This is just a question some of my friends and I have been talking about. I just wanted to get some of your opinions. For instance would a full out drag car with a Terminator Body still be considered a Terminator if it has Auto, Solid Axle, Little to No interior, Race Seats, No A/C or PowerSteering, Etc? The thing that gets me is all of these people that buy Terminators cut them up and change suspension, drivetrain, seats, brakes, etc. In my opinion a Terminator shoud be 6-speed, I.R.S., Cobra Brakes, Interior(Rear Seat Delete Acceptable), and mostly streetable. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. If I wanted strictly a drag car and liked the Termi Body, I would have just bought a V6 and swapped in a Blown 4-valve with an Auto and Solid Axle. My main question is if a Terminator that sets some kind of record for being fast, and all thats left of the car is a Terminator Exterior Shell and a 4-valve is that really a Terminator Record? Where is the line drawn???
When is a Terminator still a Terminator???
- Thread starter CobraStruck
- Start date
The VIN Makes it a Terminator. No amount of modifications can change that.
So if the record is set in a TT/powerglide chassis car that weighs 2400# but started out as a Terminator, yes that "counts" as a valid record.
So if the record is set in a TT/powerglide chassis car that weighs 2400# but started out as a Terminator, yes that "counts" as a valid record.
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Ya I guess its the VIN number that makes it one but we have one that races locally that has a pushrod engine in it and how bout the ones that are 5.4L turbo, straight axle, autos, tubbed and yep they are still terminators.
Soon as a Terminator has been bastardized with an auto and SRA, it's no longer what the VIN # reflects.
More like a pumped-up Mach1 then what the car was originally intended for.
It was never meant to be a 1/4 mile car.
That's what the Mach 1 was for...:bash:
Jeff
The question was not posed as "What are Terminators intended for". A car is always what the VIN says it is, no matter what is done to the drivetrain or exterior.
Maybe I should tell my insurance company that my Cobra is actually a quick V6 since it has a solid axle and auto trans, I will get a huge insurance discount.
Are you serious? The VIN # is far more important than a simple determinate for insurance policies.
VIN #'s on a car tell anything and everything there is to know about how the car was assembled "from the factory". It includes all things such as color, type of engine/drivetrain, model, body type etc.....
Once those things are removed or changed (engine/transmission etc...), i highly doubt you can honestly claim any type "records" the car has achieved.
And at what point can you call your car a terminator terminator?
had to...
had to...
Its kinda of like sayin Nascar cars are Impalas and Camrys ;-D
My opinion- Blown-6spd-IRS=Terminator end of story
That's why we have are own opinions as opposed to being one of the herd.
Some may not like it.... Some seem absolute about their opinion.
I'm just passing time with a bunch of knuckleheads like me.
Some of us on this board are old school and may not consider some of the things that go on under peoples hoods exceptable. Well it is their car...
My opinion is, screw the VIN if the car has been irreparably bastardized.
The opinion is worth maybe $0.10....
Talk to me in ten years.
Jeff
Now of course if my friend the Supra owner and me are bench racing then yeah I will tell him a stock blower car just ran 9's without elaborating on the setup since a "factory twins" supra also did the same lol.
Interesting question Justin. Although, I'm a big 6 speed/IRS/Eaton guy, I can appreciate and respect a well setup Automatic/SRA Terminator with any number of power adder choices. To me, its the body more so than the drivetrain. Aftermarket hoods are okay, but once someone starts doing front end clips, replacing factory body panels with light weight composites, etc, etc, then it's more a race car than an 03/04' Cobra.
i think as long as the mods preformed are in the same taste as the factory layed out. a SRA and auto are acceptable to a point IMO, its when you destroy/strip the interior/exterior and take away the creature comforts for weight savings is when i classify it as a drag car. i guess you could still call it a draged out terminator.
as long as the vin# is there....im never gonna sell my car so i could care less if someone else thinks im crazy for cutting it up, its MY car....once i started modding my car its just hard to stop and this "taking the eaton to the extreme" thing is really sucking me in more and more and i just cant get myself to stop. sure a v6 car would of been a cheaper more logical way to go, but im just to far along to go that route. i cant ever see myself putting a pushrod motor in my car as i have grown to familiar with the 4v and i think that plays a big part in it too. also i drag my car on a regular basis and i could not see myself dumping money into the IRS...solid axle seemed the logical choice. I would like to go auto, but i will stick with bangin gears for another season just to stick with the goal i have. like stated above your going to get so many different opinions. some hardcore guys that like to keep everything original might say as soon as you put an aftermarket blower on it its not a terminator anymore.
I think someone is J-E-A-L-O-U-S of Jake.
Kinda what i was thinking too. but hell he is 3rd on the list,im 4th and im happy where i am..at least for now;-)
another one of these..haha.
the fact is, the cars birth certificate specifies it is a terminator. no matter what you do to change it, it is still a terminator. I mean really, it is as simple as that. why people get so hung up on what people do to their cars and then trying to argue that it is not a terminator anymore is just crazy. intended for or not, it doesn't matter. when I call my insurance company, they don't care what is done to it. they want the VIN and that determines my insurance premium. period, end of discussion. now, based on what I have put into it, I can purchase more insurance to cover additional items.
I know the VIN tells a lot more about the car when you call the dealer for parts or something, but still, that doesn't matter. the VIN is still ther certificate of the vehicle and it is illegal to remove. so that car will always be a terminator.
bottom line, you buy the terminator from the dealer or whoever else and it is VIN associated with the car as a terminator from the manufacturer, it will always be a terminator. really isn't hard to understand. it is just that some people have this thought in their head that OMG, they changed this or that. they ruined that terminator. I would never buy that, etc. lol
the fact is, the cars birth certificate specifies it is a terminator. no matter what you do to change it, it is still a terminator. I mean really, it is as simple as that. why people get so hung up on what people do to their cars and then trying to argue that it is not a terminator anymore is just crazy. intended for or not, it doesn't matter. when I call my insurance company, they don't care what is done to it. they want the VIN and that determines my insurance premium. period, end of discussion. now, based on what I have put into it, I can purchase more insurance to cover additional items.
I know the VIN tells a lot more about the car when you call the dealer for parts or something, but still, that doesn't matter. the VIN is still ther certificate of the vehicle and it is illegal to remove. so that car will always be a terminator.
bottom line, you buy the terminator from the dealer or whoever else and it is VIN associated with the car as a terminator from the manufacturer, it will always be a terminator. really isn't hard to understand. it is just that some people have this thought in their head that OMG, they changed this or that. they ruined that terminator. I would never buy that, etc. lol
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So by what some of you are saying, I can build a Terminator clone, market it and sell it as a real one... right? Doesn't matter what the VIN, as long as it's got a Terminator heart and soul? Same logic, just flipped around. The guy a few posts up has a Paxton on his Mach 1! That's not what the factory intended! Oh my, must not be a Mach anymore! (no slam, I think your Mach is way cool - just making a point) Buy a GT, do body mods and then it's no longer even a Mustang I guess? I guess since mine is now TT, I better pull the Cobra emblems off it... not.
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