I was walking the dog the other day when I heard a V8 bellow. I turned around to see a perfect example of a latter day muscle car: a Chevy Silverado pickup truck. I was surprised by my surprise. Although the Northeast represents Middle America’s automotive tastes about as well as Harvard professors reflect conservative political values, I wondered if society has reached the point where the sound of unabashed engine power has become, well, boorish. Has the average American automobile, once a symbol of status, virility and pride, been castrated? And is that a bad thing?
Focus on the word “average.” Yes, hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts continue to bask in the aesthetic, accelerative and aural afterglow of octo-cylindered SRT8, SS, GT, M and AMG-branded products. Widen the remit to include the tuned-four cylinder machines favored by the ricer set, and it’s clear that American car culture is alive and well and living in a comments section near you. But these vehicles cater to a relatively small subset of American consumers.
By the same token, you have to discount the eco-whips favored by equally passionate “green” car enthusiasts. In a recent study re: popular attitudes towards mass transit, four percent of respondents said they’d consider switching to mass transit on environmental grounds. While the survey methodology wasn’t entirely reliable, it supports a common sense conclusion: auto-oriented environmentalists proselytize from outside of the American mainstream. The media may swoon over hybrids, PHEVs, hydrogen fuel-cells and the like, but the average American aspires to a plain Jane Toyota Camry.
Or not. Post-September sales results, the general decline in vehicle sales (their lowest level in 15 years) and Detroit’s disastrous truck sales slump (down by 20-plus percent across the board) received the ink it deserved. Meanwhile, according to the American International Automobile Association, the Chevrolet Silverado and Ford F-Series scooped the top two sales slots.
Startling discounts may account for the fact that two American-made pickups edged-out the Toyota Camry in last month’s new car showroom hit parade. And there’s no question that the U.S. automobile market is undergoing an epic, convulsive shift, as hundreds of thousands of Americans abandon their SUVs (if and when they can) for more fuel efficient vehicles. But you have to wonder if falling gas prices and, more importantly, long-standing consumer tastes, mean that the death of the Great American Land Yacht has been greatly exaggerated.
Consider the much-lamented– if only by enthusiasts– “bloat” of the average American automobile. And by that I mean, of course, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.
In their early iterations, these Japanese cars were relatively diminutive compared to their American counterparts. Consumers chose the transplants for longevity and frugality and put-up with relatively tight packaging (especially when compared to their aging American counterparts and gas-guzzling SUVs). Today, numbers three and five on September’s sales chart are significantly larger than their predecessors. And they’re bisected by the Impala, an older Chevy that outsells its smaller and more modern “replacement.”
High gas prices or no, the automotive up-sizing trend continues. Even the new Mazda6 has traded zoom-zoom for elbow room. But something has been lost. (Don’t say handling, ‘cause that’s just you, a pistonhead, talking.) Thanks to mechanical and ergonomic improvements, the idea that a small-engined car is, ipso facto, a penalty box has left the building. While there’s some V6 up-selling down at the dealership, the vast majority of these popular cars are four-cylinder automobiles. More importantly, there’s no apology needed.
Mpg bragging rights have replaced engine envy. In a few short years, “That thing have a Hemi?” has gone from a come-on to a turn-off. At the risk of contradicting myself, the Toyota Prius has almost single-handedly made it “cool” to save gas. You can no more imagine the average American car buyer showing off his new car/truck by revving the engine than you can image a Dodge Challenger SRT8 driver whipping out his gas receipts.
This transition in the American automotive psyche– from a passionate lust for sheer horsepower to a profound admiration for fuel efficiency– is far from complete. But when a “car guy” like GM Car Czar Bob Lutz, the man who helped unleash the Dodge Viper and the Pontiac Solstice, spends his days touting the plug-in electric – gas hybrid Chevy Volt, you know which way the wind’s blowing.
In short, the bellowing, brash automobile, the car as a symbol of virility (a.k.a. penis substitute) is destined to become an increasingly obscure concept, even within the mucho macho pickup truck fraternity. BUT– automobiles are still, and will always be, a status symbol. And Americans will always love their faithful steeds, for one reason or another. Whether or not this petro-chemical reliant relationship (for now) is a good thing or not is irrelevant. It just is.
The car should always have it’s place in our culture. After all we’ve decimated our rail networks and our nation has too low a population density to allow for cost effective mass transit outside of larger cities.
The whole “green car” thing will last until we settle down and get used to gas prices, then we’ll see size, power and prosthetic phallus start creeping back in.
I disagree with the first thought in the last paragraph.
1. Souped up Model Ts in the 20-30s
2. Souped up Model As of the 40s
3. Souped up Tri-Five Chevys and 50 Mercs in the 50-60s
4. Muscle cars (obviously)
5. Custom Vans with side pipes and mag wheels (70s-80s)
6. Mustang 5.0s. (80s-90s)
7. Camaros and Mustangs (1990s)
8. Obnoxious trucks and SUVs (the past 10 years)
9. The current Mustang, Challenger and forthcoming Camaro and Mustang
And that doesn’t even cover the more obscure models (Impalas, Caddies, Lincolns, anything with a V8) that get hot-rodded by their second/third owners just because Mustangs/Corvettes/Camaros cost too much for their budgets. And trucks, which never stop getting modified.
I think, with history’s help, the symbol of virility (nicely put!) comes in waves. And the waves get bigger and bigger in tandem with the oil and gas industry.
But it’s a cycle.
Sajeev Mehta :
Of your list, only number 8– Obnoxious trucks and SUVs (the past 10 years)– strikes me as a mainstream automotive trend. Depending on your definition of “obnoxious.”
