The Camaro and its
sibling, the Firebird will be riding off into the automotive sunset
soon. Whether or not the sun rises again on these American icons
remains to be seen. At the same time, environmentalists across
the country push for legislation that targets the internal combustion
engine and anti-cruising ordinances are becoming commonplace. Even
insurance companies such as Allstate, take potshots at high performance
cars with ads depicting them as potentially lethal forms of transportation.
With threats coming from all quarters, it
would seem as if automotive enthusiasts would put aside personal preferences
and join together to support our collective love for cars. Unfortunately,
this is not the case. Historical rivalries, such as Ford vs.
Chevy and Import vs. Domestic have been around for years. Most
often these debates and competitive rivalries are healthy and promote
the development of better products for everyone involved. What
is of far greater concern is the widening social gap between owners
of older cars and those who own late model cars.
Many car shows and cruise nights have begun
instituting a policy of discrimination against newer cars, both foreign
and domestic, by excluding late model vehicles from their events.
These divisive actions are extremely detrimental and harmful
to our already threatened hobby. A prime example of such discrimination
can be found every Wednesday night at Solid Gold McDonald's in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. We spoke with Carl Kasbrzyk, who claims to have first
organized this event over nine years ago, about this policy in an
attempt to gain some insight on the reasoning behind this policy.
After working on hotrods and street rods for
over 40 years, Carl has formed strong opinions on what vehicles he
considers to be worthy of parking at Solid Gold McDonald's on a Wednesday
night. Carl does not consider anything built after 1948 to be
a hotrod, with most built before 1935. He considers cars built
between 1935 and 1948 to be street rods. Surprisingly, Carl
does not see a V8 as being a prerequisite for a car to be considered
a hotrod. Milwaukee has its share of what Carl considers to
be hotrods and street rods, but certainly not enough to fill up the
lot every Wednesday night, so we decided to inquire about other cars
that might be allowed.
Carl describes sports cars as, "Corvette-type
of cars, but not necessarily V8s, although most are." Eager
to make generalizations, Carl feels all Mustangs, Firebirds and Camaros
are muscle cars, including those with four cylinders, "as long
as they're souped up a little." With seemingly broad automotive
interpretations, we asked Carl why Solid Gold McDonald's policy prohibits
vehicles newer than 1985. "We just don't have enough room
and you have to draw the line somewhere," says Carl. When
asked if that would include a 1979 Pinto, but exclude a 1986 Corvette,
Carl replied, "Yup, probably." As
we gazed out on the parking lot, we noticed a Dodge Viper and inquired
as to its presence. Carl explained, "Jim, the owner will
let guys in with newer Shelbys, Ferraris, etc. People complain, but
the reason given is that these are specialty cars," says Carl.
We then noticed a PT Cruiser parked out front and asked if that
was considered a specialty car. Carl laughed and claimed it
was owned by WRIT, a local oldies station that was covering the event,
so they were forced to let them park in the lot.
While these two cars seemed to be rare exceptions
to the rule, other regulars we spoke with claim certain late model
cars are frequently allowed to park at Solid Gold McDonald's on cruise
night. Some of these cars include PT Cruisers, Prowlers and
Corvettes. John Gay, who owns a 1993 Camaro has spoken with
the staff at Solid Gold McDonald's regarding this confusing policy
and has been told that, "(they) don't want cars that you can
find on a showroom floor." Presumably, this restriction
will not include Camaros and Firebirds in the near future. We
don't think this is likely, considering the night we visited was advertised
as "Camaro Night," yet there were no Camaros on the lot
newer than 1979 and every Camaro owner driving a car built after 1985
was turned away at the curb.
Carl Kasbrzyk is concerned about the future
of hotrodding and what will become of the cars that fill the lot on
Wednesday nights. "Many of these street rodders are in
their 50s or older and in the next 15 years, there will be a ton of
these cars for sale. Who will buy these cars? What are
the kids today going to be working on?" Surprised at this
comment, we asked him if he thought younger kids with newer cars worked
on them. He replied, "I doubt it. I don't think they do."
When asked what could be done to get the younger generation
more involved considering his show would not allow them in, he did
not have an answer. Clearly,
Carl has several stereotypes ingrained in his mind about late model
cars. Since he and others in similar positions are unwilling
to reach out to the next generation, it is on our shoulders to attempt
to bridge the gap between old and new. We need to approach these
individuals and suggest alternatives everyone can live with. If
Solid Gold McDonald's cruise night is so popular that space is limited,
perhaps they should expand to additional nights. If they cannot
handle the workload of additional nights, perhaps they would consider
reserving a section for a few late model vehicles?
If they are not receptive to these ideas,
they might be more inclined to discuss options if late model owners
began picketing their cruise nights with signs that read, "Solid
Gold McDonald's Practices Discrimination." They certainly
wouldn't limit their customers based on age, race or nationality,
so why should they be allowed to do so on cruise night? Whatever
course of action is taken by late model owners, it should be as professional
and mature as possible. Protests registered with smoky burnouts,
flybys, four letter words and blasting stereos will only further the
divide and hurt our collective hobby. As lawmakers and environmentalists
paint a bull's eye on horsepower junkies, we need to present a united
front, both young and old, import and domestic.
