Sad Sounds in the Wild.

Big Thoughts

Some of the saddest noises I heard last week.

  • A reasonably modern (>10 years) Acura RDX with a valves pinging and rattling like a 1980 Ford Fairmont with a 100K on the clock. No Toyota I’ve ever owned has made that noise.
  • An F-150 with 45 day, new car tags, puttering past with the sad sounds of a 4 banger turbo. Sorry. Trucks should rumble, not putter unless it’s an old Toyota with a 22R. And even then, they didn’t putter.
  • A Dodge Charger with a god knows what small motor and straight exhaust. I thought it was one of those idiot tuners in a Nissan with no muffler. Nope. Some sad dude who thinks he’s cool.
  • A 4 cylinder (I’m guessing turbo) Mustang, wound up, no muffler or a gate I’m thinking. Good god what a horrible racket. It’s a sharp, cracking noise that sounds like the motor is coming apart. Mustangs need to rumble, or be quiet cruisers.
  • One of my fool neighbors with an 80’s Firebird that should know better. Really shitty exhaust, even though the car has clearly been restored. The only reference I have for that sound would be an ancient stakebody with no muffler, hauling watermelons in Oxen Hill MD back in the day. Sounds like a busted garbage truck. EVERY.DAMN.DAY.

And an honorable mention – My fuzzy haired liberal California locust neighbor bought a Mustang Mach E, because of course he did. It’s as sad as his Tesla panels in the shade. Haven’t seen it move yet. He kicked the old lady’s Camry to the curb so he can charge it and his idiotic Caravan Hybrid.

Just out there with it’s idiotic dark gray body, getting whooped on by the sun.

Meh. I’m sure they all think they’re cool.

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3 thoughts on “Sad Sounds in the Wild.”

  1. I feel for your ears… and I also feel for the young men of the day… It’s not like when we were their age and for $50 you could score a 71 Bonneville w a 455 4bbl that would pass anything but a gas station. Do they even KNOW what “Cherry Bombs” sound like?

    I remember poring over a publication (NJ area) called “The Want Ad Press”… the smell of newsprint… looking for “Granny Owned” sleepers… Old Chryslers sitting in garages with HEMIS under the hood just waiting to be unlimbered…

    Thing is… there ARE ways to make certain modern cars sound GOOD. Throaty and snotty even. My Veloster R Spec sounds like an Olde MG on STEROIDS. I won’t even PRETEND that it has the rumble or the testosterone of a good ole V-8 but if I fill her up with high octane and make a couple of adjustments I can rip 250HP out of that silly 1.6l FFS. It boggles the mind.

    As to the “Fart Can” generation… I think this is what happens when MENTORING is lacking. That and “Hollywood” maybe.

    Still… you gotta envy them that they can make all the adjustments we had to do the hard way (jetting, timing, valve timing (i.e. camshafts?)… all by “programming” the ECU these days.

    LOL… Remember the days of the “Dwell Tach” and if you were lucky the “Dwell GATE” on the distributor? Wait what? POINTS???? Cap and ROTOR (and we’re not talking BREAK rotors, aye?)

    Damn I’m old…..

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  2. Couldn’t help but laugh, seeing a Good looking late model Dodge with an aggressive stance making its way across after the light. My ears were hearing the sound of a puny and struggling engine, my eyes were on that car, and my ignorance about what they have been selling became obvious. It’s just Wrong to sell such gutlessness in the body of what Should be, if not a muscle car, at least as able to get across an intersection as my 67 four door Chevy.

    LOL… Remember the days of the “Dwell Tach” and if you were lucky the “Dwell GATE” on the distributor? Wait what? POINTS????

    My meter is still in the box. And that aluminum door on the cap was Seriously valuable.

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    1. I have an ammo can with my timing light and dwell tach. I even have the Allen wrench I used on my Oldsmobiles that has a vacuum hose on one end because I’d get blasted when I tried to adjust the dwell.

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