Again, there will always be a not-so-silent minority of automotive enthusiasts looking for a little four-wheeled Viagra, be it muscle cars, tuned imports or monster trucks. But, in the main, America’s love affair with horsepower is over.
Should folks stop buying bigger houses with bigger yards, too?
Anyway, most things get bigger over generations – we build bigger bridges, bigger stadiums, bigger buildings, bigger boats. Heck, even humans are getting bigger – defensive shortstops are now the same size as the power-hitting first basemen of the 1950’s.
People will get tired of being so responsible all the time, plodding around in vanilla commuters. There will always be a market for big-engine power for those of us that know life is short and you need to squeeze some fun in somehow.
I think it’s kind of funny that Japanese cars are supersized now, tout their high HP or acceleration and have hard plastic interiors. All the things people who love Japanese cars used to say they hated about American cars.
I also agree that buying a V8 performance car, truck or luxury car isn’t about penis enhancement. That’s a silly thing to say. Many people will buy the best that they can afford or work to attain something powerfully fun for their own entertainment or powerfully luxurious to enjoy as the fruit of their hard work.
Gross engine power ratings and performance are not the same thing. Performance is a function of power-to-weight ratio. As long as we have cars, we’ll have high performance cars. Current trends continuing, the performance cars of the future will be a lot smaller. Gone are the days of pick-ups with 7 liter engines. Think BMW 2002. Since these cars will be a lot smaller, the drivers won’t be 300 pound slobs either, a big plus in my book.
Has the average American automobile, once a symbol of status, virility and pride, been castrated?
Yes and no. Ostentation goes in and out of fashion all the time. Currently, it’s on it’s way out. The pendulum swings back and forth all the time.
Remember, there were times that the Mustang was both cool and terminally unhip.
And is that a bad thing?
Depends. People don’t think about responsibility, just entitlements and “rights”. Well, every so once in a while, you have to pay for it.
You can’t eat badly, burn resources, live above your means, piss of your fellow man and/or pollute your environment without repercussion. In this case, having to lose mass-market-supersled privileges for a few years is a pretty mild “correction”. I’m sure that, as batteries get better, we’ll have people bragging about amp-hour figures very, very soon.
I think there will always be a market for “Cheap & fast”. Does that move to electric sports cars? Does it move to hybrid sports cars? Does it move to motorcycles/scooters/other 2 wheelers? Electric motorcycles? Diesel multi-turbo cars? Only the future will tell.
As far as vehicles as status symbols, I just don’t see 2 wheelers taking over at all until they become a more serious form of transportation.
If I showed pretty much anyone an Desmosedici RR bike or a gsx-r, nobody can tell that one costs $10k and the other one $80k.
On top of that, even LESS people can actually ride even a $10k bike to 80% of it’s potential, let alone an $80k one.
I have to agree with psarhjinian… fads do come and go, and the trend of the supersized mammoth car is going into hibernation. I had hope at the end of the eighties that the landyachts of the US were going out of style, but no they came back in force with ostentatious, bling-bling SUV’s. It never was my thing, and I went with “If you can’t beat-em, leave-em”.
I am now living in europe with a car that is, to me, reasonably sized, and only used on weekends. That doesn’t make me any less of a car-fan. I love to watch WRX races, and have a good drive on the country roads to get away… driving a lead-sled to work and the MacDonalds Drive-thru, just wasn’t my thing.
Big cars will never go out of style in the US. So don’t fret you guys!
I’m partly with Sajeev on this one: the popular allure of power comes in waves.
But RF also has a point: never before have we seen such an increase in horsepower across entire model lines. It has become almost impossible to buy an insufficiently powered vehicle. This suggests that consumer demand for horsepower was broader than in earlier rounds.
Part of the reason is that manufacturers were able to bump horsepower without reducing fuel economy. So horsepower was fairly cheap, bought at the cost of an extra pair of valves and a few hundred more cc’s. The cost of the latter is near zero.
Future bumps won’t be as cheap unless we’re talking about a radically different powertrain. In other words, it’ll be a while.
And, let’s face it, most people have no need for the amount of horsepower they’ve been sold. We’ve all seen how the average person drives. How much horsepower are they using, really?
Michael Karesh:
I think you’ve brought up a great point. But although manufacturers were able to increase horsepower without reducing fuel economy, think of the fuel economy gains that could have been made had horsepower stayed at adequate levels.
I drove a 2001 Camry with 138hp and an auto tranny for the first 6 years of my driving career, and I can count on two hands the number of times I was out-accelerated by the average driver, or needed (not wanted, but needed) more power. 99.9% of the time after leaving a stoplight, I would pull away from traffic because I was flooring it and nobody else around me was. 138hp was more than enough to keep up with/outpace traffic the vast majority of the time
Michael Karesh:
“And, let’s face it, most people have no need for the amount of horsepower they’ve been sold. We’ve all seen how the average person drives. How much horsepower are they using, really?”
To this I suggest a study conducted by TTAC. Obviously we’ll all need Veyron’s to do this properly. Only with their horsepower and quantitative meter, will we scientifically be able to decipher this mystery.
I think the slow build-up towads excess has caught people’s attention now. Folks are noticing that Camry’s now offer more HP than muscle cars of old.
Bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger belt buckles! It’s grown to the point that people are just now noticing what the state of the industry really has become, and they’re saying enough is enough. Excess is never a good long-term situation. It’s like North America has been on a 15 year horsepower bender, and it’s time to sober up!
