Saturday’s car show appeared to be a big success. Enthusiasts flocked downtown to see a vast array of unique automobiles. It almost seems a shame that car shows draw such crowds. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy classic cars. My point is that one of the reasons such shows are so successful is that the vehicles on display have become so rare.
The true shame is that style has fallen out of favor with modern consumers. Today’s cars are as bland as most of today’s music, some of which could be heard (even by the hard-of-hearing) on the show’s stage. It is considered nostalgic, I suppose, to yearn for the design and craftsmanship of a bygone era. But isn’t that, in fact, what a car show is? We sentimentalists converge to reminisce about a once-noble icon of Americana, which has in recent years, become little more than a really expensive i-pod player with cup holders that goes both to and fro.
Don’t misunderstand; I am not making a case for oil consumption. I’m not lobbying for cars, per se. I’m just saying that if we’re going to go, why not go in style? The vehicles on display last Saturday were not mere transportation devices; they were works of art. There are still beautiful and stylish cars being produced today but how many, I wonder, will be exhibited in car shows decades from now? Those that will be considered classics will likely be high-end European models available only to the very well-to-do. That was not the always case in the past.
The problem with attempting to create something aesthetically pleasing is that it requires risk. It is safer not to take chances. And because not everyone shares the same sense of taste, corporate America has chosen to produce goods that are, if not stylish, at least non-offensive. Such is the world today – a world easily shrugged off. Atlas, why do you bother?