What kinds of Cars DO Americans want?

I tend to store things up, then get to the keyboard and rant. This is one of those times.

Earlier I was listening to the NPR station in Phoenix. The lady was repeating the oft asked question, "Why don't the American carmakers build cars Americans WANT?"

That's about the thousandth time I have heard that. The fact is, American carmakers seldom do more than react to what they see as a possible trend. When "Ahnold" was presented with the first HUMMER off the line, people with too much spare money wanted one. Then other folk wanted the same thing, but with a little styling. Thus was born the SUV rage. That was 1996. When gas prices went through the roof last year, NO one bought SUVs; they all demanded fuel-efficient smaller cars. Oh, that was until gas prices collapsed, and the small fuel-efficient cars were left wanting on the lot. The main reason SUV sales didn't shoot up was there wasn't much bank-owned money to lend to people.

Go back to 1972 and to 1979 when the Arabs reset the pumps. Both times, people whined that they needed more mileage out of their cars. Jimmy Carter (remember 13% inflation?) coined the term "gas-guzzler" and created a fine, although he called it a tax, for cars which didn't deliver - I can't remember - 16 miles per gallon? Is that close? Both times the industry began offering VERY small cars, many foreign-built and imported under a domestic nameplate. However the domestic manufacturers continued to make their muscle cars, hedging the bet that the fuel-efficient car market would be temporary both times. it was.

In 1979 I was working at a radio station in Boston, and we expressed a certain indignation that a gas station down in Charles Circle had the gall to charge a dollar a gallon. But if you think about it, every time, with the exception of summer of '08, when fuel prices have spiked, if they leveled at something reasonable, we got used to it and accepted it. Humorous sidebar: I had a Cadillac, and people accused me of driving a "gas-guzzler." So with 13,000 miles and 11 months on it, I traded for a smaller Pontiac something. The Cad gave me 19 mpg; the Pontiac gave me 17 mpg. But people stopped calling me names.

Manufacturers, in order to meet the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, imported more and more cars. My wife's ex-truck, a Mitsubishi, was imported as a Dodge Ram 50. The carmakers could continue to build the big ones as long as they met the CAFE mandate by selling enough of the little ones. That's called "eyewash"; as long as it looks good on paper....

So now the government is going to mandate a much higher average mileage. If the American public really wanted little cars, we would be awash in Smart4Twos. That, as far as the American public stands, is a true novelty. The Prius, which in its fifth year last summer was such a hot item, could be found in rows on lots this past winter. "Gotta have a hybrid!" The US manufacturers answered the problem by bringing out its own versions of hybrids, including the VOLT, a plug-in car. Do you see the continuing trend? React; don't innovate.

My Mercedes 300D is 24 years old. It has been serviced regularly, had things replaced as needed [I have now spent more on maintenance than the car cost new] and driven carefully. I get 28 mpg. I own it. There are now diesel cars which are cleaner and get even better mileage than the hybrids. There are gasoline cars which get even better mileage than the hybrids.

In 1957 (for those of us who can remember 1957) the Chrysler Corporation unveiled its new car lines by saying, "Chrysler is three years ahead!" Remember that? Seeing the doldrums which were settling in in the auto industry, they threw out three years of design changes and mods and brought out the 1960 lines as 1957. Ahhh, yes. TAILFINS. Within two years GM was lousy with... TAILFINS. And lotsa chrome.

Personally I do not want a little lightweight car which I can plug in and get 40 miles on a charge. (Oh, THAT'S convenient.) I want a car I can get into and drive to the mountains up toward Flagstaff, or drive over to Vegas, or drive to the foot of Santa Monica Pier. If it requires hydrogen fuel cells, let's develop those. If a solar array on the roof of my car can help it, let's get going. If I could have a gas turbine which I could light off once on the freeway, one which would power electric motors for the front and rear axles [gas turbines are most efficient if operated at a constant vehicular speed and RPM], then why not?

This country has been based on the internal combustion engine forEVER. No amount of legislative demands is going to change that.

Las Vegas in the News, AGAIN

Las Vegas is hurting. You knew that.

In an effort to get ANYONE new to come to Vegas, marketing had gone to an image of "Las Vegas is for everyone," meaning that as long as someone had a few bucks for fun, Las Vegas doesn't care if you are a hog farmer from Montana. Just come to Vegas, and bring money.