As I’ve seen alluded to before on this site – hammering the heck out of a 138hp car isn’t saving much fuel over the smooth acceleration of a 280hp vehicle.
Casual Observer :
I’m well aware of that fact. I currently drive a 400hp car that gets better mileage (at least highway) than many cars with 1/2 to 3/4ths the hp.
The point is that the average person wouldn’t be ‘hammering the heck’ out of a 138hp car on a regular basis. Most people drive in a manner that requires even less than 138hp the vast majority of the time
the sound of an inefficient V8 (and i don’t JUST mean the mpg, i mean the engine is simply inefficient) is the sound of the past.
it’s fine to celebrate the past, but that’s exactly what it is… the past. automotive heritage.
smooth, forced-air engines with torquey electric assists (see Audi A1) are the future. cylinder shut down, direct injection, “intelligent” engine mapping ability, plug-in hybrids, lithium… these things are the FUTURE.
used to be, the paler you were the wealthy you were. used to be, the fatter you were the more status you had.
Symbols of status, virility and pride CHANGE over time.
A couple weeks ago I was invited to a friend’s party he was hosting for a local car enthusiasts club. Since he lived in the country everyone brought their toys and did drags up and down the county road as well burn-out smoke shows on his private drive. All I kept thinking is, “obviously gasoline and tires aren’t that expensive.” Then I get to talking with these people and learned that these cars get out maybe a half dozen times all year. On most daily occasions they drive the same Camcord’s the rest of the population drives. So…yes, America loves their hot rod, but it’s a hobby these days, not a way of life. Doesn’t bode well for Ford or GM trying to survive on Mustang or Camaro sales.
The car as a symbol of virility has been under attack for a while, and high gas prices would have actually allowed it to return to that. Not the other way around.
By being more rare and hard to afford, the high HP toy would have actually increased it’s value as a virility symbol. Virility has never been correlated well with good sense. It is correlated with power and wealth though.
OTOH, the attack on the manly car or truck has been going on for years. Big SUV’s are now used as station wagons by mom’s. Around Houston, any hot car but ferrari or lambo is nearly as likely to have a woman driver, especially if it’s a convertible.
The bottom line is that women want to appear powerful, so now powerful cars are chick cars, too.
A good article might be one about which cars actually still manage to be somewhat exclusively for men.
My ’97 Ranger is rated @ 113hp.
Other than the rare occasions when I need to accelerate uphill from a dead stop with AC on and a full load in the back this is more than adequate.
My wife used to delight in leaving riceboys in the dust in her ’84 Voyager with stickshift and 84hp 2.2-litre 4.
When I was a kid, our whole family of 8 would travel up mountains in a ’67 Country Squire with a 289 rated @ 210hp Gross(Probably 140-150 net).
Dad cursed the easy-fading brakes, but never the engine power.
thetopdog :
I drove a 2001 Camry with 138hp and an auto tranny for the first 6 years of my driving career, and I can count on two hands the number of times I was out-accelerated by the average driver, or needed (not wanted, but needed) more power. 99.9% of the time after leaving a stoplight, I would pull away from traffic because I was flooring it and nobody else around me was. 138hp was more than enough to keep up with/outpace traffic the vast majority of the time
Yes, I believe my old Miata had only 116 horse. My Prius’ gas engine only has about 76 horse. Combined with the electric assist, the whole car has only 110 horse.
Yet, in both cars, I hardly ever get overtaken or passed at traffic lights.
In general, when I am “actively driving”, which is how I usually drive, I only get passed when I consciously choose to allow it to happen. Those that do pass me are often weaving in traffic, cutting people off anyhow.
When I am “passively driving” (ie, dawdling along in the right lane, not in a hurry, chatting with a passenger, etc), then I get passed all the time.
In neither case; in neither driving style, do I feel that I really want or need more power; even after having once owned a Corvette.
So TopDog’s comment holds true for me too: In the far far greatest majority of times, I don’t even need 110 HP.
“Should folks stop buying bigger houses with bigger yards, too?”
Many are doing just that. Dense urban centers are experiencing a return of the relatively well off. More people than ever are putting a premium on being able to live car free.
The American auto industry is built around boom-bust cycles. A major driver of those cycles is the apparently irresistible urge to make its products bigger, more powerful and fancier. Individual automakers race to outdo each other until, at some point, they go too far. Perhaps their glittering chariots of power stop being useful for everyday use, or perhaps external forces such as a recession changes the psychology of car buying. Then the bust occurs.
The automotive press has tended to cover these busts as apocalyptic events. Yet every single one of these busts has recycled back into another boom period. CAFE standards did not ultimately destroy the V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive performance car. Nor did the 1970 recession and sky-high insurance rates. Nor did the recession of 1958.
I’m not saying that the future will be a pure replay of the past. The performance cars of the future will need to be more efficient than those of the past. However, what won’t change is that nothing is more embedded in the DNA of the auto industry than the urge to add more. That’s what planned obsolescence is all about.
“Symbols of status, virility and pride CHANGE over time.”
Absolutely correct. It is becoming chic to be able to say: “How ever can you be bothered with the smelly, expensive, polluting car and having to drive everywhere to do anything? I live in the most amazing neighborhood where I can walk to the world best bakery in the morning and hang with my pals at one of several funky pubs at night. Life in the sterile suburbs is so not my thing. And being a house slave on the weekends with endless yard work and home repairs, yuck.”
“That’s what planned obsolescence is all about.”
Which was the attraction of the Volvo 140/240. If ever there was a vehicle which ran counter to that way of thinking, the 240 was it. Sure there were minor tweaks, engine changes and a nose job or two over the years … but the character and size of the thing didn’t really change for about 30 years.
