A Return To My Roots

A warm and summerful hello to all my ATS gear headed friends...


Recently a few of the pals at work got the car buying bug and since it was contagious, I found myself starting up the search for one of my own. I looked around and decided on a few to consider:

- 18' Dodge Challenger R/T Shaker Scat Pack
- '14 Lotus Evora
- Audi
- BMW
- '18 Camaro SS
- '16 Corvette

So I started with the pro's and cons and went from there. I really didn't know if I wanted to go with another, newer corvette but the possibility was there. The Camaro's are fast but that hood.... The blind spots...

I'm more of a muscle - fast as hell car kinda guy leaning more towards exotic and sexy. I finally narrowed it down to the Challenger or an older Lotus Evora. After all, my very first car was a 1970 Challenger RT/SE with a 318 that I bought with my first $1,000. But that Lotus looked so sexy!

Then... One day recently, I was looking through the For Sale ads in the Austin area and it slapped me square in the face!!!

A gorgeously beautiful Hellcat jumped right out at me and right then, I remembered how much I longed for such a beast when they came out but the price was so far out of my reach that it was only a pipe dream. So much power in such a beautiful car... Any muscle enthusiast would appreciate it at very least.

And suddenly, the double take... The price! 50k right off the lot! The prices had come down so much without me knowing. Had I been aware, I might have jumped on this far sooner and perhaps had been the carrier of the above mentioned bug!

I instantly went out and started shopping around but my travels always seemed to end right back at that beautiful beast I had first seen. It must have been a sign. I shot over to the dealership, gave the lady the keys to my beloved '08 Corvette C6 LS3 (paid off) and pointed to the magnificent beast while feebly attempting to wipe the drool waterfalling from the sides of my mouth. So now, my dear friends, I wanted to introduce my new gal pal... Betty!


2016 Challenger SRT Hellcat - - Go Mango Orange - 17k miles (so clean inside and out) - Fully loaded!
707 Horsepower of pure sexual growling seduction!


I'm one happy pappy!

Mopar baby. That's the one I want too. Want being the operative word. Reality says otherwise. Beauty man.

Nicely done!

I've never been a Mopar guy myself but that is one mean vehicle. It's funny that I say I've never been a Mopar guy yet I find myself noticing them more and more. Both on the road and at the track (drag strip). Chrysler hit the ball out of the park when they came out with this body style. Perfect combo of old and new IMHO.

I have a 66 C10 and a 63 Chevy II (gasser style straight axle) but have suddenly found myself with two VW Bugs. A 1963 ragtop Herbie clone (complete with the 1835 and freeway flyer) and a 1960 ragtop that I am building back to stock (except the 1641 and freeway flyer) for my wife. Probably going to end up with a Pro Turbo VW here soon, we'll see.

Anyway, LOVE the new ride. Color is fantastic! Congrats

You can have my 450SL when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

I love those kinds of cars. I am sort of stiff from overworking and hurting myself working construction in the past, so it is hard to get in and out of a car like that anymore. I'll stick to trucks and suvs.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Very nice, i need a new thing in my life too,
because apparently i have to use condoms now, and sex pretty much died.

a reply to: intrepid

I never expected to get one myself. Though, 50K is kind of high when you're doing monthly payments but I guess there is an advantage to being a single middle aged man in the city. I wouldn't rule it out just yet though. There are still some out there that are a little older and cheaper but still run like a top. I wish you all the luck on finding your solace in one because they really are beautiful machines. Damn it's a nice feeling! It's just screams "I am MAN"! 'Agh Agh Agh' - Tim Taylor grunt. lol


a reply to: HummaKavula

Careful brother... Once you get the MoPar disease, there aint no cure!

It really is a beautiful car. It doesn't ride as smooth as the Vette did but I think I would have been a little disappointed if it did. It's a tad bit rough riding but in a good way. The suspension is nice and tight. As a bonus, with even the slightest press of the pedal, it roars like one pissed off cat.

My cars are a lot like my choice in women. You have those who seduce, they're sleek and sexy, tight curves, exotic... You have those perfect little princess types that look sweet and beautiful but once you push their pedal, they become a ravenous succubus.

Then you have those that are hardbodied, tattooed and perverse, plays on your every desire but will slap the crap out of you at will... That's my Hellcat right there.



a reply to: rickymouse

I do understand that very well. Oilfield took it's own toll on me. It's not as bad as you think. Now the Vette... That's a great deal hard to get out of unless you have some leg power. I always had to turn to the left with both feet out the door, cross them at the feet and push myself up. That car will swallow you whole, though. It's literally a tight fit, like you were enveloped in a spaceship or something. But... once you're in, it's so comfortable and you don't have to move around to see everything around you.

The Challenger... It's a bit more roomy. There are some blind spots but I'm not used to it, at least not yet. There is still that stage I have to go through before it starts feeling like an extension of me. It's a lot easier to get in to but I can imagine it wouldn't do so well with a bad back. Then again, not many will, these days. With a bad back, getting in and out of anything is a chore.



a reply to: solve

LOL I hear ya. Always good to have a backup plan

a reply to: StallionDuck

A very nice car,are you going through a mid-life crisis? Why I am
wondering is because of you using the term...
707 horsepower of pure sexual growling seduction.

a reply to: mamabeth

Hahaha!

One could imagine so, Mama... But no. I don't 'think' so? I'm not really sure what midlife crisis is, to be honest. I would have imagined that if I did, It would have been when I bought my Corvette. I guess the 707HP sexy remark is mostly my love for muscle, speed and that sleek design. I've always looked at my cars as feminine. I think a lot of guys address those items that we take on as a part of ourselves as the feminine. Maybe since we can't own women (as our granpappies told us we could), we tend to do the next best thing? lol I'm just kidding but I'm sure there is some psychology to that somewhere.

Might be that some of us ended up with those promiscuous X-wives where the car comes off as more loyal.. lol I kid again.

On a serious note, though, I was married once where for some odd reason all of the money I made was "ours" but all the money she made was "hers" and we never had anything without always staying in some kind of debt. I couldn't have nice things then (oddly enough, I make less now than I did then and I seem to be able to buy all the toys I want) because it was always gone by the time I got home from work. Since that ended some 8-9 years ago, I feel like being single is so much more rewarding. But I know, it's not like that with every gal... Just the ones I tend to be attracted to lol. Now I can afford that badass car and I don't have a nag telling me that all the money I make should be used for all of her pleasantries. So no, not midlife crisis.

Just a nutter Trying to live whatever dream I can salvage in this day and in my age.

Does midlife crisis happen in one's 40s? I'm "only" 45.

a reply to: StallionDuck

That is good to know and enjoy you new car,it seems you
have earned it over the years.

That's a badass looking car with lots of power. Congrats!

a reply to: karldun


Thanks brother!

I'm already looking at the Redeye... lol