[Shotimes] "Soul"

[Donald Mallinson]

I think you can boil this down to just feeling good when you 
drive the car.

That is why I fell in love with my '89 in 1991, and why I 
still love driving it.  It isn't perfect, but nothing except 
possibly my '91 and '96 SHO's for different reasons each, 
have ever made me feel that way.  Not the BMW 530i, not the 
various DCM cars, not the new Mustangs, T-bird, 
Altima/Maxima etc.

For me it isn't a floating in space feeling or even perfect 
pedal placement or lack of noises/bumps.  My '89 has a 
couple of rattles and the suspension isn't super smooth, 
that is why I keep the '66 Grand Prix, it is the "smooth" 
car.  The 89 is a hot rod with great power and a fun to 
drive feeling.  The '96 has that delicious V8 sound, and is 
comfortable in the extreme for long trips.

The '91 is the right color and that alone puts a warm glow 
on my face.

Yes there are faster cars, cars that turn better, quieter 
cars, but almost all are WAY more expensive to buy and own, 
and none...so far...have put that grin on my face enough to 
make me want to get rid of one of my SHO's or take on 
another payment.

My SHO's have plenty of soul, and I suspect that is why each 
of us puts up with the agony of owning an orphan car that is 
known to be finicky.

Don Mallinson

van Oss wrote:

> George is right.  The crucial element is the driver's feeling that he/she knows the car, knows what it will do, feels comfortable
> and confident that the car will do what the driver asks.  That rapport can take time to build.  As Billy Joel said, it's always been
> a matter of trust.  A good car tells you that you can trust it, by behaving under stress with predictable, acceptable manners.  A
> bad car is any car in which you don't know when you can trust it, or you know you can't. I can drive my 92 SHO at 120 mph at
> Brainerd and feel confident that it will behave in Turn 1.  When you know a car will do what you built it to do, that is a rush.