"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
12 May 2005Back to the Forward Look
Today we went through many web pages looking at many cars, and it was depressing; most mid-priced sedans were designed by graduates of the International Institute of Boring Your Ass Off, and have the same dull front and the same dull back and the same dull middle. I repeat my earlier contention: bring back a car that would have looked at home in 1957 and they would sell a kajillion units. Something that leaned into the wind, had boobie headlights and forty-nine tons of chrome, two colors, poke-your-eye-out fins and a hood ornament in the shape of a rocket or a nuclear weapon. But no: we get the same old same old, over and over.
The closest thing we have to an iconic American automobile these days is the Chrysler 300, a massive, roaring rear-wheel-drive sled that, in its 300C guise, carries a big honking Hemi V8. It's perfect for 1957: why, they actually had a 300C then, a massive, roaring rear-wheel-drive sled that carried a big honking Hemi V8. The 21st-century C, alas, has been shorn of its fins, but it's selling kajillions of units: it's one of the few Detroit nontrucks moving without rebates. I can't imagine Lileks being bored by one of these. On the other hand, I can't imagine him peeling off thirty-odd large for one of them either. "Drove my Chevy to the levee, But the levee was dry..." Had a friend who was conceived in the back seat of a 55 chevy. And, yes, his parents were married at the time. Never mind your Chrysler, Chevrolet was sexy! Posted by: Kathy K at 9:34 PM on 14 May 2005 |