How the US fell out of love with its cars (from the UK & Guardian Unlimited)

I believe that this can be reasonably construed as a life & death struggle for the manufacturing base of the nation. I wonder when Detroit will ever get around to making those responsible, those in the boardrooms, pay as they are making people on the shop floor pay.

How the US fell out of love with its cars (from the UK & Guardian Unlimited)

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-- "I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please."

John Wayne

Reply to
Jim Higgins
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Quote: 'They are like walking cyborgs with all these things attached to them. Cars have become functional. They are not statements anymore. Electronics are,' he said.

Lord agrees: 'Young people do not have that same set of cultural signs. Their cultural landscape is about technology and the internet, not about convertibles and driving across America.' UnQuote

And they see nothing wrong in being told what they think.

Reply to
Backyard Mechanic

Those kids have no idea what The Mother Road is or was-nor do they care. It is so sad to see icons disappearing and no one caring.

Pause Here For Nostalgia: (author uncertain)

For All Those Born Before 1945

WE ARE SURVIVORS !!! Consider the changes we have witnessed. We were born before television, before penicillin, before polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, plastic, contact lenses, Frisbees, and the PILL. We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball point pens, before panty hose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes---and before man walked on the moon.

We were married first and then lived together. How quaint can you be? In our time closets were clothes, not for "coming out of". Bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagens. Designer Jeans were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne, and hav­ing a meaningful relationship meant getting along well with our cousins.

We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and Outer Space was the back of the Drive-In-Theater.

We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers and commuter marriages. We were before day-care cen­ters, group therapy and nursing homes. We never heard of FM ra­dio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt and guys wearing earrings. For us, time-shar­ing meant togetherness-not computers or condominiums. A chip meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware, and software wasn't even a word.

In 1948, "made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exam. Pizzas, McDonalds and instant coffee were unheard of. We hit the scene when there were 5 and 10-cent stores, where you bought things for five and ten cents. Sanders or Wilson sold ice cream cones for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi or enough stamps to mail one letter and two post cards. You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 but who could afford; a pity too, because gas was $0.11 a gallon!

In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, GRASS was mowed, COKE was a cold drink, and POT was something you cooked in. ROCK MUSIC was Grandma's lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the principals office.

We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes was discovered, but we were surely before the sex change; we made do with what we had!

And we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby! No wonder we are so confused and there is such a generation gap today.

BUT WE SURVIVED!!!!! WHAT BETTER REASON TO CELEBRATE?

If you don't feel like a crusty anachronism-I do and am proud of it.

Reply to
Jim Higgins

By the way... I'm leary of Brits... even long-resident Brits... analyzing "Yanks"

Remember this is the same arrogant rag that had its readers write to voters in my county to explain WHY it was imperative they vote for Kerry...

Sure enough, they added about ten points to Bush's margin at the polls.

{niggling thoughts of a king named George and something about 'tea'}

I wasnt long ago that Guardian was making fun of those behemoth driving yokels... all the time their readers secretly wished to come over on a fellowship and spend a year driving one of them, which they had picked up for about the price of a set of new 'tyres' back home. {personal anecdote on THAT!}

We might email the author and ask what he thinks of the new version Mustang... but, oh well...

Reply to
Backyard Mechanic

There was no such car as the 1963 Chevy Malibu. I wonder if the rest of his writing was as well researched.

GM still sells more vehicles than all the "foreign" makes combined.

Reply to
Dave in Columbus

GM pays $925 with every car

Reply to
gosinn

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