It’s a sad end of an era. As noted there, for decades, a car was not just a symbol of, but an actualization of freedom for young people. I got my own license, and had my own car, when I turned sixteen, but new technologies seem to have overtaken that.
7 thoughts on “America’s Love Affair With Cars”
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I call “Fake News” on this claim.
My evidence for the continued American love affair with the car is the low-profile tire. I see so many cars with a skinny amount of rubber surrounding big wheels.
Scotty Kilmer explains why for a minor improvement in cornering, you are getting an expensive, easily damaged, low-mileage tire.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=scotty+kilmer+low+profile+tires&view=detail&mid=C427204E5B3A49BFCF5EC427204E5B3A49BFCF5E&FORM=VIRE
So the low-profile tire is largely a fashion statement? That impractical tires that look “cool” are so popular can only be the consequence of looking at a car with “love goggles”?
Consider how many cars today come from the factory with artificially loud engine and exhaust noises. Cars are more than ever the mating display of the American male.
Rev up your engines!
That wsj article is a mess.
And of those who do buy a car, many more than in older generations opt for a used one, according to J.D. Power.
I don’t have a clue what JDPower actually found, but I doubt “many more” is even remotely statistically sound regarding the overall premise of “young people aren’t driving as much”.
The auto industry will soon not look like what it does today. Cars will be smaller, lighter, electric, and self-driving.
The current trends are almost the exact opposite, for obvious reasons. Small, light (electric or not) cars are loss-leaders. They produce no profit. That statement should be embarrassing for a financial publication.
Those living in big cities will not need to own a car at all, and most won’t.
That’s been the case now for decades. Making a prediction like that is akin to confidently stating “Most people will be a year older next year.”
I spent countless hours as a high-schooler, even on weekdays, just driving around going nowhere. Gas was 20 cents a gallon.
So you were in high school in 1945. Congratulations on having a paid writing gig at 90.
That’s funny. In 1945, the minimum wage was $0.40 an hour, which is about $5.50 in today’s money, so someone working for minimum wage today can afford more gas than someone in 1945. I remember when I was a teen (1960s) you could get Red Head unleaded for $0.25 a gallon, but your tail pipe dripped in the summer a formed icicles in the winter. And I was making $1.25 an hour from Col. Sanders. That 1954 Biuck Supreme took a lot of gas, but I could lie down in the back seat (with a companion, I might add…).
Ridesharing and autonomous cars point more toward the end of mass transit as we know it than driving in general.
The article notes how rising housing costs impact other purchases but rising car prices do too. All of the government mandated doo dads and infotainment big data tracking devices drive up the costs of vehicles. Used cars are not as cheap as they used to be if you want to get a car that still has a lot of life left. A lot of kids are probably priced out of the market.
Musk went to the extreme of technological exuberance but there is a huge market opening for well made, dependable, low tech cars and trucks.
Another type of love affair with cars: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2000899/Man-admits-having-sex-with-1000-cars.html