California dreaming (nightmare?)

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Trucks are popular sports cars in North America for a couple of reasons. 
First, trucks don't have to meet the same emissions and safety regulations 
as passenger cars. This heavily biases the marketplace in favour of 
building and selling trucks disguised as cars (we call these sports utes, 
the most ridiculous of which are the "new" short bed four door full sized 
pick ups, basically your Fjord Exploiter with the back of the roof cut 
off!!!). These sports utes are very profitable for the manufacturer and 
seriously misleading for the consumer. The advertising associated with 
these monsters has the unmitigated gall to suggest that these vehicles are 
safer and more reliable than passenger cars when the opposite is true. Only 
in America (sigh).

Second, the North American consumer became used to buying pick up trucks 
disguised as cars as this is the only vehicle made in North America in any 
numbers until unibodies began to be built around the time FWD became the 
darling of the NA auto industry. Basically a 1985 Chevy Caprice was not 
fundamentally different than a 1955 Bel Air, and not really even superior 
to the much older car. Neither was materially different in design and 
construction from the Chevy Pick up of either era. The pick up probably 
outhandled the sedans and given the usual drivetrain would out accelerate 
the sedans at least to 30 mph, the max speed of most stop light grand prix.

This was the attitude that very nearly killed the NA auto industry when 
real cars built in Europe and Japan came flooding into the market and 
consumers realized what they were missing. Now the US government has 
restructured the entire industry in NA to regulate passenger cars heavily, 
leaving the truck industry untouched. Hmmmm, is there a pattern here? Is 
the consumer really king in the US or is the Industry just maneuvering 
itself so that it can continue to build, market, and profit from  the same 
old junk it's always built in NA? Just how many US cars are sold 
in  countries other than Canada and the US?

Death where is thy sting? Or, ALFA please come back... we forgive you for 
building sensitive safe excellent performing cars which look like a million 
bucks and drive like nothing on earth.


Michael Smith
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
91 Alfa 164L, White, original owner

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