Someone smart decided that was the wrong approach, so now, they are going back to the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" thing. If you haven't seen the TV spot yet, watch for a "TV news reporter" walking along the edge of an abandoned swimming pool, saying no one is coming to Vegas, and you can have the place to yourself. When her "take" is complete, she rips off her TV reporter suit to reveal a swimsuit, as people who have been hiding all dash out to the tables, chairs and the pool. Vegas is still kinda "hip", and the spot seems to be saying "If we can convince the world that nobody comes here any more, then we (who know better) can have more of the place to ourselves."

For folks who would like to TRY las Vegas on for size, TravelZoo, one of my favorite newsletters, notes that The Palms (speaking of hip) has a special deal through June of $79 a night Sunday through Thursday including a $50 dining credit plus other goodies. This is not the lowest price in town, but if you want to see how "the other half" lives, this place is a killer. The Malloof brothers, owners of the Sacramento Kings, didn't want any beds that were too short for any of their basketball players. Just gives you an idea.

I recall observing, while staying across the street from the Palms at the Gold Coast for $25 a night, that I could be staying at the Palms for another couple hundred a night. It IS a beautiful place, and at the special price, it is well worht it. Even if you DON'T stay there, go to one of the bars and drink in the atmosphere. Even try the PLAYBOY Club.

So, why are we blaming the pigs?

"Swine Flu" is so misnamed. The H1M1 influenza is not the fault of pigs, nor do pigs carry it. You won't catch it from eating pork or bacon. It could have been as easily named "Bovine Flu", and people would avoid beef and milk.

A lot of years ago, maybe 20 or 25 years, there was developed a technique for preparing food for long term storage without refrigeration -- food which would otherwise spoil in a day without refrigeration. Beef, chicken, pork and dairy products among others could be rapidly heated to a very high temperature, but not "cooked" in the classic sense of the word, then vacuum sealed for later meal preparation. The unfortunate term given this process was "Irradiation."

At the time this term came to be, I was living in Massachusetts, where anything which included the word "radiation" was feared as being somehow related to nuclear reactions. When a nuclear power generating facility was proposed, then designed and built in Seabrook, New Hampshire, a very noisy group calling themselves "The Clamshell Alliance", whose apparent motto was "Our minds are already made up; don't try to confuse us with facts!" picketed every day for YEARS. At any opportunity one of their number would get onto television and say: "Newkewluhr power is no f**king good; we're gonna shut it down." When this group heard "irradiation" in terms of food, they went ballistic. Once again, "...don't try to confuse us...." I had eaten irradiated meat and milk in 1990; it was very tasty and I am still reasonably healthy.

In the early 80s, I caught what was called "Russian" flu. We blamed an entire country for the outbreak in terms which suggested that it was some kind of plot.

The H1M1 flu seems to have started in Mexico -- not the cleanest, healthiest place on earth. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta says that the H1M1 flu is transmitted person to person or through an intermediary, such as by handling money, touching a door handle or knob, or pushing the push bar on a shopping cart. More directly, shaking hands can help transmit H1M1. These thing can help transmit ANY flu. So the doctors all suggest you wash your hands frequently and perhaps use an antiseptic spray or wash on your hands. And what do they suggest you take if you thing you are coming down with something? TAMIFLU! That's stuff you can buy over the counter.

Our resident loose cannon, Vice President Joe Biden, managed to scare a lot of people when he gave his opinion about the flu outbreak on NBC, saying he didn't want his family to fly or take a subway. (?) Remember sheets of plastic film and duct tape in 2005? Oh, right... then an airliner enroute to New York from Europe diverted to Boston because one of the passengers complained of "flu-like symptoms." If anyone is on an airliner for six hours, you will develop "flu-like symptoms."

Meanwhile people, even entire cruise lines, are avoiding Mexico in droves. This is "Cinco de Mayo" in Mexico which approximates our Fourth of July. Mexico City was called "a ghost town" by ABC News. There are reports of many deaths in Mexico, but upon further reading, one finds that many of these deaths have other root causes -- a bad traffic accident, for instance -- wherein one of the victims had earlier reported "flu-like symptoms".

So let's stop blaming the pigs. Wash your hands, use a sanitizer, and if you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose, and wash your hands again!

We as a people have become masters of creating irrational fears. We really do have to knock it off!