The bow tie has a meaning for me. Fun. The good times/memories of my Camaros far outweighs the bad times/aggravation of my Chevy SUVs and the pickup truck.
I will always remember running down the interstate in the IROC at 125 mph keeping pace with a big BMW that cost 3 or 4 times what the IROC cost. The old TPI wasn't even breathing hard and was steady/stable as it was at 70 mph. I will remember running up on the back of that Porshe Boxer and seeing the puff of exhaust when he hit the gas to run off and leave me as we accelerated around that exit ramp only to finally give up when he saw I was still hooked to his bumper. How he wouldn't even look at me as I passed him once we hit the highway off the ramp. I remember stepping on the gas pedal and having the back end go sideways before it started to move forward. Of letting it "drift" around a left or right hand turn off a stop light/stop sign till it was pointed straight down the next road and then letting up on the pedal to have it grab and take off. Memory of my neighbor (a race car builder for decades) telling me how he loved to hear the sound of that car pulling out on the main road and accelerating away as I went to work every morning.
And lots of other great/fun memories.
Then, the 81 Z28. My first Z28. I got terrible gas mileage out of that car when I got it. Why? That dog gone cowl induction air system. Every time you smack the gas pedal down that door on the back of the scoop opened up and you could hear that 4 barrel carb. sucking air into the 350 V8. Did you know the engines in that series of Camaros was offset to the right side of the frame to create a better balance (to offset weight of the driver.) If you ever look under the hood of one that's why the air cleaner housing looks odd - it sits on top of the engine, but has to be centered in the middle of the hood, so the air cleaner isn't "even" over the carb. Took me a bit to figure out why it didn't look quite right when I got the car. I loved running that thing up to 55/60 mph in 1st gear and smacking 2nd gear and watching the front left fender/hood area raise up/twist when the torque worked it's way to the rear end. Finally cracked the roof line right at the top/rear of the driver's side window/corner. I remember running down the interstate at 65 mph, coming up beside of a guy I worked with and slowing down enough to stay beside him. Then holding up 3 fingers and down shifting while listening to the engine/carb when the revs hit and the cowl induction door opened up. Then holding up two fingers and down shifting to 2nd gear (at 65 mph), seeing him just shake his head and then smacking the gas pedal down and running it up to just over 90 mph before I went to 3rd. gear (before going to 4th and dropping back down to 65 mph.) I still have no idea what gears are in the rear end on that car, just that it would wind up to 6000 rpm time after time with zero engine issues (except for a leaking driver's side valve cover gasket that had to be changed out every year or so).
I had so much fun in those cars. I used to wonder if I'd ever grow up/mature.
You can call it "bow tie memories" if you like. Nothing wrong with the Bow Tie emblem, in any of it's various forms over the years.
