why pro touring???

[evilzee28]

Well it's Friday already & time to start to unwind for the weekend Thought maybe a little light hearted debate might be the order of the day like last weeks '69 camaro posting. Ok,...........so why have you progressed to owning/building a Pro-Touring car,.....

what has influenced you most,?
who has influenced you most,?
what car has influenced you most?

& given unlimited funds what would you buy/build? Would it still be PT or something waaaaay different?

where do you see the Pro Touring scene going in the future?


well there's just a few questions to get you started , have a good day

[jannes_z-28]

Since you and I are the only ones awake we can start. Those people over in your colonies ar apparently still asleep

For me it was a natural step. I bought my car five years ago. I had been looking for many years for a '69 Camaro and this one turned up for sale. For many years I had seen the modern style on BMW's, Audi's, Mercedes' and so on with their high wheels and low profile tires on lowered suspensions. I guess they were influenced by the very popular European Salon Cars Championship cars, like the BTCC or DTM.

So I thought that a Camaro would look cool if the same style was applied to it. This was probably in 1996-97. One day I bought a Chevy Hi-Perf magazine because it had some cool Camaro on the cover, it was the Tucker's yellow car, I then learned that there already was something called Pro-Touring and it was exactly as I had been thinking about.

It took me a few years before I could move to a new house with a proper garage to make my dreams come true.

Now I have a cool Pro-Touring Camaro that has all the characteristics of a Pro-Touring car.

[zbugger]

I have an insane addiction to speed. I'm just not afraid of it. Clowns on the other hand, I can do without. With my love of driving fast, came a bad habit of picking up speed through turns instead of slowing down for them. My 15x3.5" wheels aren't the best for that kind of driving, so I had to start building my car to handle my driving style. Hopefully it can keep up.

[BC69]

I was influenced by this Pro-touring scene by pure looks at first. I was like 15 and seeing cars like the Thrasher with the big wheels and disc brakes. I really had no idea the other capabilities at the time, but I loved the look of modern styling added to a muscle car.
I began talking with more and more people, lurking on Pro-touring.com and was just overwhelmed with all the new innovation and technology. I have been hooked.

I think the toughest question is where does it go next? It seems we are always pushing the envelope farther and farther with each car, and right now Turbos and LS1-2s are on the top of the list with Corvette suspsensions and such. But where it goes next? I think we will see more use of modern technology. Addition of electronic all-wheel drive, ways to better control the power that all-wheel drive offeres. Moving power from wheel to wheel around corners and to all four in the straights.

But honestly I have no clue...could be anything.

Okay I gotta go to work...Ill be back on there though!

Tim

[jannes_z-28]

I think you are right there Tim,

we have a lot of new high-tech to explore in our cars. Living in Europe we have all kinds of highpower, high-tech cars and all major German manufacturers has 400+ hp V8s or V10s in their line up. Combined with the rest of their driveline we could get some really fancy stuff in our cars.

Only future will tell.


Jan

[Rick Dorion]

Long before the term 'Pro Touring' existed, I was always interested in improving cars. I always modified brakes, exhaust, engine, suspension, ignition, etc even with my '73 240Z. The current camaro is another opportunity. It's so great that the aftermarket is very healthy for us all.

[Steve Chryssos]

What has influenced you most,?
--Simultaneous exposure to hot rods and exotic supercars. I am equally blown away by both. Having grown up in NYC, movies and magazines had more influence than actual cars and events.

Who has influenced you most,?
--Dad, Brock Yates, Enzo Ferrari, Mark Donahue, Hal Needham, George Barris, Bill Mitchell (former GM styling chief), Bill Mitchell (former employer) Lil' John Buttera, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, Jeff Smith. It's a long list. Oh and when I was four, my brother stuck chewing gum all over the wheels of my my Tonka truck. It really pissed me off and I guess the obsession began.

What car has influenced you most?
--Ferrari 365 Daytona, Big Red, Porsche 930 RSR, Ferrari F40, Penske Trans Am Camaros, The Bandit T/A, The General Lee.

Given unlimited funds what would you buy/build? Would it still be?
--It will be PT. I'm working on the "Unlimited Funds" thingie.

Where do you see the Pro Touring scene going in the future?
--The true spirit will become diluted as only the basic cues are adapted to mainstream hot rods. With increasing regularity, the term will be slapped on pretty much anything with 17" diameter or larger wheels. At the same time, a select few will continue to adapt sophisticated technology (i.e. active suspension) and building techniques (i.e. full frame chassis) to their rides.

How'd I do?
/Steevo

[Ummgawa]

As a stalwart "I like em the way the General built em" Purist of sorts, I was heavily influenced by The Mule. I would have never done to a car, much less a 69 convertible, what I am doing now unless I had ever laid eyes on that one particular car.

Of course Nascar, Trans Am racing, Muscle Cars and growing up in the 60s etc was the foundation.

But The Mule did it for me. Plain and simple. I equate seeing it in person with meeting Raquel Welch in person, I'll never forget it. Plus its owned by a true Car guy, not some ahole investor that would park it in some heated warehouse somewhere.

[MaxHarvard]

because its expensive and people like pricey stuff

[Steve1968LS2]

Originally Posted by streetfytr68

What has influenced you most,?
Where do you see the Pro Touring scene going in the future?
--The true spirit will become diluted as only the basic cues are adapted to mainstream hot rods. With increasing regularity, the term will be slapped on pretty much anything with 17" diameter or larger wheels. At the same time, a select few will continue to adapt sophisticated technology (i.e. active suspension) and building techniques (i.e. full frame chassis) to their rides.

How'd I do?
/Steevo

Well, we hope not.. but it is bound to happen to any segment as fringe elements borrow styling cues more than engineering principals. It is the responsibilities of the core group to not loose sight of the REAL principals behind pro-touring cars. What happened to pro-street is that the core group forgot what it was all about and just about the entire segment went loopy on an overdose of chrome and badly ballanced cars.

The thing that pro-touring has going for it is that is really just an evolution of the whole "street machine" deal. Cars that evolved in tech of be more street friendly and have all around performance on par with modern cars. People will always desire those traits in a classic car.

I like pro-touring because it takes a car that is cool to drive and makes it cool and FUN to drive..