Seriously, why? EVERYONE drives a boring car and they're smitten about it. And by boring car I also mean boring truck, boring SUV, boring crossover, and boring hybrid. Does anyone know what it means to be excited by a fun car anymore?
I know what one of the key problems is: everyone drives automatic. Rather, their automatic cars drive them. Drving a manual transmission is the first step in an engaging automotive experience. Really people, you'll go bungee jumping but shifting gears is just too much excitement for you? I've actually had people look at me funny for driving a manual, like I'm stuck in the past or something. The other key problems stem from illusions of safety, need for so-called "desirable" features, the obsession with size, and a general distaste for sportiness.
The fact that the vast majority of Americans will not buy a car with a manual transmission leads the car manufacturers to produce what Jeremy Clarkson calls "heffalumps" or cars that are totally unexciting; our country is filled with them. All our cars are four doors and a trunk full of lame. We've got trucks and big SUV's, small SUV's and crossovers, big sedans, compact sedans, econoboxes, and then hybrid versions of almost all of those categories. And, I'll say this about trucks: The drivers of full size and lifted pickups I think are beyond help. Whatever personal issues they have necessitating their driving an 8,000lb vehicle that gets 8mpg on a daily basis are obviously not going to allow them to drive a car, much less a small one. There are many douchebag-mobiles, but trucks reign supreme in that category.
Bigger is not better. That mentality has infected our thinking and that infection picks our cars for us. When it comes to my beliefs in cars, less is always more. I drive a 1997 Mazda Miata which is not only very small, but has almost no modern conveniences. I own this car because of the way it drives. It's light, it's rear wheel drive, it's got real suspension, it's got a stick shift, it doesn't have much power, it doesn't have a back seat, it's fuel-efficient enough, and it is good looking regardless of the stigmas against it. Being a bachelor it works great as daily driver for me. I'm not saying everyone go out and buy a two seat sports car, but you don't HAVE to buy the antithesis of a two seat sports car either. It also doesn't mean go buy Prius. That's just another car that offers a totally numb driving experience but it gets 50mpg instead of 12. Anyone who thinks they're enjoying driving either type of vehicle is kidding themselves. Not to mention, people have become far less critical it seems over exterior beauty with cars and SUV's. Each generation is getting uglier as it gets bigger. People used to generally refuse to buy ugly cars, but it doesn't seem to matter anymore because instead of being once in a blue moon, they're everywhere. Take pretty much every Toyota for example. I mean honestly, could we have some more bulges please? Or how about some more creases and fake plastic accent pieces. Tell me a Prius is better-looking than a Pontiac Aztec. No, stop it you're lying.
My brain hurts thinking about EVERYTHING that is wrong with the American car industry and American drivers, and I think it's made me write poorly this time around trying to have any kind of coherence and flow. I've got so much to get out that I have no idea how I'm going to organize and package it into blog entries instead of a hundred page run-on sentence. It boils down to the fact that the European car market is far more exciting than ours and more practical at the same time. We could learn a lot from them. Come to think of it, Europe is the home of my favorite type of car the almighty Hot Hatch. I think I just thought of my next blog entry. Or has this all been leading in that direction...?
