New Years Musings, Better Late Than Never

Happy New Year Everyone! (Yeah, I know. A little late for that.) The automobile world has been trudging along quite nicely in 2011- I will contest there's nothing game changing going on. Trust me.

While the auto world is abuzz from the turnaround of the US automobile business, at the heels of the Detroit Auto Show- Ford is humming along nicely; the Chevy Volt has won the prestigious Motor Trend's Car of the Year Award; and Chrysler, despite living in and around a toilet going on two years now- has redesigned its flagship 300.

Did I ever tell you about my tenure with the 300? Six years ago- I was selling the then Motor Trend Car of the Year for 2005- boy have things changed there... Not a highpoint of my life, I'll admit- but few can say they knew the 300 "when" they were selling at full-list and it was a car people actually would trade-in a Mercedes-Benz or a Lexus for.

In 2005 everyone was getting fat and drunk off their real estate and stock portfolios- and the "Baby Bentley" 300- and what wins in 2011? A plug-in electric car?

Maybe it's a sign of the times? But in the pecking-order of things, a la the classic Post War American mentality of "my Chrysler trumps your Chevy" well, things have certainly changed forever.

2011 is not without it's fair share of ongoing recalls- including the latest from Honda- where something to do with a wiring harness in the CRVs is causing some Japanese engineer to fall on a sword, somewhere, but hopefully not the mass suicide (or was it mass murder?) that Toyota felt in 2010.

And there's even a smattering of recalls over at GM- something to do with the axles of their trucks? But again, compared to the Camry fiasco- in my humble opinion- any recall that even makes the news is a "quiet recall," a blip on the old dealer's bulletin.

Like when your Subaru goes in for a service and there's something to do an e-prom adjustment- that may give you better fuel economy? Or that "quiet recall" of a set of faulty rear wheel bearings that start to howl like tortured dogs- only to find out that you've driven too many miles for them to cover it under warranty. Not that I'm bitter about that or anything. But I'm digressing now at the risk of sounding, well bitter.

Another concern in the world of car- despite having pulled themselves from the doom-and-gloom of 2010's Recall-a-Rama, Toyota's platforms are aging- and while the same could be said for rebounding greats like General Motors- GM's making significant strides- so much so- that next year, 2012- promises to be yet another game-changer for GM- when "bold new" platforms sold overseas just may find themselves here, in the home market.

But a corporate reorganization is one thing- emerging from a PR nightmare- coupled to the fact that- Toyota makes boring cars to begin with, well- Toyota has a lot of ground to cover this year, and in the years to come; however, this didn't stop Toyota from unveiling the Prius wagon- the latest addition of what promises to be a whole lineup of hybrid Toyotas- or Priusses.

(I like how it rhymes and shares lots of letters with wusses...)

As if it was such a dramatic change from the Prius hatchback that its been selling for years? What? So the stuff behind the backseat gets a little more headroom.

It's like in Spinal Tap- "this one goes... to eleven."

Again, there's a reason why I haven't written anything going on three weeks.

He Ain't Heavy... It's My Country

Happy Holidays everyone...

Early Black Friday found me recovering from Thanksgiving. I couldn't sleep. Not sleeping in my old bedroom at my parent's house- found me flipping through basic cable (living with an HD Silver Package- I rarely catch commercials on TV) and I caught the tail-end of the new, General Motors commercial "We All Fall Down," a montage of clips depicting failure and eventual triumph. I've even heard this commercial being referred to as the "Comeback Commercial," or the "Thanksgiving Giving Thanks Commercial."

NASA, Popeye, Animal House, Evil Knievel, a boxer and President Truman- all were represented seamlessly, with the instrumentals of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," a ballad first made popular by The Hollies. No spoken words, just a few written lines.

Now I'm really not a very political person. I don't spend my time acting the pundit, complaining, speculating about my country, or it's (in my opinion) slightly sorry economic and political condition. Nor will I bore you with speculations of "doom and gloom." It's just not productive.

Speculation is largely dishonorable and highly egocentric. And in the end- you're left with no real answers.

Watching the commercial which included a clip of Animal House's Brother Bluto (played by the late John Belushi) ranting about how "when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor..." (the Germans?)

Let me also quote another line from the personal favorite movie- "you fucked up... you trusted us..."

So, we all know GM has had its failures. But then again, so have we all to some extent. We all, er, f-up.

It doesn't take a Car Guy to tell you- GM and America- isn't going away; no, not anytime soon.

One thing we Americans like is a story. We love dramatics. We do it well. We're an emotional bunch. A sentimental bunch- in the right or in the wrong. That's why this commercial is so great. We love a comeback.

There's a movie playing (on premium cable) called "Away We Go," a comedy about a young pregnant couple searching the country for a place to settle- a place to call home. In the movie- a character lamented talking politics "well, if we're shit [the U.S.] everyone else is just flies on our shit... right?"

To me, that's a very clever line... despite the questionable metaphor, it's about right.

Sure, we may prop-up our failures, tell you of tales of triumph- and that's sales. We polish our turds and make them smell like roses. But there's a fair bit of truth behind the story; we can just hope there's a glimmer of truth, a real wind-up to the pitch.

If anything, it makes for great sentiment. From the country that pretty much invented... well, the whole damn thing.

Anyone else who feels differently- should go find another home, or go back to shit hole they crawled out of.

I've Heard Google...

I've heard Google has latent plans of taking over the world, they've certainly redefined it... However, this is plain stupid.

At what point-in-time are we going to stop the Internet and the online revolution take-over every nook of our daily lives; specifically, how we drive?

Actually- I'm not worried about it. Because cars that drive themselves, or the ideas of them, have been around long before the Internet... and Google.

Personally, I think this is a PR ploy on Google's behalf to stir-up some emotions, looking beyond the fact that Google, thus far, is widely regarded as a "one-trick-pony" to those in-the-tech-know.

It's certainly not original- General Motors at one time during the 1950's (when the Cadillac was "The Standard of the World," not Google...) thought of implanting America's roads with a magnetic strips- their cars would steer to them- much like a toy slot-car would.

I'm not mad at Google- I like them... they own Blogger- and without them- well, I wouldn't be writing this.

(Well, writing this on here.)

But one thing I will be doing, right now- is going to the store, in my own car, that doesn't drive itself, thankfully.

The car, it's not a toy.