Gas prices have been falling like a rock, and while they will not stay low forever, it will for now let V8 RWD platforms be more economical to drive.
25% of the car buying public wants these V8’s (I’ve seen any number of Gen Z’s drooling over the photos), but is currently stymied by credit and (fading fast for now) high fuel costs. It remains to be seen what auto company will be want, or be able, to build them affordably.
I think one thing that needs to be recalled in this whole issue is the female buyer. Back in the 30-‘s to 70’s what, maybe 10-20% of buying decisions were made primarily by women? By the 80’s it was 40% 90’s 45% today pretty much 50/50. So when you talk about “penis enhancers” 50% of the market is not interested. That alone accounts for a good amount of the dropoff. Just look at the commenters on any car blog, what are they, 85-90% men? Ask the average man if they know how much HP they have in their car, then ask the average woman. Think you’ll get different answers?
ScottGSO :
Female buyers may not care about hp, but for some strange reason they love to sit up high and drive CUVs that are 1000lbs to heavy for the amount of interior/cargo room they provide. And these things are even more wasteful than high-hp cars, because they provide no actual benefit.
As others have noted, this has happened before. But it’s not as simple as “small, underpowered vehicles versus big, powerful ones.”
In 1958, some buyers rebelled against the trend of bigger fins, more elaborate styling and higher horsepower by purchasing more Ramblers and VWs and fewer Detroit dinosaurs (as George Romney gleefully called them). Detroit rushed the Corvair, Falcon and Valiant into production by 1960, and the Falcon outsold the other two by a huge margin based on its simplicity, good economy and inoffensive styling.
On the other hand, after 1959, the full-size Chevrolet decisively creamed the full-size Ford in sales because the former had a far better performance image, based on its small-block V-8. Pontiac, meanwhile, came back from near death by 1960 with aggressive styling and a performance image built on racing success. Another huge success induring this period was the four-seat Thunderbird, which was pitched as a personal luxury coupe, not an economy car. It was selling almost 100,000 units by 1960 – far more than the sportier, smaller two-seat model had ever dreamed of selling.
By 1964 Pontiac had kicked off the muscle-car trend with the GTO, another big sales success, and the rest of the 1960s was an orgy of tire-burning horsepower and wild graphics. But sales of imports also began to grow after 1965, and VW hit its all-time sales record in 1970, built largely on the success of the small, relatively underpowered Beetle.
Emissions control laws and insurance industry surcharges for performance cars had brought the muscle-car craze to an end even before the first fuel crunch in late 1973. But the sales trends of the 1970s don’t necessarily represent a complete exercise in frugality. The small Japanese imports were gaining in popularity, but sales of the Camaro and Firebird boomed after 1975, and the hottest sellers in the market were personal luxury coupes, which featured cars with huge hoods, small trunks, cramped back seats and exteriors festooned with opera windows, coach roofs and “classic” grilles.
Even before the recent run-up in prices, sales of SUVs were declining, while Honda and Toyota were steadily selling Accords, Civics, Camrys and Corollas. But, as was noted, each of those cars has steadily increased in size, power and amenities. So Americans aren’t necessarily ready to drive rolling penalty boxes just to get better mileage, or because they feel the need to feel “guilty” about anything.
If anything, there is a market for a smaller car that manages to LOOK more upscale while getting decent mileage and not costing too much money.
This calls for…no don’t laugh…something like the original Ford Granada. While today we remember the campy ads that compared its styling to a Mercedes, people forget that the whole point was to make people forget that this was a relatively inexpensive, relatively small (for the time) car. The interior and exterior were specifically equipped with the features that buyers at that time associated with upscale domestic cars – padded vinyl roofs, hood ornaments, deep-pile carpeting, woodgrain accents on the dashboard and door panels, plush cloth seats and more sound deadening to filter out noise.
Today this all seems rather silly and somewhat crude, but in 1975, that was a huge break from the Detroit tradition, where “small” was synonomous with cheap and basic. Even Ford wouldn’t have dreamed of comparing the styling of the Maverick to that of the Mercedes, and no one would have put a stand-up hood ornament on a pre-1975 Chevrolet Nova or Plymouth Duster.
It will be interesting to see how Ford equips, trims and prices the upcoming Fiesta…done right, this could be a VERY important car not just for Ford, but also the entire industry.
John Horner: Absolutely correct. It is becoming chic to be able to say: “How ever can you be bothered with the smelly, expensive, polluting car and having to drive everywhere to do anything? I live in the most amazing neighborhood where I can walk to the world best bakery in the morning and hang with my pals at one of several funky pubs at night. Life in the sterile suburbs is so not my thing. And being a house slave on the weekends with endless yard work and home repairs, yuck.”
Let’s just say that virtually everyone I’ve ever known who brags about living “car free” seems awfully willing – in some cases, downright eager – to let me drive them to places…
If consumers are falling out of love with HP, Infiniti’s G35/7 wouldn’t be selling so well. :)
People will always love fast, powerful cars, even if we don’t “need” it. They’re a undescribably pleasant physical sensation when you mash the gas pedal of a smooth, sonorous V8 that just can’t be replaced. :O
Who cares about fuel costs? They’re pennies compared to the money we spend just buying a car in the first place. :)
The point isn’t about specialty cars like the G35, but about mass market vehicles. I bet that we have pretty much seen the end of horsepower wars in the Civic/Focus/Camry/Accord/Fusion type vehicles. At least I hope so.
We have already seen a shift in buying behavior from V-6s to 4 cylinders in cars like the Fusion where both are available.
