...the M1911 of vehicles.
Posted on 09/09/2012 9:23:53 AM PDT by count-your-change
It's that time of year. The auto dealers face a wave of 2013 vehicles and must clear out the 2012 models to make room and avoid the inventory tax where it exists. Pretty much the same as last year and if you're in the market for a car you might be able to strike a good deal for brand new one year old car.
But one thing you might have trouble finding is an American auto that is NOT just plain ugly. Ugly and uninspired, ugly and bland, ugly and really ugly seems to be the rule.
I offer in evidence the 2013 Chevrolet Spark. No, I won't post a picture, I'll have mercy on the people that love the classics.
Firstly the front end looks like most other econo thumpers in the $15,000 range, squinty eye, swept back head lights and an overly busy grill area framed in plastic. PLastic! I'm sure it would hold up to an impact with cotton candy fairly well but anything tougher will require a call to your insurance agent.
Open the door and experience the true ugliness of today's offerings: Their tiny entrances. All you have to do is turn backwards, bend double and hope your knees will bend enough to allow you to drag your feet in. Wonderful! Now try getting out.
Moving to the rear of the typical new car gives the impression that the designers just gave up and tried to get the thing finished so they could leave early at the end of the week. Just hit the computer key that says, "Add some lights and acres of plastic" and punch out for the weekend.
But one may object, "You get what what you pay for." You sure do!
Consider the 2013 Chevrolet Corvette. The same squinty eye, wrap around head lights and the rest of the cars exterior a study in blandness, a bar of soap worn down to roundness with a couple of tail lights to keep the drivers behind from falling asleep just looking at the car.
For this you can pay handsomely, up to a hundred grand if you're a wealthy masochist or believe the slinky women in the commercial will ignore your double chins and "portly" avoirdupois. In case they don't the car does go fast so you'll be able to leave that embarrassing situation quickly and feel the breeze in your Hair Club for Men.
Me? The last car that I truly enjoyed driving and found really comfortable was my 1975 Ford LTD. It was big, heavy, feared no car on the road and ate at least one Fiat. And it had character by the ton.
If I were inclined to spend fifteen to twenty grand on a car today I would find one of the older models that were like Cleopatra's barge on wheels and have it restored or at least made serviceable.
The ugliness, the blandness, the uninspired sameness of today's auto designs is, what I believe, drives the popularity of the restoration market. What else would drive a person to pay thousands of dollars for a rusty, thirty or forty year old car and spend tens of thousands of dollars restoring it to its new condition when it sold for under three thousand dollars?
I would go kick a new car's tires but I'm afraid one kick might total it.
I sure hope not. Maybe some Aussie models.
The host of Top Gear owned TWO.
Neither was worth a shit (wouldn’t start, required a factory tech to fly to London TWICE).
I agree it’s a great looking car, but it shoudl at least start.
He gave the Corvette ZR1 his best rating of 2010, and he HATES Corvettes.
My knees in my chin, the edge of the window at eye level and the back of the front seat for scenery. Like being locked in a Porta-John on wheels.
Yeah, you could say that. It mostly happened after my Civic was featured in a racing mag years ago and after that, I had 3 months of non-stop Saturday night ‘action’. High school chicks were mostly ‘I love your car..er, I mean you’.
That Chevy I was referring to was a Cavalier but changed the rims to racing type.
...the M1911 of vehicles.
I love the new generation of Camaros, and mustangs. Americana at its finest
You gotta be Jay Leno to afford it and Harry Houdini to get in and out of it.
Still....a beautiful car!
For the most part I agree with you, but the Acura NSX still deserves a place on any list of the 10 best looking cars ever...
I have those Carroll Shelby Vector wheels on my trike.
It was all I could afford.
*sigh*
Those wheels belong on an Escalade, not an Aston Martin.
Mine was a ‘73.
It had 273,000 miles on it when the odometer stopped working.
I drove it 2 years after that.
There was NO place it couldn’t go, weather be damned.
The ex used it as a trade in and it went to the local salvage yard.
Two weeks later, my mom saw a young kid driving it south on I-81.
It may still be running, for all I know.
[and boy, could it ever jump off the line...I could do 35 in 1st gear]
LOL
Jay Leno on Top Gear was great. Say what you will about Leno, he’s a car guy all the way. He even left Jeremy Clarkson dumbfounded.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0XtNGuijqc
Never trust the judgment of high school girls!
Mine had the 258 and yes, it burned the ‘muscle cars’ off the line because of the insane gear ratio.
30 mph in 1st gear and they couldn’t catch me, especially after I cut down the shift for a shorter throw.
;D
Yeah! Once the new design of the Mustang in 2011 came out, I was excited about them again. Took the plunge a year ago and got one - I couldn't resist. My 2012 V6 gets about 21/28 MPG average and ~330 HP with mods (303 STOCK!). Here she is the moment the dealer brought her around to the front of the office.
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