...Have Already Been Made?!
And I just saw an ad for the new Chevy that says nothing about driving or reliability or horsepower or anything that you would expect to see in a car ad. But it did make a huge point about the car being fully compatible with BOTH Android and I phone. I can't help but think this is just another example of government regulations killing any kind of fun.
On a lot of these cars with amazing horsepower and torque figures out of four-hole engines, I’d like to know if they can actually hit and maintain those figures for more than five total minutes in the lifetimes of the engines. OTOH, my early 1980’s German car could hit numbers like that (with more than twice the displacement), and do it for a few hours at a crack on the Autobahn. And then do it again on the way home.
Want to know what the cars of the future will look like? Just look at the cars of the Soviet Union. Once libs destroy the USA and capitalism, there won’t be any such thing as competition and Communist Party members will all be driving around in Ladas.
I can remember a day, not so long ago, when I could tune my own car - which had a float bowl carburetor and a distributer head and so on. It was fun.
Now it’s all solid-state computer boards and so on. No fun.
Puts me in mind of the difference between the Colt 1911, which I could also strip bare and tune, and all these new-fangled crunch-n-tickers with half a dozen levers and latches.
And now I can’t even figure out how to use the telephone, much less my television or... computer!
Thank goodness I’m a Certified Old Fart and on my way out the door.
The owner’s manual for my current car comes in at about 500 pages, with close to 100 in a supplement for the sound system.
Of course, if you edited out all the warnings (such as “Do not run into a wall, serious damage or personal injury could result”), that would reduce the page count by at least 100.
When I bought my first car, the full wiring diagram filled a single page in the manual, and the owner’s booklet was maybe 20 pages.
Why Do All New Cars Look Alike?
I would not buy one of these ugly things.
The reason they all have the same shape is partly pressure from the Federales to make "fuel efficient" cars that are "better for the environment." Hence, your Brave New World ugly turtle car - enjoy it comrade.
Whole Foods will charge you 20 times per pound for the price of fish, because they say their fish is not farm raised, but "sustainable, Eco-friendly" fish. Same with their "organic" produce. If you are a fool, you follow their orders. In the same way, I refuse to be a drone and waste money on these hideous things.
Screw them.
I don’t think the regulations are the problem here. I think a bigger issue is simply the expectations of the customers. Cars are simply being designed to accommodate buyers who are increasingly incapable of driving. Think about that one for a moment.
I’ve had better luck with cars of more recent vintage as far as reliability and trouble-free driving well over 100K miles. Complexity is an issue once they’re into needing repairs, though.
A friend just took delivery of a 2016 Bentley GTS. It’s beautiful. I would have to say that there are still very nice cars out there. On the downside, it didn’t cost $6000 off the showroom floor with an SS/RS package and 400hp, but it’s pretty damned spiffy. It’s impossible to work on, but....wow. I can’t complain.
In 5 years that will be universally accepted.
I’ll soon have my 53Willys jeep back on the road.
Next, I’ll get my 56 Chevy 3/4 ton rolling again. It just needs a fresh coat of paint. Then I think I’ll get my Son’s 75 Vette going again.
I just hate working on the newer, computer controlled, cars.
My scion FR-S is more fun than anything under 60k that I’ve driven. Cars really do just keep getting better...so far.
I am driving/restoring a 1967 Camaro and a 1957 Bel Air. I eat it on gas mileage, but repairs and upgrades are very economical.
I bought the Camaro from a junkyard for $250 in 1978 and the Bel Air for $3500 in 2009. I’ve put about $3,500 into the Camaro over the years, another $2500 into the Bel Air. I need to put $5000 into each car to put them into “to die for” shape (4 speed transmissions, interiors, dick brakes).
So, my all in cost will be about $20,000 for 43 car years of service, which works out to $38/month for two cars. Oh,and I don’t pay smog or have red lights that come on forcing to make idiot repairs. The end valuation will be 45,000 and they will never depreciate. The cars are infinitely reparable and fun as hell to drive. And just one new car could easily cost me $25,000.
So no, I’m not trading in. I get asked to sell all the time, but people don’t understand the old car math.
It came and went: the VW Beetle.
Then bring on the best car to not drive. I wouldn’t mind getting into my car at home, tell it to take me to work, then snoozing until it got me here.
And I just saw an ad for the new Chevy that says nothing about driving or reliability or horsepower or anything that you would expect to see in a car ad. But it did make a huge point about the car being fully compatible with BOTH Android and I phone.
...
Nothing about cupholders?
Meh. Strung together non sequiturs. A 1983 model car that performed as well as a 2015 model would have cost far more than $8k, if available at all. That '83 Rabbit GTI has about a 9 second 0-60 time. Any new 'sporty' Golf/GTI will do 0-60 in less than 7, and some models a lot less than that.
