1988 Turbocharged Firebird - 'Front Man
By Douglas R. Glad
Who Is Car Craft?
Somewhere in this month's magazine, you'll find a feature on Marty Stromberg's '88 turbocharged Firebird. As I look at the layout, I am realizing that it is nearly impossible to capture the real essence of the culture that produced a car like his. Even though I spent nearly five days on the road to get to his small corner of the globe and spent a 15-hour day with him and his friends, the passion, the talent, and the grit that flowed in the shop are still difficult to convey. To sum up the group in a couple words, they are the hard core.
Let's review. I look at the overall readership of Car Craft as layers of an onion. On the outside are all the people who really dig a cool '65 Mustang and had one as a teen, or had an uncle who had one, or have some kind of warm fuzzy memory that pops to the lips whenever that car drives by. They are the outer shell and therefore the largest part of the onion. They wrench, they buff and wax, and they bolt on millions of intakes and carburetors as they buy and sell their way to street-machine nirvana. I meet them at every show and kind of enjoy hearing the variations of the same story.
Next are the slightly more aggressive readers. These are more of the quiet type. They've transcended the bolt-on manifold and cam swap to the science behind horsepower. They usually have more than one or sometimes too many street machines and, like the guys around this office, need to own at least one of each make, model, and year during their lifetime. This kind of guy can build an engine, knows why he is building it, and usually has some kind of racing experience, either clandestine or at a dragstrip or road course. They read. They get it. They will send an e-mail if one of us drops the ball and accidentally states that you could get a Hemi Dart in 1960. It usually isn't just one e-mail, but because they get it, the letters are more about laughing at us than anything serious about our lack of education. These guys buy a lot of camshafts and blow up a lot of transmissions.
The last group is at the core of the onion. The hard core. Although the group is smaller than the others, they are usually the most influential-and the most inventive. Not only do they read and get it, they also see. How close can you get that valve to the piston before they meet? If they touch, how long will the engine last? Is it true that a crankshaft will fly apart at a certain rpm? They can answer these questions because they have been there with too much nitrous, too much compression, and too much throttle. They are behind the scenes at every show and race, and if you approach them they will eyeball you to see if you are one of them. If you are, they will take you to a bar from where you might never return. They are loud, friendly, rude, fun, smart, and stupid all at the same time. They are some of my favorite people.
As the guy in charge of Car Craft, it is my goal to try to relay the passion of all three types of people and their life experience to you in every magazine. There are all three kinds of guy in each of us, so you should enjoy the entire thing. Right? Who are you? -Douglas R. Glad
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