Well Blog users, I sure had a great weekend at the Bloomington Gold (www.bloomingtongold.com) Corvette show.  Now. I'm not a 'Vette owner and I always had a view of 'Vette enthusiasts as people who like glitter, shine and "numbers-matching" perfection.  Anyone who knows me knows that's pretty far from where I'm at and that's why Bloomington Gold surprised me.  One of the first people I ran into was Mike Yager of Mid America Motorworks (www.mamotorworks.com) who was talking to Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market magazine.  Mike was telling Keith that he sees a new trend evolving in the 'Vette hobby where having fun with your car is taking precedence over how perfect the car's condition is and how much it's worth.  "Let's say you're at this Bloomington Gold Mecum auction and two midyear Corvettes cross the block," said Mike. "The first one is perfection and will bring $125,000 and the second one is in everyday driver shape with the wrong engine, but runs good and you can buy it for $27,000.  Well, you can buy that car, keep some money in your pocket and have a lot of fun just driving it and driving it."  I can't help thinking that Mr. Yager is on the right track here and if the growth of his Corvette Funfest event in Effingham, Illinois is any indication, other people feel the same way.  Funfest 2007 will be September 21-23 and more than 12,000 Corvettes are expected to be there.  They'll be treated to a weekend of fun, fun, fun and a concert by Three Dog Night.  I think the hobby needs more funfests, but since there's only one right now, check www.mamotorworks.com/reg if you want more info on it.

A few days ago I "blogged" about original cars and got one response from a man who was hoping he could fix the car he currently owns and loves, even though it's not a high-dollar classic.  That made mw wonder how many of the cars we consider "collector cars" today were saved from the scrap heap at some time in their life.  Did that shiny Oldsmobile you're driving to shows once have threadbare seats and a broken window?  Did that pretty Plymouth you own desparately need a new transmission 25 years ago?  Did your De Soto take a trip to the engine rebuilder back in the '70s?  I think a lot of cars reach that point where an owner has to decide whether it's "worth saving."  In many cases, the turning point comes when a car has absolutely no "book value" left and yet someone  decides it's worth fixing  It takes a lot of love to spend more on a car than the Blue Book says it's worth, but that's what turns many old cars into classic cars. Saving old iron is what this hobby is all about!

What do you think? Press the "comments" button and let me know. Tell us your opinion.

If you enjoy fixing cars, I hope you have a computer and access to the Internet.  The World Wide Web is a great source of how-to information for the home mechanic.  Last night my son Jesse and I fixed his car.  Jesse had noticed that he had two lug nut studs broken off.  Numberous Internet sites covered thisd repair.  Though somewhat different in detail, they all recommended pressing or tapping the old and broken studs free. Then, you insert new studs, slip two large washers over them and pull the studs into position with the original lug nuts.  By following the instructions on the Internet, we had the job completely dine in under two hours.  The total cost was about $4.50 for the new lugs.   What we saved in labor will easily pay next month's bill for Internet service.

As I mentioned in this blog recently, I think there is going to be a big swing in the hobby towards old cars with the best fuel economy.  As gas prices rise and we start spending $60-$75 (oe more) each time we fill the tank on our old car, we're going to be forced into looking for ways to conserve fuel.  Whether we like it or not, that 1947 Studebaker Champion that averages 19-23 mpg and gets 28-30 mog when driven at a nice, even pace, is going to start looking more and more appealing.  While a Hemi 'Cuda might be worth a couple of million today, the Plymouth that's really going to appreciate (percentagewise) over the next few years is the short-wneelbase 1949-1951 model that used to win stock car races because it needed fewer fuel stops.   Hobbyists are going to start buying, restoring and driving cars like these more and more each passing year.  Since there's only so many old cars to go around, my advice is get in early.  The 25-MPG old car is the hot collector's item of the future!

What do you think? Click "comments" below to post your opinion on this topic.