Old School Charm

I have this thing for old cars. Make that old yet cool cars, most of which went into production before I was but a dirty thought in my parents’ minds. The fastest, sexiest cars that have lately sprung from the houses of Ingolstadt, Maranello, and Weissach are still irresistible as ever, but I find myself just a bit overwhelmed by the alphabet soup of technologies and exotic alloys they use to break the sound barrier. Even the Lexus LFA is, to my mind, a wingless fighter plane straight out of a George Lucas flick.

My dream car was, and still is, a 1972 Datsun 240Z. I’ve never driven one, and I’ve only ever seen one in the flesh. It was a bronze unit sitting in the back of Speedlab’s garage awaiting a lengthy and loving restoration process. With its long hood and short deck, minimalist bumpers and high profile rubber, it was an Asian rendition of the Jaguar E-type and the Lamborghini Miura, both beautiful machines as well.

Temperamental too, so I’ve read. I blame a high school summer driving a borrowed 1978 280ZX “Fairlady” for this infatuation. With a lumpy inline-6, a cranky automatic, and manual steering, it was all “show” and no “go”. The familiar body shape was a shadow of its original self, which led me to research on the car in the first place.

I suppose Mustang and Corvette owners also get misty-eyed whenever they compare the very first model to succeeding evolutionary failures. In 1953 the original 2-door Chevrolet Corvette was an absolutely beautiful ragtop with scalloped doors and two-tone interior. Arnold Schwarzenegger famously drove a 1960 C2 model (or at least a replica) in True Lies. Yet in 1968, the Corvette had devolved into a hideous monstrosity before eventually toning down into the slab-sided sports car of the 80’s and 90’s until finally regaining its luster with the current C6 model.

Same goes with the Mustang. The simple coupe of 1964 combined a sporty body with respectable underpinnings derived from the Fairlane and Falcon. Yet again in the 80’s and early 90’s stylists turned it into a bland “pony car” that, for a time, and it was consistently outdragged in stock form by its archrivals the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird.

“If it aint broke, don’t fix it” is the popular adage. Thank heavens the folks at Dodge understand this logic and continue to churn out the loud and crude Viper, which looks much the same as it did 10 years ago. I still have my 1997 issue of Car & Driver¸ in which they first broke the story on the Viper Coupe. And thank heavens we are seeing a return to the good old days with throwback designs like the Chevrolet Camaro which famously starred in Transformers, the new Ford Mustang, and the Dodge Charger. It’s all about the muscle, man.

Of course, not everything has to come from Detroit. Porsche is careful not to stray too far from tradition with its bread-and-butter 911. No comment on the Cayenne and Panamera, though. Mercedes Benz has the gazillion buck, gullwing SLS for star power, while – to my eyes, at least – BMW’s most striking designs yet are the 1-Series, the bulldog-nosed X1, and the Z4. All of these cars evoke styling cues from the 50’s and 60’s.

But imagine how a modern day Toyota 2000GT would look like. Or “my” Datsun 240Z. While I’m on an old-fashioned riff, might as well bring up a rogue’s gallery of 60’s and 70’s. Like the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” and the Lamborghini Miura. Same, scintillating bodywork as before but modernized with hi-tech welding techniques, better quality paint, carbon fiber bits and pieces, and drivetrain and underpinnings to match. I would fall absolutely in love with a Daytona that had the engine of the 458 Italia and reliable air conditioning.

Likewise, I could easily imagine saving up for a Nissan 240Z with a modern V6 and paddle shifters ( I would keep the old-style, thin-rimmed steering wheel, though). And, finally, imagine the shockwaves that would reverberate around the world if Lamborghini were to resurrect the Miura, this time with the V10 of the Gallardo and the confidence that it would start every time you turned the key and that the wipers would always work.

Modern design is nice and fast and cutting-edge, but I’ll always look to the era when “fast” and “sexy” were borne from the mind of an artist rather than the cold, logical thinking of a computer program and the dictates of the wind tunnel.

And this all explains why I am genuinely excited to go to this week’s “Grand 3-Ring Motoring Event”. Organized by Tradeshow International and presented by Phoenix Fuels, the show which runs from May 26 to 29 at the SMX Convention Center combines the aftermarket blitz and glitz of the 20th Trans Sport Show with the “old school” entries of the 1st Philippine Nostalgic Motor Show and the 4th Manila Sports Car Club Concours d’ Elegance. It will be a genuine treat to see motorsports classics like the 1972 Ford Mexico and ‘73 Ford Escort, 70’s-era Porsche RSRs and 1969 Morris Cooper S on the exhibit floor. Likewise, the 4th Manila Sports Car Club Concours d’ Elegance will be a trip back through time as the enthusiasts get to see the best restored and preserved cars in the Philippines from 1976 all the way back to a 1916 Studebaker SF-Four.

As they say, “there’s no school like the old school”!