DID YOU KNOW:
...Or more likely remember, that new cars used to be introduced every year in September? Dealers would put newspaper over their showroom windows and we all got excited to see the newest offerings from each of the manufacturers. Every year, the body styles were new; it was the best part of summer vacation ending and going back to school. As a kid, we all lived for next September. Toyota, not wanting to compete with that, conducted their introductions at different times of the year and sure enough...others followed.
Back in those times, you could ride with your folks on the road and call out the year, make and model of any car: it was fun. Today there’s darn few new cars on the market with enough design signatures to allow anyone to “car spot” anymore. As for calling out the model? Forget it. It appears most manufacturers have bought a book of names and are determined to drive a model under that badge. What once was an annual event is now a name of age as most new models are introduced on a five year clock and some extend many years beyond that. In part what has taken a lot of the anticipation out of new product introductions (even for the cars or trucks that could be exciting), is all the leaked photos and “spy shots”.
That said, we can whine about the “good ol’ days” but truth be told, today's vehicles are amazing for their tech and durability. Cars back in the day were good for maybe 75,000 miles and they would then fall apart right in front of you. Today, 200,000 miles is common and, if well taken care of, some will even go 500,000. So yeah...we miss the excitement of meeting new designs every year, but we’re sure loving how good today’s vehicles are.
...That General Motors is taking a cue from Ford and is planning to introduce a full-size electric pickup truck about a year from now? Given that they now have and are about to release an all-electric Hummer, the power system hardware and layout should be pretty well settled from an engineering stand point.
...That “cheap” older Mustangs are a thing of the past? As the early '60s fastback became too pricey for collectors, the notchback were then the model of choice. When that ship sailed, every model year on up became more and more expensive to the point that even the late '60s Ford Maverick (with V8s) were priced out of sight. Even more shocking is the current value of the Pinto-based Mustang II (considered a cheap way in to the collector car market a few years back), now priced at near-the-moon numbers. In short, building and collecting anything Mustang has become an expensive hobby. Guess that means I’d better buy a Mustang Mach-E before they become the next collector Mustang. Trust me, they too will be come collectable.
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