Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Will the Oil Price Produce a Good American Car?

As I said, the rising price of oil is a painful but good thing. One benign outcome is that the Americans are beginning to see sense about their cars. Trucks and SUVs are finally giving way to smaller cars. I suspect the big car/truck mentality is what has held back American car design. While over there, I read a review of a car that said it 'handled like a truck'. This was intended as praise; over here it would be a grave insult. Since my first visit I have been baffled by the dreadful cars they drive. On my latest trip I drove a Chrysler Sebring for three weeks. Supposedly a sporty machine, its suspension was designed by a clown who liked to scare drivers on corners, its gear box was simply ludicrous. For two weeks I had a Toyota Camry which was better but still pretty bad. This points to another oddity of the American car market. The big companies go out of their way to produce bad cars for Americans. Toyotas anywhere else are superb and, in Europe, Ford produces the best car in the world, the Mondeo. But, in America, they both produce junk. Meanwhile, bring a Hummer, a Lincoln Navigator or a Cadillac Escalade over to Europe and they are reviewed with disbelief. These are primitive, third world machines. The few British owners have 'Prat' stamped on their foreheads in letters of fire - or 'footballer'. Europeans seem to understand driving pleasure, which is nothing to do with speed, size or power. Perhaps, now they are turning to smaller, saner cars, the Americans can begin to appreciate this little daily consolation.

5 comments:

  1. This is what Berliners think of Hummers, taken just off the Unter den Linden, both nearside tyres slashed, the reason Ford allegedly have the best car in Europe is the Sheffield input (and some Geordie.) Fords European design director is a Sheffield lad, Martin Smith. He was GMs European design director, the reason for the recent spate of sexy Vauxhaulls, in reality re badged Opels. When you say "Europeans seem to understand driving pleasure, which is nothing to do with speed, size or power," you need to exclude the Germans from you remarks, to them its all about speed, size and power. The americans are in fact now addressing the fuel consumption problem, watch out in future for a spate of very high tech diesels.

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  2. The same is true of bikes though perhaps to a lesser degree. In terms of performance, running costs, looks (often, anyway), build quality, new technology and in the case of Harleys the ability to go round a corner, most European and Jap bikes are miles ahead of Harley-Davidson and Buell. Harleys these days are so retro they are practically antiques.

    On the other hand there is one big difference. Because the distances to cover in America are often so vast compared to Europe, straight-line speed matters much less than style. How you get there becomes as important as how long it takes to get there. For that reason I think I can see why some folks love their US bikes, even though they're not for me. Each to their own, etc.

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  3. Perhaps in time we'll be able to enjoy bicycles and horse-drawn carriages, indeed this seems likely since oil will eventually run out.

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  4. The resurgence of the Harley is all about aesthetics, and nothing about performance or efficiency. There are two bike markets in the US (I'm ignoring the off-road dirt bike crowd). Teens and twenty-somethings are into the raw power and speed of sport bikes, or "crotch-rockets". Harleys are not about speed, they are about mystique. For biker gang members they are a loyalty statement - American made. Street bikes are about laying back and cruising down the boulevard. It's about being seen in your leathers. It's about making a statement. The Harley engine throbs, it doesn't whine.

    But most Harleys are bought by middle age wannabes, not biker gang members. Just as most cowby boots are not bought by cowboys.

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