH PEDAL. THEY GET IN THE CAR, PUT IT IN DRIVE - AND OFF IT GOES.

BUT HORSEPOWER? WE HAD GOBS OF IT. NOT TOO MUCH IN THE EARLY FIFTIES BUT
BY THE TIME THE SIXTIES HAD ROLLED AROUND, DETROIT HAD DISCOVERED THAT
"BIGGER WAS BETTER" AND "FASTER WAS FUNNER". "BIG-BLOCKS" WITH A COUPLE
OF FOUR BARREL HOLLIES (REMEMBER CARBURETORS?) WERE DEFINITELY COOL. WE
HAD PLENTY OF HORSEPOWER IF WE WANTED IT - AND OFTEN EVEN IF WE DIDN'T.
SHE WAS FINE, THAT "409".
MICHAEL SAVAGE NEW CANAAN

GAS MILEAGE? NOT A PROBLEM EITHER, WITH GAS AT 5 CENTS A GALLON OR SO.
PUSHING THE PEDAL ON THE OLD MUSCLE CARS COULD REALLY SIPHON GAS OUT
OF THE TANK BUT YOU PULLED UP TO THE PUMP WITH A FIVE DOLLAR BILL AND GOT
CHANGE BACK. (OH, AND THE ATTENDANT WASHED YOUR WINDOWS WHILE THE
TANK WAS FILLING).

NOW EVEN BACK THEN, WE HAD SLOW DRIVERS AND FAST DRIVERS, BUT THE
OPERATIVE WORD - WAS "DRIVERS." THOSE OLD BUGGIES WERE VERY
UNFORGIVING AND IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THEM YOU COULD
EASILY FIND YOURSELF IN A DITCH ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.

IF YOU WERE RUNNING FOUR HUNDRED HORSEPOWER IN ONE OF THOSE OLD
LOVELIES, YOU REALLY HAD TO KNOW HOW TO DRIVE. THAT DITCH TOOK ON A
WHOLE DIFFERENT MEANING IF YOU HIT IT AT A HUNDRED OR SO!

KNOWING HOW TO DOWNSHIFT FOR CONTROL, STEER INTO A SKID, PUMP THE AIR
OUT OF YOUR BRAKE LINES, OR CONTROL THE CAR DURING A TIRE BLOW OUT
WEREN'T OPTIONAL DRIVING SKILLS. THEY WERE MANDATORY. THERE WAS NO
ELECTRONIC TRACTION CONTROL TO DO IT FOR YOU.

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IF YOU WERE A SLOW DRIVER, YOU STILL NEEDED TO KNOW HOW TO SHIFT - JUST
TO GET THE CAR UP TO FORTY OR SO. IF YOU WERE A "GO FAST" TYPE, YOU REALLY
HAD TO UNDERSTAND THAT CLUTCH PEDAL, GEAR SHIFT RELATIONSHIP THING.
MISSING A SHIFT AT 6,000 RPM WAS - WELL? LET'S JUST SAY EMBARRASSING!

THE "GO FAST" IN THE MUSCLE CAR ALSO CARED ABOUT LITTLE THINGS LIKE
KNOWING HOW TO LOAD UP HIS NERVOUS SUSPENSION SYSTEM, OR PERHAPS
KEEPING THOSE NOT SO STICKY TIRES SOMEWHERE IN THE GENERAL VICINITY OF
THE ROAD. GOING "KINDA' AIRBORNE" WASN'T ALL THAT UNCOMMON, WHAT WITH
OLD SHOCK ABSORBERS AND LEAF SPRINGS DOING NINETY FIVE OR BETTER. IF YOU
HIT A BUMP IN THE ROAD YOU SORT OF WANTED TO KNOW HOW TO BRING IT IN
FOR A SAFE LANDING.

WHEN YOU SEE THAT SENIOR ON THE SERVICE ROAD, YOU MIGHT WANT TO PAUSE
FOR A MOMENT AND THINK ABOUT WHAT SHE LEARNED TO "DRIVE" ON.

WHEN YOU SEE THAT SIXTY-SOMETHING MOSEYING ALONG IN THAT MUSCLE CAR?
HE STILL APPRECIATES PERFORMANCE, PERHAPS EVEN MORE WHEN IT'S "POWER
UNDER CONTROL". MIGHT NOT WANT TO UNDER ESTIMATE THE OLE' HOT-RODDER
THOUGH. HE PROBABLY HAS INSTINCTIVE DRIVING SKILLS -- YOU NEVER EVEN
DREAMED OF.