In Ed's typical fashion, he's dismissive of what he calls "Retro Waves." His time sequence makes a point, but he overlooks how there's some objective problems with some modern offerings.
Let's go back over it. The 1960s...I remember them reasonably well. Postwar prosperity. Cars were suddenly moar comfortable than my old man's Model A he nursed through college. More comfortable, but not long-lived. We went through three sets of cars that decade - a 1957 Ford, a 1962 Rambler, and a 1968 Ford, all destroyed by rust. But the Rambler needed an engine transplant four years in. The Ford Y-Block chronically overheated. The 1968 Ford held up okay, except for body cancer.
But back then, the middle-aged types Ed points to...loved old cars. In parades, which were common in that postwar bliss and optimism. July 4, Labor Day, other special events. You had to get your Model T or your old Packard or Reo out, and get it in the parade. If you had a rumble seat, you could host the Event Queen, there in a singlet and a sash, waving to the crowd.
But those older folks didn't want to go back - even though they were dissatisfied with cars of the then-current era.
Then, the 1980s. Cars coming out of the late 1970s were pretty crappy - and complex, for all the smog crap. Everything sealed and set, break off the plastic cap on the carb, and you violate California law. Getting a 1964 Impala, that you could fix with a screwdriver and Vise-Grip pliars, was a reasonable alternative. And it ran better - even if you couldn't drive it in the rain, for fear it would dissolve in a puddle of oxide overnight.
Then the 2000s. Car styling had become bland...like suburban tract-home architecture. It was in THAT world that the PT Cruiser came out. I lived though that - when the Jeep CJ series was unreasonably popular, just because it LOOKED different, when cars really had differences.
Hell, I had a YJ-7 - a Wrangler with a CJ-7 front clip on it. PO had done it; and it fit perfectly. Drove it ten years.
On to today. Bland didn't go away just for the odd retro model of twenty years earlier. Now we have shoddy and complex and licensed and subscribed, to just bland and expensive. They aren't holding up as well as 2000-era cars did; not only can we not fix them, neither can our mechanic. Dealer shops tell us, how much it will cost to R&R the module, or screen, or unit. Throwaway cars.
Which come apart when stressed. Every car crash today involves a wheel breaking off - unheard of, 15 years ago.
Good post, but Ed lacks a lot of insight, IMHO.
