I’ve been watching Barrett-Jackson this week. Anyone who loves cars at all and has cable or internet is probably keeping up with it. It’s just a lovely thing to watch for the history and art that you get to see rolling across the stage. Sure, sometimes newer vehicles get auctioned, but the majority are old classics that take you back to simpler time.
As the coverage of the auction continued through the night and my brain got foggier from having watched Speed for 10 hours (I watched the same coverage from the day when they reran immediately after the live broadcast), I had one of those unlikely moments of clarity. You know the kind. It’s like when you’re drunk and you have a thought that you think is brilliant. Well, this was the same sort of thing, but it actually made sense…because I’m currently out of beer. If memory serves, a 2006 Chevy Corvette Z06 was on the block and went for about $70,000 or so. Maybe half an hour before that, a red ‘63 Corvette convertible went for a pretty good chunk of change. As the Z06 was rolling off the block, I thought, “I’d rather have the ‘63 Vette.” (If I got some of that info wrong, cut me some slack. I’m out of beer.)
It’s not that the Z06 is a bad car. It’s a great performer in fact, but something is missing. As I searched my soul, I figured out why I’d rather have a car 30 -50 years my senior than something new and pumped full of hi-tech: simplicity.
I know it sounds like I’m bashing newer cars a bit, and I guess maybe I am. There’s plenty of new things to get excited about, but very few cars coming out nowadays that possess the kind of soulful grandness these huge slabs of yesteryear Detroit steel contained. Today, it’s all about aerodynamics and safety, high tech goodies and carbon footprints. Try telling a ‘55 Bel Air to watch it’s carbon footprint or a ‘70 Charger R/T that it needs traction control.
I mean it’s getting to the point now where driving a car is a lot like driving a damn iPhone. I don’t want to drive an iPhone. I want to drive a freaking car!! I’m not saying every car has to be a stripped-down racer, but come on! There’s so much extra stuff in cars nowadays, you can easily become detached from the driving experience (that’s probably why there are so many terrible drivers, come to think of it).
I just wish for simpler times. When cars were cars and nothing but cars and didn’t have a slew of electronics hindering the real driving experience. When car companies didn’t have governments telling them what they to do. When soda came in glass bottles and gas was cheap. Simpler times…
Triple_Deuce
I'm a 24 year old Georgia boy, born and raised. Currently in college still trying to make up my mind about what I want to go for. Been loving cars and the industry for only about the last 4 years, but it's definitely a strong passion of mine. 