“Dense urban centers are experiencing a return of the relatively well off. More people than ever are putting a premium on being able to live car free.”
Personally, I would rather live far enough out into the country to be traffic and neighbor free.
When I went car shopping last year, I didn’t have a goal for horsepower. Instead, I had a goal for acceleration, which was 0-60 in about 6 seconds. Looked at this way, high horsepower is actually a negative since it goes with heavy weight, which hurts handling and braking and increases fuel consumption.
Why anyone needs sub 10 second 0-60 MPH performance in a car or truck to be driven on public streets is a mystery to me.
If people want quick acceleration from 0-60, and are willing to pay for it, that is their business. There are still vehicles that are tilted less toward performance than economy for those who want something else.
John Horner :
October 10th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Why anyone needs sub 10 second 0-60 MPH performance in a car or truck to be driven on public streets is a mystery to me
For ultimate hoonage, of course!
“Why anyone needs sub 10 second 0-60 MPH performance in a car or truck to be driven on public streets is a mystery to me.”
Several reasons:
Reaching interstate traffic speeds of 60-80 mph by the end of the on ramp so that I can merge smoothly.
Minimizing the time spent on the wrong side of the road when passing on two lane highways.
Accomplishing these tasks without winding the engine to red line at full throttle.
When electric cars become the “in” thing with the masses we’ll see performance motors and battery packs. We’ll see ads touting “more torque because are armatures are tighter wound” and “60% better acceleration on each charge!” Maybe hot rodders will put giant volt/ammeters in their cars to show off how much “oomph” they have.
The VW Beetle had 36 HP and that got a lot of people around just fine.
Which was the attraction of the Volvo 140/240. If ever there was a vehicle which ran counter to that way of thinking, the 240 was it. Sure there were minor tweaks, engine changes and a nose job or two over the years … but the character and size of the thing didn’t really change for about 30 years.
Pah, Saab did the same, and unlike the Volvo, they had style! The 99 and 900 were around from, what, 1968 to 1994 on more or less the same chassis?
I think the trucks will continue to be top sellers. They’ll still be needed by a good number of people.
Kendahl- I did all that driving a Volvo 240 with 105HP.
What’s wrong with winding engine to red line?
Why anyone needs sub 10 second 0-60 MPH performance in a car or truck to be driven on public streets is a mystery to me.
I’m guessing you have NOT driven a a cheap $4k-$5k used 600+cc sportbike recently….
psarhjinian- maybe style is the correct word for Saabs, maybe not.
Why anyone needs sub 10 second 0-60 MPH performance in a car or truck to be driven on public streets is a mystery to me.
Because some of us actually like the trill of driving and don’t just look at cars as being method of getting from point A to B.
Sorry no Prius/civic/yaris in my driveway
Has the average American automobile, once a symbol of status, virility and pride, been castrated?
If you’re talking about actual performance, certainly not. The average U.S.-market car (regardless of manufacturer) today has vastly better performance in every measurable category than the average American car of any previous decade. (The only exception is fuel economy, where I think there’s been some backpedaling from the previous decade.)
If you mean, have the products of the Detroit 2.8 ceased to be symbols of status or pride, or had their status vastly diminished? Absolutely.
Something you notice after a while is that there is a median size to which American-market bread-and-butter cars tend to return, over and over again. The mid-50s Chevrolet was that size, which is not all that different from the size of a modern Camry or Accord.
When the Chevy bulked up in the late 50s and early 60s, Chevy reinvented the ’55 dimensions with the A-body intermediates. When even those reached gargantuan proportions in the 70s, there was the first wave of downsizing. By the 90s, the formerly downsized sedans were again reaching towards that level, and the Japanese were starting to inch their way up, as well. Models that get any bigger than that, other than luxury or ‘prestige’ cars, will eventually die off, and the cycle will start over again. It’s likely to continue for as long as there are cars.
I think that the outcry about the death of horsepower and so forth is hyperbolic and premature, just as it was 35 years ago.
“The VW Beetle had 36 HP and that got a lot of people around just fine.”
I had two of them, a 1962 with 40 hp and a 1968 with 53 hp. Top speeds were 80 mph for the ’62 and 90 mph for the ’68. On the highway in the ’62, I had to downshift on hills. In the ’68, I could stay in top gear.
With so little power, speed was a precious and highly perishable commodity. Slowing down was a last resort to be avoided if at all possible. Passing on two lane roads required a running start at the car being passed.
More recently, I have driven a couple of 3 cylinder Geo Metros. They, too, were gutless.
My current car, an Infiniti G37S, weighs twice as much as the VWs, but has roughly seven times the horsepower. I don’t miss the beetles at all.
“Sorry no Prius/civic/yaris in my driveway”
Nor in mine. Actually, the Civic isn’t bad and the Civic Si is pretty good.
Because some of us actually like the trill of driving and don’t just look at cars as being method of getting from point A to B.
As I mentioned above, I think the “thrill” of driving is alive and well, but even the biggest motorheads have their limits. The people I was talking to last weekend feel the pain at $4/gal gasoline. Maybe it’s a higher pain threshold for the average “well off” G37 buyer, but I do believe there will be a day when even the G37’s are relegated to Sunday driver status and the Prius/Civic/Yaris sees the bulk of point A – B driving.
I feel no need to justify my love of power to people who obviously “don’t get it”. Some of us are very much willing to trade off economy for the visceral rush of flinging thousands of pounds of metal down the road at an alarming rate of acceleration. Many of us are weened on motorcycles, where something that does 0-60 in 5 or 6 seconds is pig-slow. Power corrupts, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Because some of us actually like the trill of driving and don’t just look at cars as being method of getting from point A to B.”
