I’ve never felt so nostalgic about a Rallying video before! Remember, If in doubt, flat out. :)
I normally won’t write a text post unless something really bothers me or I come to a really big realization. Today’s rant comes from the realization end of things.
In retrospect, car culture has evolved substantially in the last while. It seems like just yesterday the euro trend was monotone colours and fast and furious inspired rice rockets were scrambling through the streets of various urban venues in North America. But once again, that was yesterday’s news. Kids today seem to either want to put something sideways or lay their frame on the ground. The common ground between these two almost conflicting view points is modification. But why do we modify our cars?
The dream cars of yesteryear almost never needed modification, and almost never were modified or molested with a few exceptions of course. But now, people are either welding diffs or cutting their springs only to butcher a potential piece of automotive art. No one is satisfied with what they have, or what they have been given. The driving experience coming off the showroom floor just isn’t being purveyed by car manufacturers the way it was back in the golden years. The car companies of today are boring us to the point where it takes assimilation to entertain the masses. Is consumerism to blame? A little Bit. But, more importantly, It’s the lack of soul. Before people point fingers at Toyota for being beige, I’d like to nominate them and Subaru for being the only two entities to get it right in at least 20 years. The GT86/FRS/BRZ is the last car I’ve seen to come off the showroom floor with SOUL. It doesn’t need to rub the ground or to have a ridiculous bunch of figures on its spec sheet to get your heart going, it simply delivers the driving experience that every proper sports car should without the politics. The car is a great, pure, and exhilarating drivers car by itself with out having to be tampered with. This is something unheard of in the new car market.
The new car market has become this ridiculous dog eat dog world with the singular objective of devouring the competition. People are too marrow minded and set on buying what looks best on paper, not what feels good. Manufacturers have made lightning fast machines that can be driven with fists of ham. Where’s the fun in that? They’ve totally missed the point. The fortunes i plan to make post-grad will go to pure drivers cars, not these beasts manufacturers have created. Other than the GT86/FRS/BRZ, I don’t plan on purchasing another vehicle newer than 1990. No more electronic nannies. No more drivers aids. Just my hands, ears, eyes, butt, and feet connected to three pedals, a steering wheel, and a stick as traction control from now on. I’m going to drive cars with SOUL. Something that I can feel like I’m actually driving. Something pure. Cars may have come a long way from where they started, but they’ve lost the most crucial factor in what made them worthwhile, they’ve lost their soul. They’re just too fake for the world, I don’t like it but its true.
