Nostalgia

[Road Runner]

I've been feeling very nostalgic lately.  Weird.  

Most of our human emotions, such as fear, love and hate, all seem to have a purpose related to survival of the species.  Nostalgia, on the other hand, seems to have no purpose but to remind us of earlier times of our lives when the world was new and exciting to us, and full of promising days ahead. 

Nostalgia is an unneeded emotion, much like the appendix is an unneeded part of the intestines.  Both can cause pain.    

[dinneR ★]

Marvin says coffee is delicious.

 

[Road Runner]

I'm pretty sure Vulcans are immune to silly emotions like nostalgia.   

[maddmaxx ★]

For some reason I have this thing for 60's cars.  I miss my 62 Corvette, my 66 Barracuda, my 68 Dart and my 69 1/2 Daytona.  I really want a 68 Road Runner 440 though.

[AirwickWithCheese]

11 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I'm pretty sure Vulcans are immune to silly emotions like nostalgia.   

It is a two edged sword for sure but there is also a lot of wonderfulness in remembering the beauty of the past. 

Like Secretariat. 

Don't be a punk and go feel nostalgic. 

[Road Runner]

10 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

For some reason I have this thing for 60's cars.  I miss my 62 Corvette, my 66 Barracuda, my 68 Dart and my 69 1/2 Daytona.  I really want a 68 Road Runner 440 though.

1968 Road Runners had only two engine options:  the 383, 335 HP RR engine (slightly more aggressive cam than the 330 HP) and the 426, 425 HP Hemi.  Of course, you could install a 440 into the 68 RR if desired, but it wouldn't be stock anymore.  

[maddmaxx ★]

25 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

1968 Road Runners had only two engine options:  the 383, 335 HP RR engine (slightly more aggressive cam than the 330 HP) and the 426, 425 HP Hemi.  Of course, you could install a 440 into the 68 RR if desired, but it wouldn't be stock anymore.  

You're right.  I really want the 69 6 pack.  I forgot which year it came out.

And no, it wouldn't be stock once finished.

[12string]

I remember the good old days when people didn't get me all veklempt about remembering the good old days.  Those were the days!

[Road Runner]

29 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

You're right.  I really want the 69 6 pack.  I forgot which year it came out.

And no, it wouldn't be stock once finished.

Actually, I bought my 383 RR near the end of the 68 production run.  If I had waited a while longer, I could have gotten the 440, which I would have much preferred.  But I guess in May of 68, I was unaware that the 440 would be available in 69.  

[maddmaxx ★]

1 hour ago, Road Runner said:

Actually, I bought my 383 RR near the end of the 68 production run.  If I had waited a while longer, I could have gotten the 440, which I would have much preferred.  But I guess in May of 68, I was unaware that the 440 would be available in 69.  

The 440 was what I had in the Daytona and frankly if you are going to drive the car it is a better engine than the Hemi.  The Hemi requires constant attention where the 440 would run and run without additional tune ups every other day.  It was a stump puller of a tractor engine.  With the 60's heads there was very little additional potential above 6000 rpm so it needed to  be geared and set up accordingly.  Long headers for torque.  It probably ran better with the big Dodge automatic than the manual.

[Road Runner]

24 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

The 440 was what I had in the Daytona and frankly if you are going to drive the car it is a better engine than the Hemi.

When the RR was first brought out in 68, it was considered the poor man's muscle car with a basic sticker price right at $3000.  Even though it sold pretty well, many people were disappointed with the limited options.  So the 440 had to wait another year.  I missed out on it then and when I bought my second new Chrysler product, a 1975 Dodge Charger.  I had to settle for the 360.  Not exactly muscle.  A pale imitation of the Chargers of the past.     

[Razors Edge ★]

10 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

Not exactly muscle.  A pale imitation of the Chargers of the past.

...or of the future!

[Airehead]

Nostalgia is just another form of sad.

[Zephyr]

I remember sitting on a street in Banff, Alberta one sunny day when a tour bus came along and people unloaded.  A group of seven or 8 Asians grouped near me, and ranged in age from 70 to 7.  I am guessing an extended family.  They were doing the stereotypical Asian tourist thing and taking many pictures.  The young boy sat on the stone wall not far from me and eventually his grandmother(?) came and sat beside him.  He asked "Why are we taking so many pictures?" Her answer amazed me.  She said " We take them so when we go back home to our regular life we can look at the pictures and remember how good we feel right now"

Maybe nostalgia is your brain's way of telling you that you need to do something to feel again what you felt way back when.  I don't think we are supposed to be sad and miss it is gone, but focus on the feelings you had at the time and try to find something now to make you feel that way again.