I have had an awful lot of fun driving my Fiat X1/9 on curvy back roads. The X1/9 is one of the most tossable and fun to drive cars ever made IMO. In contrast, I’ve also driven a Viper on an autocross track, and the Viper was not fun for me. Just a big brutish pig of a car with a big motor. No finesse, all brash wailing.
I’ve seen people in original Mini Coopers having more fun than should be legal, and they have lawn tractor sized engines.
Drag strip style runs from stop light to stop light do absolutely nothing for my adrenaline levels. Big engine. Light chassis. Stomp the pedal. Hit the brakes. Boring.
Some cars are indeed too slow to drive enjoyably and safely IMO. The VW bug and bus come to mind as does that POS the Geo Metro. However, I can’t think of any production car available in the US today which is seriously underpowered. There are many which drive like crap, but that rarely is due to a lack of basic motive force.
As the old saying goes, it isn’t the size … it’s how you use it.
Everybody always says today’s cars have too much horsepower, until they find themselves behind the wheel of an underpowered ride.
you can still swap a DOHC VTEC engine into an old Civic and get a car that will run a high 12 second quarter mile (how many Muscle cars could do that in the 60s, or hell, even today) while still returning 30+ mpg.
So its cool to be fast AND efficient – through light weight.
That said, I gotta agree America is down with the 4-cylinder – people are definitely willing to spend on a fuel efficient but well equipped car – such as my 60 year old mother who scooped up a 2.5L Legacy, but HAD to have leather, heated seats, sunroof etc etc etc – that’s what’s selling and what’s hot today – highly equipped base engine cars.
John:
I agree that the X1/9 and Minis (both old and new) are great fun on winding roads with negligible traffic. However, I still maintain that they are underpowered when it comes to entering a busy, urban interstate or passing on a two lane highway.
My previous car was a first generation RX-7 with the more powerful, 13B engine. According to Car and Driver, it could do 0-60 in 8.5 seconds. I found myself routinely using full throttle and fairly high rpms. That’s why I set an upper limit of 6 seconds to 60 for its replacement.
“Accomplishing these tasks without winding the engine to red line at full throttle.”
What? That’s like being upset that the wheel studs on your car aren’t big enough to hold a 20″ wheel with three nuts.
It has become almost impossible to buy an insufficiently powered vehicle. This suggests that consumer demand for horsepower was broader than in earlier rounds.
No, it suggests that in an era of indistinguishable cars, the manufacturers had to create differences in order to market their products. CAD/CAM and Robotics advancements made gaining horsepower easier, and AT LOWER COST than before.
Marketing rules, engineering just gets pulled along for the ride.
–chuck
I love my Chevy metro 55hp and have traveled 200,00 miles in it since 1998. Police ignore me.
Once in a awhile, I cheat and take out my Yahmaha MAX. 10 second machine for a 60 year old and I don’t get STD on it. It doesn’t lie to me about my hair, my teeth but gives me a heart attack that’s as good as any I have had.
Weight is the killer. The car needs to be less than 2500 lbs. I like 2000.
But, what is missed is that the car manufacturers have not done anything to reduce the weight of the internal moving parts of an engine.
All, they have to do is drop the weight of the pistons, piston rods, cam, crank, and valves. Use a turbo-charger without a muffler with good inbound and outbound non restricted airflow and let the revs go to 10,000 while still producing horsepower. You will have a 30 mpgh car with 300+ horse power and still be civilized. If you are running ethanol, you can add a bunch more horsepower and clean power at that.
Do please remember the old adage, “it’s much more fun to drive a slow ar fast, than a fast one slow.” It seems most modern day Americans have never heard of that notion, but frankly, 250 or more family sedans is just…too much of a good thing! Necessary surely it’s not.
Unless gas prices drop, then it goes back to the way it was.
When gas was $5.00 here in San Diego, all my sister would tell me is how she is going to get a Prius or a Yaris, and save the World!
Now that gas is at $3.50 here, she is shopping for used Land Rover Discovery. Oh, the short memories we have.
My dream car is a Lotus Elise. It may soon be reality. Ridiculous speed and fantastic gas mileage? Hell yeah.
Hey, I’m young, and single… might as well take advantage of that!
People are definitely fickle on this subject. I, too, recall when gas was $1.50 a liter in Montreal and all my friends were talking about diesels and Honda Fits. Up until the stock market went south a week ago, they were back to dreaming about Cayennes and MBs. The population is stupid.
was stuck in traffic on friday in the endless congestion that is philadelphia most of the time, in the company DTS, its magnificent v8 burbling at 2 miles per hour, the bose stereo preaching some rock and roll to me perfectly, the seat cushioning my tuccus, and i thought,
“Geeze, except fo the V8, i could be in my 4 cyl golf now, and give up nothing”.
ANd thats how i feel. Occasionally, some poor sap in a vette roars past me, but only for 50 yards or so, slamming on the brakes as the small hole in traffic closes abruptly. Its just no fun to have a fast car around here any more. Maybe in other places it is, but here its over. Even my 100 hp golf rarely has a chance to really stretch its legs, why would anyone pay extra for a car that can go 195? alot of people are realizing that now, i guess.
