Word: customs
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...cars can do it if the drivers cannot. Custom-built for $15,000 apiece, they are three-quarter-size versions of the Formula 1 racer, powered by 28-h.p. Wankel rotary engines capable of 67 m.p.h. on the open road. The brightly colored Fiberglas bodies are mounted on tubular-frame chassis; spun-aluminum wheels carry oversize Goodyear racing-slick tires. They have automatic transmission and quick-ratio steering; brakes are front-wheel disc and rear-wheel drum. The cars are almost impossible to roll over...
...number of vans is what the vanners do to them. The workhorse vehicle formerly coveted mainly by plumbers and other craftsmen winds up as a convertible den-bedroom-kitchen within and a showcase of accessories on the outside. Furnishings are usually elaborate, often splendid. Probably nine out of ten custom vans carry eight-track stereo, and crushed-velvet upholstery is not all that unusual. Neither are stained glass windows, wine racks, built-in television, fake fire places. Mirrors are very popular-on walls and ceilings. A few vans even boast chandeliers. Some rigs cost...
...automobile. At one time, folklore attributed the increase in vans to newly liberated youth's need for a convenient trysting place; indeed, the current B-epic film called The Van implies that this is still so. Yet advantaged juveniles cannot be blamed for the flocks of high-priced custom vans that have popped up in the past few years. In fact, vanning enthusiasts include a good many old coots as well as young marrieds, loners and lovers as well as adolescents...
...balloonists ascend into the skies, the sum also rises. The standard hot-air balloon costs about $7,000, but custom-built models with designer graphics and suede-covered champagne carriers can go as high as $30,000. Insurance premiums, inspection fees and propane costs add another couple of hundred dollars. To keep down expenses, aeronauts often team up to buy an airship or they join a balloon club. Even so, a would-be pilot may have to pay up to $1,500 for lessons before he can be licensed...
...family custom that survives. Punch last year marked a grandnephew's birth with this ditty: O Nicholas Ochs put on his socks to cover his chubby feet. He dropped in the hamper a slightly used Pamper and went out for a walk in the street. O Nicholas Ochs walked blocks and blocks till his socks grew dark and dank. When he came to a stop and sat with a plop at the keys of the Times Data Bank...