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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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 OPINION 
5

We Fell Out of Love With Cars

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(Newser) – Plenty of economists are trying to define what killed Detroit, but they’re looking in all the wrong places. “Fire the MBAs and hire a poet,” writes PJ O’Rourke in the Wall Street Journal. This isn’t a story of unions or financial crisis. “It’s a tragic romance—unleashed passions, lost love and wild horses.” Cars were once an American passion, replacing horses as an ennobling, empowering status symbol. Then, we moved to the suburbs.

Suddenly we were in our cars constantly, driving from dreary errand to dreary errand. “They were flashing swords beaten into dull plowshares. Cars became appliances.” Eggheads came and loaded them with safety features and pollution controls. The American auto industry was doomed. “When it comes to dull, practical, ugly things that bore and annoy me,” O’Rourke explains, “Japanese things cost less and the cup holders are more conveniently located.”

American steelworker Charlie Grapentine drives his Dodge car to work, October, 1950.
American steelworker Charlie Grapentine drives his Dodge car to work, October, 1950.   (Getty Images)
1941: Portrait of American burlesque performer Rose La Rose posing on the hood of a Dodge car on a city street, New York City.
1941: Portrait of American burlesque performer Rose La Rose posing on the hood of a Dodge car on a city street, New York City.   (Getty Images)
The Buick Series 50 super four-door sedan, was all the rage in 1940.
The Buick Series 50 super four-door sedan, was all the rage in 1940.   (Getty Images)
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If we want to understand what doomed the American automobile, we should give up on economics and turn to melodrama. - P.J. O’Rourke

The car ceased to be object of desire and equipment for adventure and turned into office, rec room, breakfast nook and recycling bin—a motorized cup holder. - P.J. O'Rourke

The American automobile was never a product of Japanese-style industrialism. American cars have been manufactured mostly by romantic fools. - P.J. O'Rourke

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5 comments
VIEWING:
 
Observer
May 30, 09 1:34 PM CDT
Correction - We fell out of love with AMERICAN cars. Did you happen to notice all the Toyotas, Mercedes, Volvos, Hondas, Lexus, Hundai, Audis and VWs prowling the streets. Reply
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SBS
May 30, 09 6:22 PM CDT
I have to agree. Hopefully Pearl Harbor won't happen again tomarrow, a lot of Americans won't know what side to fight for.
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TerrifiedCitizen
May 31, 09 1:06 AM CDT
The ridiculous and greedy out of control price of fuel has stolen my love of the car... especially any real performance car. My love affair with fast and powerful earth-shaking American steel was imprinted somehow on my DNA while still a child... I couldn't contain myself at the controlled thunder of a modified 427 or Hemi or any small block that could catch them; I lived for it. But maybe you had to grow up on the streets of Southern California... you know, and just be there. Reply
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+1
Bubblebee
May 31, 09 8:24 AM CDT
A car is nothing more than a appliance that gets me from point A to point B. You can take a older car and give it a little tender love and care and the benifits of it out way any new car with all the perks and added features. I have money to spend!! I don't fork out a 300 dollar payment every month nor due I pay for collision, who needs it when you can go out and by another used car for 2 thousand dollars? I can enjoy spending money making memories with my family versus paying a car payment for a car that I can't even afford the gas for because of the car payment...LOL A older car is truely a freedom you will grow to love. Im in my twenties and vow to never purchase a new car again. They are pretty and come with alot of great features I know I would like.... Come on lets be real, do you want a heated seat and mp3 or the comfort of knowing money is in the bank and you can spontaniously enjoy that money on trip you and your family will never forget!!! Enjoy Life not what you look like in it! Reply
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0
Chilblain
May 31, 09 2:57 PM CDT
When Americans no longer were able to work on their own cars they fell out of love. Blame it on the computerization and greed of "service" centers. Classic American cars well maintained still run great, unlike the overly complex machines of today, and as far as modern computerized vehicles of today go you just can't beat the Germans. Reply
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