[Beach Cruiser]

Ok, so my son just turned 18. He has a Honda Accord that he built up pretty stout. Engine swap, coilovers, suspension ect... I think it is something like 300 hp on spray. He really wants to get into an F-body now. He's found a pretty decent 99 Z28 with some mild mods and high miles. Two questions for you guys, do you think a mild F-body is to much for an 18 year old? And what do you guys think abou the price and mod list? I drove the car, and it runs pretty well, and it's very clean, just High miles. Here's the link to the ad: http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/1561183126.html

What do you guys think?

[trackbird]

Since I was probably the absolute "worst case", I'll share the outline of my younger days with an F-body.

I had an '89 Formula when I was 21. I put 100k miles on that car. At least 10-20k of them were well over 100 mph (and many were running WFO in the middle of the night up and down I-81). I racked up the majority of my 29 tickets in that car, never wrecked it, broke 11 700R4 transmissions (and swapped in a T5), a torque converter or two (as well as a few front pump bushings between broken transmissions), 1 rear axle, 12 (or so) front factory sway bar mounts (I bought them 4 at a time and just swapped them out) and who knows what else. I used to keep 6 brake rotors and spare bearings on hand. I'd warp rotors and melt the bearings down on a monthly basis. I'd turn them, swap them and rotate through my stock. I wasn't autocrossing back then and I learned the hard way about lifting in a slide when I spun it on a back road (I did put both feet in and only scratched the bumper cover which I easily touched up). I'm not saying everyone will be like me during my younger years, but I know that car ran 142 mph on flat ground...because I checked (and often). I had to put a switch on the electronic speedo wires to bypass the 112 mph limiter (I had put VR rated tires on it). I drove that thing in the snow on "junkyard" Goodyear Gatorbacks (typically 30% tread left) without a limited slip (I am a pretty good snow driver and I give that car credit for most of it).

I don't condone such behavior (but it was good to be young and invincible once upon a time). I was probably the "worst case" V8/RWD driving "kid", but I can speak from experience. On the other hand, I never wrecked that car and it was sold off with a roll cage (fuel cell, #8an braided lines, return regulator, Comp 100EFI pump, filter, etc) mostly installed in it (sold on ebay the week of 9-11 and I got the minimum bid of $500 on it and lost a ton of money).

I'm not saying he'll be like me, but odds are better than not that he'll fall somewhere between "us now" and "me then". And, he'll have 100+ more HP than I did...