Performance Unlimited Blog

The other day, Rich was walking down the sidewalk approaching a crosswalk. His intention was to use the crosswalk to cross the street. He didn’t hear any cars coming and planned to step off the curb at the crosswalk before looking both ways. What he didn’t hear was the bicycle coming up the street behind him. It was a mighty close thing. The bicyclist swerved to the Left and Rich jumped back while he said, “Whoa!” The bicyclist said, “Sorry” as he kept on going hardly missing a beat. There was no accident, so Rich said, “No problem.” But if there was an accident …? What Rich failed to do was to communicate his intentions. The rider on the bicycle probably could have done a better job of anticipating the possibility that Rich might step into the crosswalk. But that wouldn’t have changed the fact that Rich and/or the rider might have gotten injured if the collision wasn’t avoided. Communicating your intentions is important if you’re walking down the sidewalk and if you’re driving down th...

Shelby! Hemi! Boss 302! Supercharged! Muscle Car! Hotrod! Pony Car! These are words that generate a sense of power and individualism. They speak directly to America’s love affair with the car. The automobile provided a kind of mobile independence that allowed Americans to wake up in McHenry in the morning, and watch the sun set in the Gulf of Mexico that evening. Considering that, in the horse-and-buggy days, it was an all-day excursion to Chicago, the automobile transformed the world and figuratively shortened distances.  More than just independence, the automobile gave Americans a platform for personal expression. It wasn’t just getting from Point A to Point B; it was a question of getting there in style. And, as Americans expressed themselves with their cars, they fell in love with the automobile and what it meant in their lives. It is said that the term ‘Hotrod’ had its origins in the late 1930s. Young men were personalizing their cars. They performed mechanical feats to increa...