When i was involved in the drag racing scene, I found that there were a lot of people that were very guarded about what they were doing & any changes that they'd made. They tended to be "holier than thou" if they had a quicker car than you, they wouldn't help or avise you if you had problems. The ones that did help were probably newbies to the scene & hadn't learned that much about what makes a car work "properly" & you weren't considerd a threat. The advice given was not always totally correct though.It seemed that alot of people were copying what they thought they'd seen done to the top cars, but not understanding how or why. There was a lot of "monkey see, monkey do". Having gone back to the drags, after an abscence of some 10 years, just to put some numbers on my friends car, I was amazed to see people making the same basic mistakes in car building! It seems that everyone could be a threat, performance wise to the quick guys, so they don't divulge their knowledge. The difference with the PT scene is there is NO competition, hence everyone happy to help those that need it. :yes:

big red is a big influence.
beating my wifes trans am is a big motavator.
future? i have no idea.....

My reasons to build pro-touring cars:

1. My first car was a '69 Camaro. Of course, it was a bondo-bucket and a "20-footer", but that was on a McDonalds income budget. Had to sell it to pay for college (a whopping $3500 I got for it)

2. I've been into late model Mustangs and Camaros since then. New cars ride, brake, handle, and accelerate better than old cars. I liked those aspects far too much I suppose.

3. GM quit building Camaros. Since there wasn't a "new" one, I decided to build my own version. :D

I would love to build something other than GM cars, but being in my position within the GM/LS1 world, it would be almost blasphemy to build a Ford or Mopar lol......unless I slap an LS1 under the hood :unibrow:

Tony

I wanted to do a Pro Touring car before I knew there was such a thing. I wanted a more or less late model pony car with bolt on handling and braking upgrades and a more powerful engine. My inspiration was the '65/'66 Shelby GT-350. It was an excellent surprise to find that a build style was evolving right in line with what I wanted. IMHO, and with all due respect to Big Red, etc., Carroll Shelby's the guy who started it all.
Chuck

Why pro touring?
 

I have spent most of my adult life going back and forth between classic muscle and late model muscle. Something was always lacking so I sold or traded into the next car.
I really enjoy new car handling,performance,braking and modern amenities. However new car body lines are vanilla (by comparison) IMHO.
On the other hand I LOVE the classic lines of old school muscle. I like the way that they draw a crowd. It is fun to have people come up to my car and tell me that they (or their dad,uncle,next door neighbor etc..)
"used to have one of those". But quite frankly the driving experience of classic cars leaves a lot to be desired.
Then I stumbled upon a pro touring car in a magazine. The lightbulb in my head went on. I could have the best of both worlds! Handling,performance,braking,creature comforts and the timeless beauty
of an american muscle car. All in one package.
And as a side benefit PT cars when well taken care of will hold their value or quite possibly even appreciate :)
These cars will not fall out of favor.
I honestly believe that this genre will continue to grow and evolve.

Scott