In a way I agree, but there are a couple of differences in my experiences.
Between you, David and I, we got pretty much the lifespan of modifying (tuning, if you'd rather that word) import cars. I bought my first issue of Sport Compact Car back when it first came out in 1988. I remember it having a 1988 red Nissan Sentra on the cover. The "scene" back then wasn't necessarily all performance. I was on the appearance side of the coin. I was still into mini-trucking so I took that mindset into my cars. I never had had go-fast cars. Mine were always sitting on the pavement and wildly done up in the style of the mini trucks.
Echo, I wouldn't necessarily say that we were stupid back in those days. Being that we were kind of going into uncharted territory, we were more inventive; hence you, and I for that matter, making homemade intakes because of lack of after market support. That's why lowering cars via torch or sawzall was very commonplace. Like you said, there was no "scene" in the import car genre to latch on to and follow. Now were stupid things done then? Of course. A lot of it, though, was in the name of advancement for this hobby. The more people that got into this thing, the more support came out from parts companies.
I don't know that I'd call what newer folks in this stupid in what they do. It's just that the modifications they are doing is, in a way, like what we did back then. Today, modifying cars is more of a trend thing. Everyone seems to find something to get with and they do the same. It's rare to see someone go out of the way for something new. And I understand that a lot of that comes from the fact that pretty much everything has already been done.
These are my words based on my experiences over the past 28 years in this.






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