Real Classic Cars Have 8-Track Tapes - Remember Those?

When it comes to real classic cars, there's always the question of functionality versus antique authenticity. If you have a classic car and you modify it in any way other than to manufacturing specs then it is no longer factory original. At a classic car show you will be judged by originality and you will lose points, and there isn't a chance you can't with the show. Everything matters, the tires you use, the paint, and even the instruments in the dashboard including any entertainment devices such as stereos, GPS, or CD players.

If you have a docking station for your iPad in your 1959 stingray then obviously it is "out of time" and you probably can't win best of show, even at the small local car shows. Just as if you can't put the latest model steel belted radials, drive your car to the car show, and get the ultimate of accolades, no matter how cool your car is. The real classic cars have eight track players, they do not have cassette players, as those didn't happen until much later. The radios were AM/FM with pushbuttons, not XM radio with the satellite antenna on the back trunk.

If you want to buy a car with all the bells and whistles, that's fine, but if you modify your classic car with all the bells and whistles you've ruined it in many people's minds, especially those who judge the car shows. The obvious option would be to get a satellite radio handheld version, which also had a CD player, and lay it on a towel, on the dashboard or get an iPad, and lay it in the tray in the center console, of course you will still have to be cognizant of the fact that you shouldn't play with it while you drive.

That could get you into trouble with the police due to the new distracted driver laws. In fact the Department of Transportation is concerned with this as per an article on June 1, 2011 in the Wall Street Journal titled "US Presses to Rein in Web Gadgets in New Cars," in fact, Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, gave an interesting one hour speech at MIT convincing the students to come up with devices which would prevent people from using personal tech devices while they were driving.

Now then, there was another recent article; "Automakers Sweeten the Recipe for Small Cars - Goodbye, Hand-Crank Windows and Hello, iPad Docs," which brings me to another point. In 30 years the cars sold today will be classics tomorrow. Therefore if you have an iPad, you want to buy three or four, and put them in a safe for 30 years, and save them for a time in the future when those devices will no longer exist because you want to keep your classic car in the right time period. Indeed, hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 23,777 articles by 7 PM on June 27, 2011 is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..