Remember when a car was a car, and a computer was a computer (and was the size of a desk or a room in a building), and never the two did meet? I do. Sheesh, how I miss those days.
[He said, typing into his blog on The Internet, on his laptop. -Ed.]
No, really! When I was a kid in the 1970's, cars really had reached the pinnacle of what they could be mechanically without adding a lot of electronics and computers in order to make them work and work very well, indeed. I miss those kinds of cars. Remember what made them so great?
They looked awesome...
http://www.topcarrating.com/1970-chevrolet-chevelle-ss-454-ls6-hardtop-coupe.php
They sounded amazing...
You could work on them in your own driveway or garage, by yourself, and know what the hell you were doing. Maybe.
http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/tag/car-repair
And you could buy an great street racer at an affordable price right off the showroom floor.
http://www.cartersclassicmusclecars.com/slideshow/advertisements/content/70FOMU00_large.html
Okay, so it couldn't stop or turn at the end of the lane, but American drivers didn't care about that back then. That wasn't the point. American drivers weren't European road racers and didn't want to be in those days. They still just wanted to look good cruisin' on down to the burger joint with their friends...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Graffiti
... or going to the store or to work or to school, or showing off to the Joneses, even. Americans didn't need a car that cost half as much as their house (or more) to be doing well back then. For that matter, they didn't need a house that cost ten times their annual income (or more!) just to live decently. And, dammit, they could afford the gas to drive the beasts back then, too!
http://www.angelfire.com/in/ParkerCity/remember.html
When it comes to cars, I miss those days. Do you?
Now, all cars are electronified, computerized, and may be driving themselves soon, with no other input from you except to turn them on and tell them where you want to go.
Image a from a story from: http://www.driveinmedia.com/?p=6931
Another story at: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/02/tech/cnn10-future-of-driving/?hpt=hp_bn5
To me, that just ain't a real car. In the 1990s, I joked that people really wanted big old station wagons with preposterously enormous wheels ... then that became the reality and it wasn't funny any more.
http://www.hiphopcars.com/forums/best-chevy-suv/289-chevy-suv-big-rims-sitting-high-kandy-paint.html
True, modern technology has made the cars a whole lot safer, makes them pollute the environment a whole lot less, and made them a whole lot more fuel efficient, which is all a good thing. But they are too expensive, they are way too boring or if they are fun that makes them even more expensive, and they are so complicated that not even can you not work on them yourself, but your mechanic may not be able to work on them, either.
That just ain't right, folks!
So, while I actually hope the best for Fiat/Chrysler in the future, for example, I miss the old Big Three of American Auto Manufacturers in their heyday. The trend is still SUVs for now, and that is now going global with small SUVs becoming the future of auto manufacturing, apparently.
Carmakers Bank on Small SUVs as Next Big Thing
Jeep unveils new Renegade SUV
March 4, 2014: 12:25 AM EThttp://money.cnn.com/2014/03/04/autos/jeep-suv-renegade/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
But I will still pine for the real car, as a truly magical thing of mechanical purity and beauty in and of itself. Real Cars are Art, Really. A Lost Art. God bless 'em, and all who love the memory of 'em. Amen.
A beautiful old car is a joy forever.
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