NY Times on the demise of the automotive cult

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Fred K-OR

Results of studies depend on who pays for the study!

There you go!

I wouldn't mind going back to horse and buggy. Of course the buggy would have to be a Studebaker.

[SteveB31]

I don't see anyone walking? They are all still driving as I sit in traffic......

[bobpo1]

Today's cars have no personality. Dull to say the least.

[Terry, NJ]

I'm trying to fathom my grandkids lack of interest too. I believe it's many things, starting with school and how the kids are being sold on a "Anti Tech" world view. Technology -Bad "Natural" - Good! mindset. Plus, cars really don't need much improvement today. Any one will go fast enough for most people, mileage is way up. What are you going to improve with your tinkering? In the thirties and forties and fifties, Mod A s were in need of a lot of improvements. Speed, acceleration, mileage, reliability, today, not so much. Also kids don't seem as adventurous as I recall. They would rather just sit around the house and play video games, Sad!
Terry

[barnfind]

My grandsons both have new sporty cars their parents bought them as high school grad presents and spend their extra change on "hop up" stuff they see on uTube. The problem is they think they are now "gearheads" but don't know which end of a screwdriver to use and are addicted to video games and utubing.
I didn't know anything when I was 18 as well but was forced to learn to keep my $100 rustbucket on the road.

[the cooch]

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People like to commute in their own cars because there's an instinct at work. It tells us that the transportation of bodies in large groups, without individualism or personality is for livestock, not humans. We all want our own little cell to be the nucleus of, travelling the arterial road system we have here, going in and out of the organ like cites everyday, like respiration. Our own music, smells, food and drinks if we want, smoking, singing loud, masturbating, whatever, all make the trip into a meditative time for workers between the job and the family. The rift between haves and have nots is really visible if you take a bus anywhere these days, and nobody rides it if they don't have to. Young people might not have an interest in consiencious driving, working on or customizing the cars of the future, but they will certainly continue to desire personal space while commuting. Thus vehicles are continually restyled for looks and ergonomics even though they are all continually less and less different make to make. Even though all makers move toward disposability or recyclability (whole nuther rant) cars will still be advertised as a way to make yourself look cooler than the next guy by spending more than him, while at the same time getting a "great deal". Frankly I think the auto industry has been one of the most fantastic follies the human race has undertaken. We could have built a bridge to the moon with all of the material and man hours put into all the cars built, or left all that carbon in the ground instead of breathing it and done more of oh say, farming food for instance. Convenience of travel and sociological striations based on spending have become ingrained as part of a class war, degrading the middle one as usual by suggesting that something better is available to those with access to the privilege, instead of encouraging thrift and added value by repairing, maintaining and concienciously operating a utilitarian product yourself, which is obviously plebeian behavior. Our cars have been our "outfit" so to speak, that we use to get around without really interacting with others. If people start to let go of that concept, then maybe auto use really will decline. More and more, people spend time finding out what the other guy is up to, every minute of the day, wondering what do "we" think about things. We're going around a cycle, becoming as a nation really, really uniform again, after the last few decades of individualism being important. So I suppose, more and more, it will be up to whoever's in charge of what's on the little screen in your palm what you can and can't buy. Less character built into new cars is definitely inevitable. As a trend toward impossibly "safe" and falsely "green" living continues to become popular. Any other disenfranchised industrial designers/ advertisers/ engineers or city planners out there not looking forward to centralized computers running our completely computerized cars on beltways and interstates in the near future?

[jimalabam]

Maybe this is a key, with Pontiac gone, WE DON'T BUILD EXCITEMENT any longer, cookie cutter bodies, push button start, all the electronic gizmos, etc. etc. etc. jiml...

[holdover]

As to the youth of today and vehicles. My grand kids 4 & 8 yrs old are into vehicles in a big way. My 8 yr old ,starting about 3 yrs ago helped with interest the restoration of my '29 coupe and my '82 CJ7, he was limited in what he could do but was there every step of the way, The 4 yr old is getting started. My nephews 16 & 21 are into cars big time. The 21 yr old likes pickups is about to graduate with an engineering degree and really likes vehicles, the 16 yr old who just got his drivers license digs them also but prefers performance vehicles. A few years ago I was a teacher at the local HS. Most every kid was into cars, both old and new. The automotive class is booked full for years to come. The report might be valid for a urban area, but what i see here in a rural area does not support it. Just an observation.