25 November 2008

Brains by Jesus. Body by Fisher.


Birthmark borne by every native of Detroit.

Greg:

I did something in public this morning that left me ashamed, yet elated. (No, not that! Get our mind out of the adult aisle!) I was bewitched by a beautiful black Cadillac Deville and followed it about twenty blocks beyond my place of work. I'm in the office now, under the watchful eye of my boss, and safely away from any windows where someone might identify me from the street. Or where I may, God forbid, see another beautiful automobile and lose control of myself.

Look, this does not make me some kinda weirdo. Or a stalker. (Well, yeah actually by definition it does. -Ed.) I just have to come to grips with the fact that I really love cars and start feeling okay about it.

I also have to pay attention to who I'm following. That Deville could've been driven by a very strong man with a very large gun and a very small sense of humor. If I'd've pissed him off a little too much by following him too far, I could be writing this blog post through a straw right now. (Practice this line in the event that the driver exits the vehicle and approaches you: "That's a sweet ride you got there...sir." -Ed.)

But first, can I take just a moment to address the current issue with The Big Three automakers flying to Washington on their private jets to look for a handout from Congress? For the record: fuck those guys. And furthermore, fuck those guys. They need to give up their fat-ass salaries and spend a week on the swing shift at GM with the shop rats and bloody their knuckles on a goddamn wrench before they'll get my respect or my money. Take their bonuses and distribute them between the good people working the line. As a matter of fact, let one of the folks who work in the plant go to Congress, pick up the check, and make up their minds about what oughtta be done about the situation.

Now, moving on...

At present, I'm conflicted. While I'm not 100% "green", I consider myself at the very least "green curious". On one hand, cars burn gas which creates carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and cigarette fumes, all which lead to a global condition which will eventually parboil us all out of existence. Or so Wikipedia tells me.

On the other hand, cars - the well-designed ones at least - are a moving art form, a perfect marriage of technology and design that makes the ten-year-old in me go vroom vroom vroom! Yay! Vroom! I swear, every once in a while I see something like, say, the brilliantly designed, well-powered, gracefully accelerating - obsidian-black haunches...glistening I tell you! - Deville in question that makes me practically gob on my shirt. Seriously.

Is it because we grew up near the auto center of the world? Or is it because our dad has ethyl for blood? Or is it because it is a universal and unimpeachable truth that CARS ARE OSSUM! VROOM VROOM VROOM! YAY! VROOM! YAY?

I make my case for the assertions above with the examples below:



1969 Pontiac GTO
Remember when we lived on Chippewa Street in Pontiac? (Remember how they name everything in Michigan after Indians? -Ed.) Remember Ruth McLay's mom? They lived on Navajo. (I rest my case. -Ed.) She had one of these. Even though it wasn't tricked out (it was the "mom" edition), you could tell that it was Blood of Champion. That friggin' thing ROARED from the front door to the Kroger and back in no time flat. I always wanted to steal it. I had a slim jim and I was good to go, but I was six and I couldn't reach the pedals. PS: The tach is on the hood! I don't know if that's good, bad, smart, dumb or what - but it's COOL!


1973 BMW 2002
I had one back in the '90s and wept when I let it go. It had all the torque of a wee mountain goat and a full metal dash that would turn your brain to mayonnaise in the event of a low-speed collision. Fun mandatory. Seatbelts optional.


2007 Dodge Charger Super Bee
I can feel you judging me already. "Greaser!" you spit with scorn. "Spawn of hillbillies!
Trash blanc! " But before you cast the first stone - hold, I say unto thee! Who among you gathered here present experienced the monumental, face-bleaching thrust and vertiginous acceleration of the soon-to-be-legendary 368HP Dodge hemi? (Wait - You in the back. You have? And you didn't care for it? Well fuck you, hippie.)


2008 Toyota Tacoma w/Sport Package.
Duh.


1947 Chrysler Town and Country Woody Four Door Hard Top
Of course I had to mention the family car. From a purely technical standpoint, it was underpowered. But from a design standpoint - shit, it was so curvy it almost had bosoms! Maple beams and mahogany veneer - must've been a Steinway Grand
in a previous life. I remember no greater joy of my childhood than road trips and camping excursions taken in this car.

Shit. Here comes my boss. Gotta mop up some spit.

Cheers, and back on the freeway which is already in progress.

-Thaddeus

8 comments:

TroyJMorris said...

I have to say, I know exactly how you feel.

The Challenge said...

It is possible to be "green" and an admirer of finely-crafted automobiles - mind you, I said "admirer", not owner. Here's what the stinky rich are doing these days to reduce their carbon footprint...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TeslaRoadster-front.jpg

At $109,000 USD, no household should be without.

Do you remember the extremely rare 1965 Pontiac Star Chief that our older sibling owned briefly in the early '70's? Pontiac marketed these as sort of a "gentleman's GTO". If he hadn't run it into the ground it would now be worth more than the combined sum of his current assets.

http://www.vintagedreamcars.com/Star-Chief-Two%20%2819%29.JPG

Keeno said...

well, we all know cars are evil.

but outside of that, as a huge huge childhood obsessive of cars, I have to give you a demerit on this Blog Thaddeus.
I know you can't help it, you're living in a country that makes the worlds worst cars because you have the luxury of raods that are as wide as some of our are long.
and cheap cheap petrol.

but if you're going to pick a mother flipping monster of a car, you might as well go LARGE!

the 249 mph Bugatti Veyron!!

go check it's stats!
and it's body! whooops!

Thaddeus Gunn said...

Keeno - too true. And that Veyron - sweet mewling baby Jesus! It looks like it not only does 249mph, it transcends time and space! NASA should go buy one and stop screwing around with all this "space shuttle" crap.

Thaddeus Gunn said...

Greg - so *that's* the Tesla! I need one - wait - two. One for Sundays.

Keeno said...

haha, yeah space travel is so 20th century

interdimensional 8th plane transcending at mind wiping speeds, with a brief stop off at the Large Hadron Supercolider for some more anti-matter-fuel

;)

that Tesla looks SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!

The General said...

Hey Mr. Gunn,

I agree with you conflicted feelings about cars. I'm a fellow wanna-be-greenie, who has a secret appreciation of well made cars. (Little known fact, my fist spoken word was "car".)

I'm far from a expert on the automobile, but have been watching too many Bond films lately, and it has reactivated my interest in fine automobibles... you know, the ones that don't look like over-inflated jellybeans.

A couple of links for your consideration:

In this TED video, Chris Bangle of BMW talks about great car design as an art form: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/chris_bangle_says_great_cars_are_art.html

And, on the other end of the spectrum, TIME's "50 Worst Cars of All Time":
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/chris_bangle_says_great_cars_are_art.html

Enjoy! VROOM!

The General said...

Drat! Just realized that I linked the TED video twice... here's the TIME link:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1658545,00.html

Oops!