Car Models Mirror Us?
I read yesterday that the embattled auto makers are dropping some vehicles from future production. Typical with any industry, the old ones go away and the new comes out to replace them. As I read the list, and the writer's comments, a pattern emerged. What is going away is the unique and not "practical." Saturn is killing the Sky, Lexus drops their convertible, Honda drops their little convertible roadster, Dodge stops the Viper. Expectations are that the odd and unique won't or don't sell in enough quantity to bother producing them. Not enough of us buy these kinds of vehicles, which is obvious when looking across any parking lot. There must be value in conformity. Don't most cars look the same these days? I'm thinking it's because most people are the same. There's very little independence, no desire to be different. It's a two-seater convertible, it's not practical, it looks weird.
Maybe I'm reading a lot into nothing, but I tire of all the conformity. Even the very expensive Jaguar no longer looks unique, and the big BMWs are now shaped like many sedans from domestic makers. I remember when Ford brought out their retro Thunderbird. Those looked different - unlike anything else. Few people bought them. In four years (if I am remembering correctly, perhaps it was five years) of production, Ford made less than 70,000. Sounds like a lot, but not enough for Ford to continue building them. And, how often do you see one of those Thunderbirds these days? The oldest of them would only be about seven years. Where did they go? Like the Plymouth Prowler, were they all bought by unique people who don't drive them very often? Seems unlikely, yet these kinds of cars are definitely a rare thing to see out in the world.
If I want to drive a vehicle that's not a clone of 100,000+ others, I wonder what will be available by the end of this decade. Whether you personally think a car looks good or bad, the loss of a particular car as a choice just indicates that vehicles in general are becoming more utilitarian, since the lost model most often is the non-typical model. I don't like that. I am not a clone nor do I want to look like one. I like being unique. In the future, I may not have the choice of a car that will reflect that uniqueness. Perhaps most people won't even care or won't notice. What a car looks like isn't very important if all you do is sit in it and text message others. I prefer to drive a car - if it comes to buying a box with doors or nothing, I guess there's always my old, loud Harley.
Maybe I'm reading a lot into nothing, but I tire of all the conformity. Even the very expensive Jaguar no longer looks unique, and the big BMWs are now shaped like many sedans from domestic makers. I remember when Ford brought out their retro Thunderbird. Those looked different - unlike anything else. Few people bought them. In four years (if I am remembering correctly, perhaps it was five years) of production, Ford made less than 70,000. Sounds like a lot, but not enough for Ford to continue building them. And, how often do you see one of those Thunderbirds these days? The oldest of them would only be about seven years. Where did they go? Like the Plymouth Prowler, were they all bought by unique people who don't drive them very often? Seems unlikely, yet these kinds of cars are definitely a rare thing to see out in the world.
If I want to drive a vehicle that's not a clone of 100,000+ others, I wonder what will be available by the end of this decade. Whether you personally think a car looks good or bad, the loss of a particular car as a choice just indicates that vehicles in general are becoming more utilitarian, since the lost model most often is the non-typical model. I don't like that. I am not a clone nor do I want to look like one. I like being unique. In the future, I may not have the choice of a car that will reflect that uniqueness. Perhaps most people won't even care or won't notice. What a car looks like isn't very important if all you do is sit in it and text message others. I prefer to drive a car - if it comes to buying a box with doors or nothing, I guess there's always my old, loud Harley.
Good post. Agree with your conclusion & had noticed it in many other areas, but hadn't applied it to cars. Thanks.
You asked, If I want to drive a vehicle that's not a clone of 100,000+ others, I wonder what will be available by the end of this decade.
Art cars will always be available.
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