[maddmaxx ★]

1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

...or of the future!

I had one of those.  I also had one of the next year models in red and silver with a turbo.  Both were real fun cars to drive.  With the turbo car I embarrassed an IROC Camaro one night.  He was much faster than me at the end of the quarter mile but I got there first.  The Shelby was a very light car with Goodyear Gatorback F! style gumball tires and huge brakes in large wheels.  It stuck to the ground better than anything else I drove.  The only problem was that they were on the leading edge of EEC development and the mechanics did not have the training or diagnostic tools that they have today.  These two cars spent far too much time in the shop for warranty work to keep after the warranty expired.

[Road Runner]

The 75 looked pretty good, it just wasn't fast.  Mine had the same colors as the pic, bronze with a white top.

[Ralphie ★]

Cars are light years better than they used to be, so nostalgia for old cars is snot very rational.

NTTIAWWT. I can’t believe I get nostalgic for those old POSs too!

[AirwickWithCheese]

1 hour ago, Road Runner said:

The 75 looked pretty good, it just wasn't fast.  Mine had the same colors as the pic, bronze with a white top.

I'm sorry, that's just a funny image to imagine.   

[MickinMD ★]

7 hours ago, Road Runner said:

I've been feeling very nostalgic lately.  Weird.  

Most of our human emotions, such as fear, love and hate, all seem to have a purpose related to survival of the species.  Nostalgia, on the other hand, seems to have no purpose but to remind us of earlier times of our lives when the world was new and exciting to us, and full of promising days ahead. 

Nostalgia is an unneeded emotion, much like the appendix is an unneeded part of the intestines.  Both can cause pain.    

I'm not psychologist - I only got as far as college PSYC 101 - but having nostalgic emotions may be related to survival by reminding us of something that was good, some of which we may be able to relive. If it's a shared nostalgic experience, it helps bonding in the present.

I belong to a private Facebook site called "I Grew Up in Brooklyn Park, Maryland" where old, shared experiences are posted every week, from school pictures to photos of old restaurants and other teenage gathering spots that no longer exist.  Those shared memories/experiences often lead to many of those people getting together today.

I had lunch shortly before the pandemic began with these two high school classmates (we all became teachers in the same system in which we were students) and, having been in classes and sports together (Diane was cheerleader captain), a couple memories we shared put tears in our eyes and we're going to restart our Class of '68 Lunch Bunch this summer. I think nostalgia plays a part here.

[Road Runner]

39 minutes ago, AirwickWithCheese said:

I'm sorry, that's just a funny image to imagine.   

[Kirby]

To me nostalgia is like a bank of good memories that you can draw on during a difficult time.  Sure, it can make you a little sad those things aren't current, but it's nice to have experienced them in the first place.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

Nostalgia is like a rocking chair with a cozy blanket.  It's surely comfortable and soothing; a relaxing and reassuring place.

I suggest, as comfortable as the rocking chair is, it's difficult to create anything while seated in a rocking chair. 

So one has to make the effort to stand up, set the blanket aside, and do something to make a difference, to fix something, to help someone, to learn, to start an adventure...

For if one doesn't, how can a person - in the very least - create new memories to be nostalgic about in the future?

[Wilbur ★]

11 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Nostalgia is like a rocking chair with a cozy blanket.  It's surely comfortable and soothing; a relaxing and reassuring place.

I suggest, as comfortable as the rocking chair is, it's difficult to create anything while seated in a rocking chair. 

So one has to make the effort to stand up, set the blanket aside, and do something to make a difference, to fix something, to help someone, to learn, to start an adventure...

For if one doesn't, how can a person - in the very least - create new memories to be nostalgic about in the future?

Perfect!  

[AirwickWithCheese]

1 hour ago, Wilbur said:

Perfect!  

No Sir. 

It is TK brilliant, yes, but also hints we are relics of the past. You can do both!  

[Road Runner]

You people have strayed away my original post.  This was about nostalgia having no purposeful function to support the survival of the human race.  It's like ear hair.  It's just there.  Nostalgia makes you long for the past.  But the past is past.  Dr Spock never had to experience nostalgia and he was very fortunate in that way.