“THE CARS WE DRIVE SAY A LOT ABOUT US.”
Alexandra Paul
Call me old, stubborn, feisty, insufferable, mule-headed, independent, obnoxious, or any other term you like. When I look at the gaggle of new cars that they try to sell us and look us straight in the eye and tell us how wonderful they are I am not buying it, or them.
I used to be pretty well versed in cars but in the last 30 years the batch of plastic overpriced, dangerous, and BORING cars that are out there I just say no!
The only way to drive anything that is even halfway solid and makes a statement is a pickup truck. The streamlined look-a-like pieces of junk that are out there today are an exercise in the communist model of everything is available to you unless you want something different.
I am an old International fan. I have owned and driven many of the Scouts and other International products for many years. Yes, they were ugly, but they were tough and I loved the fact that they could be bought at a reasonable price and could be rebuilt forever.
Watching the greatest of the new car models that were exhibited at the New York Car Show it was striking about how they all looked alike and were severely overpriced.
Detroit was killed by a flood of look-a-like imports for many years and the race to make plastic replicas just did not get the fever of a nation or car fans worked up. The thought of actual consumer demand was forgotten and dictates from government and interest groups managed to destroy an industry that helped build the economy of the 20th Century.
The old car companies were dominated by egocentric managers for many years but the demands of the buying public were eventually being worked into production over the years. The short circuit of the input of the consumer and the addition of miles of regulation distorted the process that should have kept the industry growing.
I drive a Chevy Suburban. The reasons are that I like it, it has room, it can do things that little throwaway cars cannot, and it can be rebuilt forever. And it still gets as good a gas mileage as the half size vehicles that people downsize for. The Suburban is an SUV. What they call SUV’s today are glorified minivans that are overpriced, underpowered, and when they reach their lifespan go into the shredder to make pop cans out of.
I have ranted to friends in the car business for over 40 years that the gas mileage of a truck should have kept up with the cars. The companies just had a captive audience and milked us for all they are worth. Is it any wonder that you can now buy a full-size Toyota and Nissan?
And to the stick their nose into everyone’s business that gave away the Hummer, I don’t care what your opinion is of anyone who drives one. This is still the Land of the Free. Now the automobile industry needs to become the ‘Home of the Brave’. Quit selling junk and build what Americans want and need.
Sell all those glorified electric golf carts to the people in New York and L.A.
