[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]
On Mon, 7 Apr 1997, Toby Erkson wrote:
> Having been raised (literally!) with my baby I was dumb struck the first
> time I saw an early model T3. Like the Beetle it was homely, but still
> cute. And what's with that slope nose? The shark snout on my girl looks
> way better.
Hear, hear!
> Customizing individualizes a vehicle, sets it apart from the crowd. A
> question to present to purists (people who prefer stock) would be, "What's
............
> research is involved. I also respect the work of a good custom, be it mild
> or wild, because it shows me the individually-creative side of the person.
I agree that customizing can be a unique and attractive creative outlet
for some. (Although some customizations are downright disgusting and
debasing. We've all seen those.) However, I have very specific reasons
for keeping the appearance of my '72 as close to stock as possible.
First, I think that these cars simply look best when they're stock. True,
customs can make a T3 look racier, more modern, more stylish, etc. etc.
But I view the stock appearance as the way these cars were intended to
look. I guess I like to think of them as artifacts of their time period.
Keeping my Squareback original-looking places it in a point in history and
marks it securely and irrefutably as an early-Seventies evolution of an
early-Sixties design. You may argue that the large "cowcatcher" bumpers
with equally clumsy bumper guards on my ride are ugly, and indeed, they
aren't as elegant as the earlier bumpers. But the forces that put those
bumpers there- the government regulations, the rampant Naderism, etc-
place my '72 squarely in the era of Watergate, Elton John, the Vietnam
War, and Harvest Gold. Taking those bumpers off, and supplanting the
stock wheels with chrome jobbies, is to me like denying these cars'
heritage.
Keep in mind that this IS my OPINION and I do respect other OPINIONS and
so I welcome DISCOURSE but please no FLAMES. :)
Later-
Cooper Melton
'72 Squareback (unfortunately, not in Harvest Gold OR Avocado Green!)
Cooper N. Melton, Esq.
221 Gildersleeve, Brown College at Monroe Hill
University of Virginia
School of Architecture
coop@virginia.edu
http://palladio.arch.virginia.edu/~cnm4x
_________________________
"I could never sleep my way to the top,
`cause my alarm clock always wakes me right up."
-They Might Be Giants
"On the counter by your keys
was a book of numbers and your remedies.
One of these surely will screen out the sorrow,
but where are you tomorrow?"
-Steely Dan
"The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."
-C.W. Westfall