"The best never die. They just retire. And sometimes, if they get bored, they find something else to do."
My new feeling about modification is this: if it bolts on to and works seamlessly with the factory hardware, it's just as easy to uninstall as it was to install, and there is no damage to the stock parts or overall configuration of the car, then its no big deal. There are a number of performance kits out there from various manufacturers for various purposes that do just this, and can just as easily be removed in the future for purism purposes, so what does it hurt? It should be the responsibility of the owner to maintain his stock parts in a servicable condition. There are a number of tasteful bolt-on modifications available that are pretty decent. Enjoy the car, have fun with it, but remember what it is, and take good care of it.
Why does everybody who owns a '91-'96 B-body just have to do the same cloner modifications to it? These usually entail (if its a Caprice) replacing the Caprice grille with an Impala SS grille, either deleting the hood ornament or replacing it with one fron a '91-'93 Caprice LTZ, and replacing the stock wheels with Impala SS wheels. These are just the basic ones that are easy for the average cloner to do, but I've seen a lot worse butchery of Caprices that were once nice, turning them into a bastard car with a total identity crisis. Remember folks, they aren't making any more of them. If you get your hands on one that's nice, keep it like that. I don't understand why nearly every late model Caprice, and especially Caprice 9C1 owner has to be constantly fiddlefucking around, trying to make their car an Impala SS lookalike. If you want an Impala SS, save up your money and buy yourself a real one! I am so sick and tired of every goddamned 9C1 owner putting an Impala SS grille and wheels on his car and playing "let's-pretend-its-an-Impala-SS" with it. Its a 9C1, not a Super Sport. Can't you guys just leave it alone?
For those of you who still aren't seeing my point, look at it this way. To me, having a retired police car is like having a military jeep from the World War II era. Any sensible collector who had just such a jeep wouldn't be spending his time and money dropping in a 454 big-block V8, and installing suspension and body lifts, big mud tires, custom wheels, and all sorts of other modifications. Instead, he would restore it to the way a military jeep of the era could have appeared and been configured. The old military jeep is like an old police car: it is a vehicle that was built to serve a specific purpose, and that's what makes it special. Maybe through this analogy some of you who don't understand my 9C1 fanaticism will begin to understand why I believe in keeping a 9C1 a 9C1.
"The best never die. They just retire. And sometimes, if they get bored, they find something else to do."
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