One of my guilty pleasures each year is laughing like hell at driver antics on Canada's Worst Driver on Discovery Channel. At the beginning of this years series they mentioned that they had received MANY letters complaining about the fact that they have been given these mooks classic cars to trash. In previous seasons we've seen them trash a Jaguar, a Bentley, a 70's Magnum, and a beautiful late 60's Nova if I recall correctly. They claim that they are taking these letters to heart so this year they gave the idiots a 2010 Camaro and they promptly destroyed it in the first episode (Meh). I've been noticing that in their batch of cars being systematically damaged to prove points are a 90's Roadie and an 80's K-Car wagon. (I often miss my Reliant wagon) It seems it might be time for a pro-wagon letter campaign!
And an AMC Marlin.... It really is one of the best shows, IMHO, and way better than the lame American spin-off.
And a mid to late 60's chrystler 2 door, a 67 Fairlane, a cool old Gremlin, a mint Porche....... My favorite was the alcoholic granny who they kicked off the show...she did the high speed total loss of control drift in the late 70's crystler 300 (not a Magnum)...gets kicked off the show and then looses her licence later on to only blame the show. And yeah, the US spin off does suck
This weeks episode OH THAT POOR LITTLE ARIES!! My first wagon was a maroon '84 Reliant. Pretty much identical to the one that they turned into a mould candidate this week. Tears my heart out. I loved that little car.
I didn't know there was an U.S. version? One of my favorite shows, they had a fishtank on the roof next to the sunroof...you guessed it, it was a stopping test everyone walked away VERY wet . Where, how, do those people get their license? I don't understand??? On my test i didn't come to a COMPLETE stop and I heard about it! My friend challenged me one time, when you come to a COMPLETE stop count to 3 mississippi before you go...not as easy as it sounds...try it
And the gremlin. Last year there was a 79 300. Glad it is a camaro i'd be upset if it was a challenger. Best quote this year "man up and don't cry"
The Chrysler was a 1966 Windsor (Canadian built Chrysler) Being a C body fan,I did write the show in agnst,and did a search for the car. I found the car in a Scarborough scrap yard that supplied the vehicles to the show. http://www.standardautowreckers.com/ The story behind the blue Chrysler was it was towed in by a charity from the family who no longer wanted the car.(tax write off) One person actually followed the towed truck to the yard and offered to buy it.But once the deal is done,it belonged to the yard and cannot be sold to the public as a complete car. The deal with the show was they are to be returned to the yard when done shooting the show's series.. By the time I found the car,the 383/727 was yanked out and the car was crushed. As for this season's K car wagon,at least it faired better than the Del Sol in the crazy eight,,the 4 cars that got got their clutches smoked,and the brand new Camaro. The Camaro is an assembly line test mule from the Oshawa assembly plant,so it would have been destroyed anyways since it cannot be sold to the public.
I've been lurking in this thread, and wincing at this cruelty to great road warriors like these. Regardless of their denials, the political parties must get a lot of lobby money to accelerate 'Planned Obsoloscence' with these 'clunker/foreced recyle tax' games, from the New Car manufacturers. Besides most of us, restoring our rides, the aftermarket manufacturers seem to be holding their own, so far. Knowing what we know about newer powertrains and fuel efficient systems, it seems to me that if the governments won't support it, that the hobbyists do all they can to grab these cars from the sellers before the charity gets the check written, and then set up a Restoration/Upgrade franchise to convert these fine beasts to better emissions powertrains (EFI or Turbo?) and give the market a better car than the new cars are. All they've really done is added complexity to a simple mechanism, increasing their warranty work and replacement parts incomes. Nobody mentions all the emissions generated to make the plastic components, including bodyframes, the import emissions from Asia or Europe or South America. All they've done really is export the dirty part to another region of the planet, telling us that their vehicles are greener. When you get a 4,400 lb. Volvo wagon with its 220 HP whiz-bang 6 engine and get 16 to 20 mpg, for 4 times the new price of a Turbo-powered 4 cyl 1979 Fairmont wagon weighing in at under 2,800 lbs, and getting better mileage, lower emissions and costing under $5,000 to convert, $3,000 to restore on the moderately frugal, almost anyone can drive a clean-burning 210 HP Turbo knowing they have all the power to beat the streets or drive to the farm. Simple OBDII computer, parts from any Mustang/Ranger vendor. Oh and how do they 'smelt' plastics from the new cars? Not recyclable? Oh my. They burn it off, so your kids can have lead-painted toys. So where's the advantage to the consumer, the environment, our need for well sized vehicles? Or have we stopped building our nations and dreams? NOT!!
Newer cars are designed to meet government regulations, which anyone should know are meant to make society better for all of us. You mention that your old car weighs quite a bit less than newer cars. That is actually a good thing. Don't you realize how many people would be hurt or killed every year if they actually had to pay attention while they're driving instead of relying on government safety regulations and the resulting safety features we "enjoy" on new cars? cheers, Ken
I thought Canada's Worst Driver had agreed not to destroy classic cars! Looks like next week that beautiful Monte Carlo is going to be fed to the idiots.
