Street Legal (Rifle: renting, buying, DMV)

[blkbrry1693]

Ok well I'm looking to buy one of my son's his first car. We're lookin for something older like 74 Roadrunner, 69 Cougar, or any other older muscle car. I'm just concerned with what the DMV considers street legal. Does the size of the engine, horsepower, or just in general what are the rules of the road. Thanks for any help you can give =^ )

[Charles]

Will it have airbags and other modern safety equipment?
Will it be heavy and provide protection in a crash?
Will your son take advantage of all that horsepower?

[Vision67]

This is a joke, right? You want to fix up a used rear drive muscle car for a teen driver. A '74 Roadrunner will have very poor traction on icy roads, it has minimal safety equipment, but it could have 300 HP.

Are you nuts?

Get the kid a mildly used 5 year old front drive sedan. Airbags, ABS, and an under steering front drive design will perform well in Colorado. And be sure you mount winter tires from Nov 1 through May1.

Fix up the old hot rod for yourself.

[COflower]

Yeah, that's smart, give a teen driver a muscle car?

Get real, get a safe vehicle for goodness sakes. One that wont eat gas like it's 1969 again and one that is not as likely to become a deathtrap.

Responsible parenting at it's best.

[McGowdog]

I'm thinking that a nice muscle car that was nicely fixed up would run pretty sweet and would require a lot of TLC to keep it nice and would not be such a good idea when the weather gets rough, whether it's winter or summer.

The extreme heat can have it overheating when he goes through the drive-thru at his favorite fast-food joint and his girlfriend will get impatient with him as he's sitting on the side of the road waiting for it to cool down.

In the winter, it will get stuck climbing Austin Bluffs, the windows won't be defogged too well when he starts out in the morning, the windshield wipers and washers won't keep up with all the snow and dirt that gets splashed on his windshield, etc.

A hot rod is a good second vehicle. And it will be very expensive to get it and keep it nice. If it's a ratted out and has bad wiring, run away from it.

I like an older classic car myself. I can only afford the 4-doors at this time. I picked this one up for a couple thou and it runs as good or better than anything out there now. It's a tough car, and that 383 will blow your doors off going up a 6 % grade;

[ryanek9freak]

You're asking about a muscle car being street legal now? Dude, not trying to be mean or anything, but what would NOT make it street legal? (assuming it it still had a decent exhaust and lighting)

I think that you need to slow down with your son. First you're buying him a handgun, now you're considering a muscle car?

How bout a nice .22 Rifle, and a 1997 Honda Accord. That sounds about right.

[ryanek9freak]

oh BTW, Mcgowdog, I'm currently working on a 1970 440 Challenger at work right now. One of out managing partners owns it, and the timing cover is pissing oil everywhere.

it's a pretty sweet car.

[onthamove]

yo i got my car when i was 17 and paid for it myself i am dammm proud of it. its a 2000 hyundai tiburon the ladies like it, man for your sons sake get him something the chicks will like and i think a muscle car is just the thing

[onthamove]

thats her on the beach at port aransas, texas that passenger side window is fixed now it drove me crazy havin to tape up my baby

[gregabob]

Classic muscle cars are WAY too valuable for a teen to have nowadays-restore one for yourself and enjoy it on nice days, maybe take it to the track a few times....that's what I did with mine. A Duster or Dart with a 318, Nova with a 307, or Maverick with a 302 can still be picked up cheap and hopped up a little without creating a monster. A rear-drive car on a dirt road can be kinda fun.......
That's a beauty of a 300 by the way-383 is an almost unkillable engine...I know, I tried!