This Road and Track essay by car writer Victoria Scott is the best thing I’ve read this week. It’s a sort of live post mortem of the American moment not even bothering to disguise itself as a review of Elon Musk’s armoured personnel carrier. More than half of vehicles sold today in America are trucks and SUVs; this fueled a new all-time high for the
When I made my first trip to Australia in 2008 I was blown away by how everyone seemed to drive a small hatchback that was manual! Now in 2023 every person drives an SUV and has no idea how the fuck to drive or park them! Doesn't help that all our infrastructure is still geared to small hatchbacks...
Up until not very long ago, the most popular car in Australia was always a sedan and often a small sedan. Leading up to the change, for years it was the Toyota Corolla. Then in 2016, something a bit amazing happened. The most popular car in Australia was the Toyota HiLux, that big dual cab ute. It was the first time in history that the most popular model in Australia has been classified as a commercial vehicle rather a passenger car. This has continued. The top three most popular cars in Australia in 2023 are
Its terrifying how useful Victoria Scott's hypothesis is to explain why a society has seen this inexplicable rise in size, weight of vehicles in the last decade and I wonder how much has contributed to Australia's seemingly inexplicable increase in road deaths in the last decade, if all this size and mass is meant to be making us 'safer'.
It also speaks to how little rational thought is involved in decisions like that: the road is still full of (actual) trucks and busses, and they're going to "win" any "argument" with your SUV.
Some years ago I watched as a purple BMW SUV stupidly pulled up to the left of a truck that was indicating to turn left from the right-hand lane. Truck just rolled up and over the bonnet and grille when the lights turned green (one hopes that the driver simply hadn't seen it down there, rather than acting from malice).
I kinda get the idea of the car as a sanctuary from the scary outside world. But this transformed from passive to active, from defensive to offensive, and from within the environment to against the outside world. We've landed in a place where it seems we're talking more about armoured personnel vehicles than mum, dad and the kids heading down to the beach.
There was a movie in the last couple of years, can't remember which, that included a throw-away scene at a dinner party where the wasp-mother was explaining that of course she bought a Porsche Cayman: it was the only responsible vehicle to take the kids to school in.
The Ford Platinum station wagons that I've seen around the neighborhood are surely just the tier-down version of this. (Yes, they poke out over the footpath when parked in the driveway.)
BTW, my daily drivers are all smaller, relatively efficient vehicles. I saw overseas that your car won't save you from a maniac with explosives, no matter how heavily armored. Better to simply avoid the situation, and always be aware of what's going on around you.
the amount of RAMS are multiplying in the country town i live near. Bloody near impossible to try and see oncoming traffic when one parks next to you on those 45 degree rear to curb parks. You just have to nose out and hope for the best. Almost exclusively driven by guys who i suspect are compensating for something.
The Dodge Ram is a bit of a meme around here. They dropped "Dodge" from the name for marketing reasons, from what I understand. Years ago I visited a Chrysler lot and I noticed that most of the Rams didn't come equipped with a tow hitch, IMO a requirement for a work truck. I asked the dealer about that. It seemed odd to me. He told me that most of his customers would never use one, and they didn't want to pay extra for the capability to tow. I was stunned. When I was a kid, the only people who had pickups were farmers, and they were VERY inexpensive vehicles; the cheapest that money could buy. I had an uncle who bought a stripped down Chevy C-10 for a couple of thousand bucks brand new. No radio, three-on-a-tree, plain Jane, thrifty 250 Straight Six. He ran it until it fell apart nearly thirty years later. These days I have a little stripped down Ford Maverick- I have asked and received lots of work from that little truck. At 32 mpg, mind you. Don't give a shit about a truck as anything other than an implement. But others feel differently, obviously.
When I made my first trip to Australia in 2008 I was blown away by how everyone seemed to drive a small hatchback that was manual! Now in 2023 every person drives an SUV and has no idea how the fuck to drive or park them! Doesn't help that all our infrastructure is still geared to small hatchbacks...
Yep. Like the years I spent in Europe.
Up until not very long ago, the most popular car in Australia was always a sedan and often a small sedan. Leading up to the change, for years it was the Toyota Corolla. Then in 2016, something a bit amazing happened. The most popular car in Australia was the Toyota HiLux, that big dual cab ute. It was the first time in history that the most popular model in Australia has been classified as a commercial vehicle rather a passenger car. This has continued. The top three most popular cars in Australia in 2023 are
Toyota HiLux
Ford Ranger
Isuzu D-Max
We are dedicated followers of fashion, I guess.
Its terrifying how useful Victoria Scott's hypothesis is to explain why a society has seen this inexplicable rise in size, weight of vehicles in the last decade and I wonder how much has contributed to Australia's seemingly inexplicable increase in road deaths in the last decade, if all this size and mass is meant to be making us 'safer'.
I don’t personally own one, but instead of making “us” safer; it’s more like it makes “me” safer, and fuck the rest of yous [sic].
Exactly
THIS
It also speaks to how little rational thought is involved in decisions like that: the road is still full of (actual) trucks and busses, and they're going to "win" any "argument" with your SUV.
Some years ago I watched as a purple BMW SUV stupidly pulled up to the left of a truck that was indicating to turn left from the right-hand lane. Truck just rolled up and over the bonnet and grille when the lights turned green (one hopes that the driver simply hadn't seen it down there, rather than acting from malice).
I kinda get the idea of the car as a sanctuary from the scary outside world. But this transformed from passive to active, from defensive to offensive, and from within the environment to against the outside world. We've landed in a place where it seems we're talking more about armoured personnel vehicles than mum, dad and the kids heading down to the beach.
There was a movie in the last couple of years, can't remember which, that included a throw-away scene at a dinner party where the wasp-mother was explaining that of course she bought a Porsche Cayman: it was the only responsible vehicle to take the kids to school in.
The Ford Platinum station wagons that I've seen around the neighborhood are surely just the tier-down version of this. (Yes, they poke out over the footpath when parked in the driveway.)
I landed at SFO yesterday (from Brisbane). Saw a Cybertruck on 101 heading south from the airport. California Dreaming...
BTW, my daily drivers are all smaller, relatively efficient vehicles. I saw overseas that your car won't save you from a maniac with explosives, no matter how heavily armored. Better to simply avoid the situation, and always be aware of what's going on around you.
the amount of RAMS are multiplying in the country town i live near. Bloody near impossible to try and see oncoming traffic when one parks next to you on those 45 degree rear to curb parks. You just have to nose out and hope for the best. Almost exclusively driven by guys who i suspect are compensating for something.
The Dodge Ram is a bit of a meme around here. They dropped "Dodge" from the name for marketing reasons, from what I understand. Years ago I visited a Chrysler lot and I noticed that most of the Rams didn't come equipped with a tow hitch, IMO a requirement for a work truck. I asked the dealer about that. It seemed odd to me. He told me that most of his customers would never use one, and they didn't want to pay extra for the capability to tow. I was stunned. When I was a kid, the only people who had pickups were farmers, and they were VERY inexpensive vehicles; the cheapest that money could buy. I had an uncle who bought a stripped down Chevy C-10 for a couple of thousand bucks brand new. No radio, three-on-a-tree, plain Jane, thrifty 250 Straight Six. He ran it until it fell apart nearly thirty years later. These days I have a little stripped down Ford Maverick- I have asked and received lots of work from that little truck. At 32 mpg, mind you. Don't give a shit about a truck as anything other than an implement. But others feel differently, obviously.
There's an Arms Race effect as well where people feel they need one to defend against the others