In California, it’s easy to distinguish brand new cars on the road from everything else. No plate, and the tell-tale registration paper taped inside the windshield facing out in the lower right corner, make it easy to see that someone just bought a new car. Notwithstanding the Prius denizens and the handful of Bohemians in Smart cars, I see no evidence whatsoever here in Los Angeles and Orange County that horsepower is losing favor, nor that the burly sound of a factory V8 is a social faux pas. Not to mention that at least in these two counties, the four cylinder versions of Camry and Accord take a back seat to the V6 volume leaders.
The SUV is a different matter. They aren’t particularly powerful for their weight, but having engines tuned for truck use, their torque and aggressive throttle tip-in make them feel more powerful than they are, relative to what the engine is humping around. The SUV is rapidly losing whatever “prestige” it had. Actually it never registered with me that there was any prestige at all to an SUV, but if there was in some circles, that’s fading fast. And yet the incidence of new Escalades and Range Rovers here, along with Lexus and Mercedes variants is still considerable, if diminished. No, I don’t think the SUV communicates wealth or success any longer, but it does remain the wanted conveyance for more than a subculture population.
2008 is seeing a serious and damaging erosion of the new car market in terms of demand and selling volume, but the declines are only disastrous relative to the high floor in production capacity needed to be put to work for car maker economics to be viable. It’s still striking that with total vehicle market sales down by 20+% for the year, truck sales across the board only exceed that rate of decline by perhaps 50% more, depending on how you scope the truck market. That’s not really an epic shift. It’s an adjustment. Americans still will get out of tiny cars just as soon as they are able.
Even young people I work with who are half my age or less, aren’t glamourizing mpgs. In fact, among people who had put aside a truck or high-horsepower car in favor of a second car with better fuel economy, $3.40 gasoline is bringing the truck back on line. I paid $3.65 for premium yesterday and listening to the chatter at the crowded pumps, the general tone was people feeling gasoline is almost cheap again. Nevermind that it’s over a buck higher than two years ago. After paying nearly $5.00 last spring, any price in the threes feels like the new two-buck gallon. With everything else financial in a worrying meltdown, the price of gasoline is off the front pages and has receded from coffee conversation.
At least here. SoCal may not be representative of the rest of the country either but it is a full-spectrum economic microcosm. The people nearer the bottom economics of the new-car-buying population are often in Corollas, Cobalts, Civics and Focus. Fit and Yaris certainly are blossoming but aren’t yet numerous. Minis continue to be bought more for being cool than for economy, given the BMW economics of their accessories and service. The vehicle that really stands out here as enjoying a surge is the Chevy HHR. They are everywhere and surely are an intra-mural part of that “epic shift” as much as Fit-is-go. Meanwhile, I want to add a utility vehicle and what could be better than a small-block pickup? That’s right, nothing.
Our roads are still jammed.
Phil
blindfaith- do you actually believe that carmakers haven’t tried to reduce engine weight?
Michael Ayoub- I’d like an Elise or Exige too. I’d have to lose 100 lbs to fit in one though. Not sure about my height.
Kendahl- I used the 36HP Beetle as an example of HP overinflation. The same thing goes for the sub-100 HP Chevy Cavalier, Ford Tempo, Mazdas, Hondas, Toyotas and all cars sold from 1973-1995 It worked for millions of Americans then, it works for millions around the world now. I never saw anyone get hurt because their car was too slow. I’ve seen a lot get hurt because their car was too fast.
ive got a 08 Subaru Wrx with a Catback exhaust and a pretty hefty cold air intake. it pumpin out ALOT of power now. Hugely noticeable over stock. i accelerate in the sub 5-second range but i still AVERAGE 24 mpg. i get 32 mpgs on the freeway with the cruise set at 70. So i think turbocharged 4 pots are the way to get horsepower and feul effeciency.
Rewrew1892> Not sure how you do that. My 05 STi gets mixed no better than 22 max, even with mostly highway driving.
Muscle cars and hot rods in general, are toys. I daily drove 40 hoss bugs for 20yrs with out incident. People may mourn the imminent demise of the V8. The ruggeder and more reliable I6 was styled into extinction by lower hood lines with nary a whimper. That, I do miss.
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the impact horsepower and V8 engines have on luxury cars.
One of the things that Hyundai did to make the Genesis V8 a marketable alternative was boost the horsepower to the nethersphere. It’s 375 horsepower make it a far more marketable vehicle in the United States even today, than a 220 horsepower version with cylinder shut-off, variable valve timing, an electric motor and a small block V6.
In fact, a V8 is considered as a minimal requirement once you get to the S-Class/LS430/7-Series territory. A lot of folks, for better or worse, are still not visiting Acura RL showrooms because they don’t offer a V8/RWD alternative that most customers expect. Even with the onslaught of high gas prices. Even before it got ugly as a three-eyed dog, the Acura RL had been regularly snubbed by folks who demand the traditional V8/RWD model for a luxury car.
BTW, you definitely won’t enjoy a fast sports car driven slow as much as you could unless you’re in a parking lot. But a fast luxury car is an entirely different matter. I’ve been driving my 2002 S-Class a bit more these days specifically because it helps relieve my stress in a way no small car could. Especially in dumber than water metro-Atlanta traffic. With an attention towards comfort and fuel economy, I’ve been getting fuel economy in the low to mid-20’s on a regular basis… which is just as much as my wife gets with our dog friendly, kid taxi, 1994 Volvo 940 Wagon non-turbo.
In fairness, I do my fair share of hypermiling during the week with various small cars and even take other dealers/auctioneers to the sales with the Benz. But for daily commuting I would much rather share gas and keep the Benz than take a small car and endure the slings and arrows of rush hour traffic.
Sajeev Mehta :
Of your list, only number 8– Obnoxious trucks and SUVs (the past 10 years)– strikes me as a mainstream automotive trend. Depending on your definition of “obnoxious.”
