Well, we are reading today that S&P has downgraded the credit rating of Ford and GM to
junk status.
Part of this is because of skyrocketing medical costs. As a previous diarist has noted, Clinton's 1993 universal health care plan isn't looking so bad these days.
Another reason is high gas prices. GM and Ford are relying on big gas guzzlers while Honda and Toyota are going hybrid crazy. Hmmm, maybe they shouldn't have pushed Bush to cancel a Clinton-era program to develop an 80mpg car.
But here's my reason. Today's cars are butt-ugly.
More on the flip, with a poll.
It was only a few decades ago that American automakers made some of the coolest looking cars in the world. They are called "classics" for a reason.
The Woody
The Dodge Charger:
Even the Fucking Trucks Were Cool:
And of course I could go on, with dozens of vehicles from just about every year between 1930 and somewhere in the 1970s.
But now what do we have? If you are wealthy you can get a nicely styled car, maybe a Viper or a BMW Z4 or a Ferrari. But what about Joe and Jane Sixpack? What if they want a cool-looking ride?
They are shit out of luck. GM, Ford, and yes even the Asian automakers have been releasing boxy, fat-assed, horrendous looking cars for the last thirty years. We are almost complacent at this point, we don't even expect anything better than what they are giving us.
I got excited a few months ago, when somebody told me Dodge was going to start churning out Dodge Chargers again. He indicated they would just use the same design as the classic General Lee. I though it would be a genius move, having an old style muscle-car with a modern engine.
But I was wrong. This is the new Dodge Charger:
Can you say "generic"? It looks like a fucking Ford Taurus.
If automakers can't find designers who are inspired enough to get us some good-looking vehicles, then maybe they should just dust off their old designs and give us some classic body style to choose from. Fuck, just go re-release the 64 Impala rather than mush it up by redesigning it.
Wouldn't you rather buy a '67 Mustang than a fucking Honda Civic, if both were brand new? These auto industry execs need to take a cue from Apple Computer and get their design game going again.
Otherwise, it will be bye-bye and good riddance to GM and Ford.
