Retrograde
She's got a competition clutch with the four on the floor
And she purrs like a kitten till the Lake pipes roar
And if that ain't enough to make you flip your lid
There's one more thing, I got the pink slip, Daddy
--Little Deuce Coupe, Beach Boys
Oh lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So lord, wont you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
--Mercedes Benz, Janis Joplin
I ran over some old lady
One night at the county fair
And I didn't get arrested
Because my dad's the mayor
--Bitchin' Camero, Dead Milkmen
_____________________
In the past few weeks we've happened upon some auto visuals which explain some of today's problems.
The first shows a classic 1960's Mini next to a 2003 version. The 60's car looks like a toy, though it is next to its modern version which itself is sometimes described as a soapbox derby car. In comparison, today's Mini looks positively palatial.
The first shows a classic 1960's Mini next to a 2003 version. The 60's car looks like a toy, though it is next to its modern version which itself is sometimes described as a soapbox derby car. In comparison, today's Mini looks positively palatial.
Next, Ranger's Mini Clubsman -- the "wagon" version of the Mini -- is seen next to a Cadillac SUV Escalade. Now, the modern "big" Mini looks like a tyke's car, dwarfed as it is by the luxury SUV which permits its owners to move up ("escalate"?) through society.
The 60's Mini got over 45 m.p.g; the new Minis get 27-42 m.p.g, depending upon engine configuration and driving conditions. The modern Minis run at 116-175 horsepower, where the Cadillac SUV is a hulking 430 HP with 12-18 m.p.g. (on a great day). [As an aside, Mini has an electric version and a 95 horsepower version available, but only in Europe. The reasoning is that Americans won't buy an underpowered fuel efficient car, so says the Mini maniacs.]
It seems the U.S. car market is moving in the wrong direction.
Shouldn't our vehicles be getting more fuel efficient rather than less? Driving gas hogs ensures a tether to the crazy Middle East, and petroleum-generated locomotion will be outmoded eventually. Why aren't we innovating, versus designing new grilles?
We won't look to Eminem for an explanation.
Labels: automobiles, cars in America, mini cooper
posted by rangeragainstwar at 1:25 PM
7 Comments:
sshhhh now... i's diggin' fer oerl in m' back yerd.... gunna sell it to the cumpny fer big $$
And this was discontinued at the end of the century...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/95-97_Geo_Metro_3door.jpg
Cholo,
In the 80's i had a Honda that got 51 mpg.
jim
Hi Lisa and Jim,
In the movie Used Cars, when the drivers ed students were picking out cars to take back to the car lot, the black kid says, "I don't drive in nuthin' but a cadillac." Prestige, above all. That's America.
Dave
UC,
Are you suggesting that, like Fernando on SNL, we are somewhat lacking in the substance dept.?
It is better to look good than to feel [or to be] good, no?
From DownTown Nha Trang:
Y'all:
Man Travelling wit me, fellow Alabamian, said this morning that three friends--women-- asked him if
the "people there seemed happy" to which he replied "Happier than the Americans."
Lisa,asking if we 'Mericans be lacking in the substance dept. is like saying "I'm going to the store, Want me to bring back some beer?
Question ain't really a question,
if it's got the answer , too
--John Prine
From over here, again, it's even easier to see how goddam idiotic most of us white Americans really are.
And just when a thinking person figures it can't get any worse...something like Alabama doingup it's own version of the US Constitution--RE: immigrants,rolls through.
Current issue of Esquire has editor sayin g we can't live without nuklear power. Current issue of Wired mag has Bill Gates saying same. Still born rates in Northwest spiking since Fuki-youma.
Sheesh..
Hell no, we ain't gonna demand mo betta gas mileage..but then,
hey..gotta go American Idol must be on in some sports bar somewhere..
err..uh...just looked..I'm in Vietnam
Watchin it fall..
there it is
Deryle
just saw where the Mesicans kicked some 'Merican ass on de soccer field..
"Little Victories"
--Bob Seger
Hello to Deryle!
Thanks for checking in. Must look different from over there. Love the beer retort.
Be well,
L.
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