Gee whiz, I think you’re mad at me, but I’m on your side. I mean, I argued that there were real reasons to save weight and that there were real weight savings to be had. I even went out to the garage and weighed a hood and pointed out that it weighed 60 pounds, even without an insulation pad. I even mentioned that I’d replaced the hood of a car with a fiberglass hood (“Fiberglass: the Carbon Fibre of the 70’s!”). And I never, ever said the word “cite”. You should go after the guy that says you can barely save a pound. Yeah, that’s him over there… 
Not ‘go fast’ so much as ‘making it look like it should go fast, but actually making it go slower.’ Picture body kits not designed for aerodynamics so much as ostentatiousness, with giant spoilers, out-of-place fins, giant (unnecessary) exhaust resonators, fluorescent lights, and more. These days, the car doesn’t even have to be Japanese to qualify for getting ‘riced’ and though in some places you might still hear the term ‘rice burner’ used to insult to any Japanese automobile, the term has almost completely morphed into referring to the type of vehicle described above. Here are some examples.
My father used to have an Opel Kadett that had black panels on the hood. It wasn’t carbon fiber or fiberglass, just paint. I assumed it was to look cool and reduce glare.
I think we have a thread winner!
The hood is the easiest, most common body panel to replace. The import guys want to save weight by swapping to carbon. The 60’s muscle guys are usually swapping to a cowl induction hood, or adding a scoop, or just cutting hole to make room for something. No matter the reason, once you’re done, it is much easier to repaint the hood flat black than to try to match your original paint. Plus it shows everybody you’re not driving a stock vehicle.
Just to be clear, the ‘white car with black hood’ aesthetic apparently means NOT adding all the extra spoilers and bodywork. Coffecan-sized tailpipes, yes; everybody gotta have those, apparently.
I agree with you, to a point. But most folks that I have argued this stuff with never seem to understand that for many of us, it’s a looks as well as performance thing. And the fact that Domestic guys do the same thing never seems to get any traction.
The problem lies in the fact that the guys that do the things that are popularized on such sites as riceboy.com (if it still exists) are not an accurate portrayal of the hobby as a whole.
I’m gonna drop this, as we are threatening to hijack this thread… good times though!
-Tristan, who drives a boring Ford Contour.