The Conservative Edge

I’ve been thinking about the future of the automobile. Partly, because I recently found a stash of car magazines I had hidden away for the last 15 or 20 years. As I’ve been re-reading some of them, I have found it interesting to see how the car industry strayed from the expected path of development and refinement.

Back in the early-to-mid-eighties, we were just coming out of a period of oil shortages and high gasoline prices. This was the time that the Japanese car makers began taking market share by selling fuel-efficient cars at reasonable prices. Americans soon realized that these cars were also well-made and reliable. In addition, there were still plenty of vehicles made for the individual; sporty cars that were small, fun, and responsive. I remember well cars like the Toyota Celica and MR2; the latter was a mid-engined sports car (with only 2 seats), that was a thrill to drive and got great gas mileage to boot. Other notable cars were the Triumph TR7, the Volkswagen Rabbit GTI, the Pontiac Fiero, and Chrysler’s line of Omni/Turismo/Laser/Daytona sport coupes.

I actually owned a Fiero for a while. GM had originally designed it as a two-seat commuter car, but later added some flash to the design. I liked driving the Fiero, even though there were some compromises in the design. The general idea back then was that, for millions of people who drove themselves to work or school, a small, efficient car was required. There was no need seen for huge, hulking vehicles when the average number of people riding in a car worked out to slightly less than 2.

Where did that idea go? Look at the roads today, and you’ll still see one or two people in a car (for the most part), but that car now is a rather large SUV or even larger truck. I am sad to see that there are no more Celicas, TR7s, MR2s—vehicles that were fun, fast, and efficient. We used to drive cars that expressed our individuality, cars that were made for the delight of one or two people. Now, we are inundated with vehicles that seem to made for a crowd. The problem is, the vehicles themselves don’t stand out from the crowd anymore. They all look alike and pretty much function alike too.

Maybe it’s all part of the emasculation of American society. We don’t see the Marlboro man anymore, nor do we see many Westerns at the theaters. So maybe it follows that our vehicles are less aggressive, and more gender-neutral in appearance. Instead of reflecting rugged and/or sexy individualism, our cars now have to play nice to the friends and family.

Some might say that I’m old-fashioned or out of touch. That’s fine by me. I’d rather have an old Vette than a new Civic any day.