Lance Lambert
�The Vintage Vehicle Show�

UGLY 80�S?

My wife and daughter no longer have any respect for me. They also think I�m nuts.

Over the past few years I�ve taken an interest in American cars of the 1980�s. This may be due to too much tofu in my diet, eating lead bicycle paint as a child or having grown up in Tacoma. Whatever the cause, it�s there; an appreciation of cars that are not really old but are definitely no longer �newer�. The recent purchase of a 1988 Pontiac Fiero is a good example. This car is in excellent condition, mid life crisis red, and best of all, cheap. For less than the cost of a week�s vacation in Orting I have a flashy go-kart that gets me from point A to point B in fun style, has encouraged a few of the vehicle challenged to ask �Is that a Ferrari�, causes my daughter enough embarrassment to result in her never asking me to give her a ride anywhere, and my wife not wanting to borrow �that� car. The Fiero soon had a garage mate when I saw a 1988 Saleen Mustang for sale for a very reasonable price. It seems that the seller had some automotive and law enforcement problems that resulted in his need to immediately sell the car. Saleen Mustangs are Mustangs that race car builder Steve Saleen modifies by adding racing suspension, heavy duty brake system, high performance engine tuning, custom interiors and other �Hey, don�t mess with me if you know what�s good fer ya� modifications. My wife�s reaction upon my arriving home with Steve�s creation was �I�m going to have to trust you on this one�. My daughter, never at a loss for words, reacted with a heartwarming �Daaaaaad, that looks like the kind of car a drunken 16 year old kid would get arrested in!� How dare she say such a thing; the seller was at least 20 years old.

Recently my daughter and I were returning from dropping off her much cooler, by her standards, Saab for repairs when we passed a 1987 Cadillac Allante. I commented that I thought they were beautifully designed cars and my daughter went a bit crazy on me. �Daaaaaad, that car is really ugly! What has happened to you? You used to only buy really cool cars from the 1950�s and now you are buying these awful cars from the 1980�s�. This remark, let me remind you, is coming from someone that drives a Saab, a car that is a pleasure to drive as long as you are a Swede with two left arms. I relayed this incident to my wife who immediately chimed in that she fully agreed with Saab girl and wanted to know if my years of car show attendance exhaust exposure has resulted in some sort of right brain malfunction.

Here�s the way I see it; an interesting American car manufactured in the 1980�s is cheap ($3000 to $6000 for the best one in the county), plentiful (drive by any really used used car lot and take your pick) and very unlikely to be stolen by anyone.

PROGRAM NOTE: The �Vintage Vehicle Show� has moved to it�s new time of Thursdays at 5:30 PM on KWPX 3/33 and anytime on Comcast On Demand.

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