True day two cars were before my time, i graduated in 1985 in the rust belt. The few clean muscle cars were WAY out of my price range anything i could afford was way beyond day two. My current 68 chevelle project will be my version of day two. The car will be fairly stock appearing but have cragars, headers, a 427 instead of a 396, a bunch of upgrades that won’t be very noticeable. I’m not hung up on period correct (69-72) parts. New cragars are hard enough to get and vintage intakes can be a hassle also. Nothing too modern will show. Basically what i’m building is what i wish i could’ve in the 80’s.
I totally love this look. I'm 58, and this is how they were when I was a kid. When guys started doing stock restorations on the muscle cars in the mid 80's, I thought they looked so goofy with skinnies out back, especially the cars with the big rear quarter panel bulge ('69 E body, Mopar, Chargers, Camaro/Firebird, Mach 1. They just look right with fat rubber and Cragar S/S's. I had a '71 Chevelle SS 454 with the look.
I always hated the "Day 2" designation..brought on by the gold chainers with their quarter million dollar cars that never get driven.
^^^^^This. Oh and cup holders are more Day Three or possibly even Four. I hid one in the jockey box but the 8 tracks make it hard to get to.
Back when they were daily drivers..this is also the first Kmart in the US, Garden City, Mi..now a vacant lot…
When I was a kid it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to see a newer big block Camaro, Road Runner or GTO with mags on the front and black wheels with studded snow tires on the rear. I grew up in South Dakota where winter happens and it wasn’t uncommon for a cammed up muscle car was driven every day.
Man, those early fastbacks were some neat looking cars. Perfect proportions. Always loved the 3/4 view.
Great profile…if only those rear tires were some M&H Racemasters or Pie crust slicks and the fronts were some pro tracs on cragars…
Day 2 was more symbolic then an actual thing, I believe. At least around here it was what the guys changed after they bought their performance cars. It didn't take long before the guys figured out that if the bought the cheaper versions of the performance model, the insurance was a lot cheaper, and the original buy was cheaper, even if you bought the biggest, baddest motor available in the base model car, so most bought the base model with the big motor. Then they took it home, and added more stuff as they could afford it. It was by far cheaper to make the trip to the local Sears, J C Penny, or what ever stores catered to the young guy car market, then it was to buy the car with the cool stuff on it from the factory. I worked at a J C Penny Auto Center in 1977 & 78. That auto center was run by younger guys and we sold, and installed, a lot of performance stuff. I was the afternoon and evening installer. Even that late in the game, that aftermarket stuff was still hot sellers. Our auto center was one of the last auto centers J C Penny had before they closed them all down. A lot of what I see posted here is way past the "day 2" time frame. The aftermarket sales were such a strong influence that most younger guys today have no idea what most of those original performance cars actually left the factory with. Most of the modern "restored" Muscle cars we see now with the small hub caps and skinny tires, were the base models the guys bought, then took home and added the cool parts to. There really were not many high optioned performance cars originally sold, and when you see one without factory mags, its probably a lie. One of the first options most chose, after the big motor, were factory fancy wheels and tires, but from the factory, there were all the same size. Buying them locally you could get bigger rear tires and smaller front tires for less money then the factory option.
Make America Great Again… Let’s head to the mall and get some parts…and pay with our store credit card…
Another thing about starting with a cheaper model and adding what you want. Many times to get some options you have to accept a lot of crap you don't want. So many people like myself could leave out the filler options as they're adding the few they want
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