Why go to the auto show? Lessenberry Ink
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- Society & Culture
Though
I am a Detroiter, I have never been a big car buff. I admire the styling of some really classic
cars – especially from the 1930s. But I spend a lot of time in my car, and want
it to be safe, comfortable, practical, and have whatever other features make
sense.
I’ve always felt that anything other than that was too
much. I was once on an airplane flight with two guys, clearly engineers, who
talked about camshafts in great detail.
That was sheer agony.
But over the past several days, wandering the auto show and talking to
people in the industry, I suddenly got a new appreciation for what these
machines are and represent, which is personal, individual freedom.
That’s always been the attraction of having your own
car: The ability to essentially go on a whim, or at need, anywhere. By sheer
chance, the major breakthroughs that made that amazing dream practical and
affordable happened right here, in this city, a little over a century ago.
When it all started, the vehicle was essentially a
buggy that lurched forward by burning fuel instead of being pulled by a horse.
Soon, it was enclosed with windows. Today, automobiles are highly complex creations
full of computers, sensors and technology.
Today, the leaders of our nation cannot even agree to let
the government function. The leaders of our state are failing to fix the roads
or properly educate our children. Yet the auto companies build machines that can
take me to a precise street address in Georgia, and play Janis Joplin, suggest
restaurants and find gas stations along the way.
Private sector success, public sector failure. Yet the
same people choose our cars and our politicians. This is fascinating, if occasionally a bit unnerving.
You can learn a
lot about how cars work at this year’s auto show. Even though some foreign
manufacturers didn’t come, you can see pretty much every variety of vehicle you
can imagine, and some you can’t. Whenever
I wander around an auto show, either of cutting edge new cars or older classics
at the Concours d’Elegance, I see
ghosts, of cars and men past.
Buccaneers like Billy Durant, the man who founded
General Motors, lost control, got it back, and then ended his days running a
bowling alley in Flint. Alfred E. Sloan,
who made GM the world’s biggest corporation, with his slogan “a car for every
purse and purpose.”
The poignant family saga of the Fords, Henry the
visionary and crazy founder, hounding his brilliant and cultured son to an early
grave; Hank the Deuce saving the company.
Lesser, but still fascinating characters like the whiz
kids, Harley Earl, Preston Tucker, and John DeLorean. The auto industry is
about a lot more than machines. Had it
settled in New York, I’m certain there would be more epic movies and novels
about the industry.
But it is ours, and the main reason that Detroit came
to be what it is, good and bad. Many of us have in our driveways machines in
many ways are technologically superior to the spaceships that took the
astronauts to the moon; those certainly didn’t have GPS and blue tooth.
Most of us can’t function without our cars, and the
industry is still creating jobs, jobs more fascinating and challenging than the
old metal-bending ones of old.
So take the kids to the auto show. You just might be
surprised by what you see.
Though
I am a Detroiter, I have never been a big car buff. I admire the styling of some really classic
cars – especially from the 1930s. But I spend a lot of time in my car, and want
it to be safe, comfortable, practical, and have whatever other features make
sense.
I’ve always felt that anything other than that was too
much. I was once on an airplane flight with two guys, clearly engineers, who
talked about camshafts in great detail.
That was sheer agony.
But over the past several days, wandering the auto show and talking to
people in the industry, I suddenly got a new appreciation for what these
machines are and represent, which is personal, individual freedom.
That’s always been the attraction of having your own
car: The ability to essentially go on a whim, or at need, anywhere. By sheer
chance, the major breakthroughs that made that amazing dream practical and
affordable happened right here, in this city, a little over a century ago.
When it all started, the vehicle was essentially a
buggy that lurched forward by burning fuel instead of being pulled by a horse.
Soon, it was enclosed with windows. Today, automobiles are highly complex creations
full of computers, sensors and technology.
Today, the leaders of our nation cannot even agree to let
the government function. The leaders of our state are failing to fix the roads
or properly educate our children. Yet the auto companies build machines that can
take me to a precise street address in Georgia, and play Janis Joplin, suggest
restaurants and find gas stations along the way.
Private sector success, public sector failure. Yet the
same people choose our cars and our politicians. This is fascinating, if occasionally a bit unnerving.
You can learn a
lot about how cars work at this year’s auto show. Even though some foreign
manufacturers didn’t come, you can see pretty much every variety of vehicle you
can imagine, and some you can’t. Whenever
I wander around an auto show, either of cutting edge new cars or older classics
at the Concours d’Elegance, I see
ghosts, of cars and men past.
Buccaneers like Billy Durant, the man who founded
General Motors, lost control, got it back, and then ended his days running a
bowling alley in Flint. Alfred E. Sloan,
who made GM the world’s biggest corporation, with his slogan “a car for every
purse and purpose.”
The poignant family saga of the Fords, Henry the
visionary and crazy founder, hounding his brilliant and cultured son to an early
grave; Hank the Deuce saving the company.
Lesser, but still fascinating characters like the whiz
kids, Harley Earl, Preston Tucker, and John DeLorean. The auto industry is
about a lot more than machines. Had it
settled in New York, I’m certain there would be more epic movies and novels
about the industry.
But it is ours, and the main reason that Detroit came
to be what it is, good and bad. Many of us have in our driveways machines in
many ways are technologically superior to the spaceships that took the
astronauts to the moon; those certainly didn’t have GPS and blue tooth.
Most of us can’t function without our cars, and the
industry is still creating jobs, jobs more fascinating and challenging than the
old metal-bending ones of old.
So take the kids to the auto show. You just might be
surprised by what you see.