Again, there will always be a not-so-silent minority of automotive enthusiasts looking for a little four-wheeled Viagra, be it muscle cars, tuned imports or monster trucks. But, in the main, America’s love affair with horsepower is over.
Robert,
If even #4 Muscle Cars on Sajeev’s list doesn’t count as a mainstream automotive trend in your opinion, then perhaps the American public never did have a love affair with big horsepower and highly personalized automobiles, and this was always an enthusiast niche market.
Steven Lang>
I agree with you, except swap v8 luxury with motorcycle :)
Riding/turning/etc a motorcycle in light chicago traffic (6:30am), hitting speedbumps at normal road speed w/o worry, and being able to get away from tailgating buttholes at the flick of a wrist definitely relieves stress!
For my last tank, I did about 90-95% city & pulled 36mpg. That is accelerating at a decent clip and not rolling to stops. Today in 75-80mph cruising I hit 44mpg. (75mph = 6500rpm in 6th.)
I am not looking forward towards the end of summer.
Fall is the worst period for me.
It gets too cold/rainy to ride the bike, but doesn’t give the STi snow tires a workout :-/
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I used to do the largest motorcycle auction in the USA back in 1999 thru 2003. Back then the largest buyers would often travel to the sale in motorcycles instead of the haulers that their employees would come in with.
I remember one Shakespearean fellow summarizing his ride this way, “I do whatever the fuck I want, whenever the fuck I want, however the fuck I want, and if they don’t like it, fuck them.”
The strange thing is that it’s easier to feel safe on a middleweight cruiser or sportbike, than it is for me to feel safe in a subcompact car from a generation ago. The same philosophy applies to the two wheeled world as well. Even the scooter club I started several years ago is now composed of members that primarily ride maxi-scoots.
It’s not that we don’t like the small stuff. It’s that all things being equal, a bike with plenty of power and good bulk is a far better daily companion.
Those who disagree with can feel free to look at the mileage figures on the Rebels at these sales, and then mosey on over to the Goldwings and Shadows. The larger the bike, the higher the mileage, and for good reason.
Robstar
If I cruise at speeds were my Tach is higher than 3000 rpms, my mileage is easily down to 24-26 mpgs. I found that when i cruise with the turbo not pumpin out mad boost (which happens to be below 3000 rpms), i will get atleast 30 mpgs. Here’s how i figure. I live in Michigan and go to Michigan State University (GO SPARTANS!). My home town is a suburb in northeast Detroit. From when i get on the freeway in Lansing and then get off in Grosse Pointe, it is roughly 98 miles. I filled up in Lansing, drove home, and filled right back up to see how many gallons burned… 3.12. Erego i got 31.4 mpgs. Now all tests have a probability of error, so we can say that my WRX gets about 30 mpgs. so for you my fellow WRX enthusiast, i would honestly try it out. Don’t let me mislead you. If i dont do this AND keep the cruise on for 90% of the trip my mileage isn’t that good. But hey this method works for me. Let me know if it works for you
I always love the word always in these sorts of articles. As if we always have loved the sound of our muscle cars and so we will always have that hankering. Well as I read in my history book (grade 6) Henry Ford didn’t make many cars 100 years ago. So I guess always means since 1910? The car came during the century of cheap oil and the car will go away in the century of expensive oil. And that’s the century we are just starting. The real truth is that all car companies, not just GM, Ford and Chrysler, are going to die a painful death.
Having driven 40 HP Beetles and 60 horsepower VW Buses for years here and in Italy, I’d say that with a decrease in power or a mixing of very high speed traffic (130 mph) and low speed traffic (60 mph) people just get more orderly. Pass on the left ONLY for example.
And I have driven for the past 53K miles with 115 HP and still out drive most of the traffic around me.
The problem I have with the 40 HP variety are 45 mph hill climbs where the other traffic is cruising at 70 mph. That speed differential thing. It Italy not such a big deal. Here it can get you killed b/c Americans don’t cope with adversity as well.
Lastly I heard someone complain about the Republicans and the current economic distress: capitalism on the way up and socialism on the way down.
Applying that to consumer habits:
In the suburbs it is keeping up with the Joneses on the way up and everyone for themselves on their way down. Folks trying to be fairly frugal on the way down. Maybe that explains why markets rise slowly and fail catastrophically.
@ davey49
“Michael Ayoub- I’d like an Elise or Exige too. I’d have to lose 100 lbs to fit in one though. Not sure about my height.”
Haha. Yeah, me too. Good thing I’m short, though.
As long as ethanol grows on trees, I will love Hp. I usually do not need much, but thats why turbos are bolt-ons.
MuHahahHAAHA!
I don’t think anyone driving a Toyota Prius is cool, or even when the owner talks about the mpg as PC as that may be.
Still to the men in my office, talking about a Dodge Challenger SRT8 is what is cool. Probably even more so because fewer can afford and/or justify one. That is because men love things that make noise, look cool, and are fun. Until it is beaten out of young boys to end up as girly men (as hard as the school system tries) it’s just not going to happen.
Airhen- I think if someone bought a 1st gen Prius and stuck with it that would be cool.
All people who buy cars every 1-3 years and then whine about resale value are uncool
Any car with a manual transmission is cool
RF writes: BUT– automobiles are still, and will always be, a status symbol. And Americans will always love their faithful steeds, for one reason or another.
Indeed! History, and archeology demonstrate that love of transportation object springs eternal. Thus, even 4,000-?,000 years ago, people were buried with their chariots.