Crossed flag classic
London, ON, July 2010
About this photo: It's Thematic's blue week. Click here. Because life's always a little sweeter with a bit of color.Logically, this automotive badge makes no sense. The car to which it is attached is not propelled by a turbocharged engine. Close inspection of the vehicle reveals no evidence of anything remotely resembling a jet, either. It's eight cylinders of normally aspirated American open-road glory, folks, and marketing precision is proudly not part of the equation.
In a similarly logical vein, I know that this car, engineered around the time Canada celebrated its hundredth birthday, falls far short of modern automotive standards for performance, efficiency and safety. Today's vehicles can go faster on less fuel, with far greater levels of protection for their passengers. I'm pretty sure the four-door grandpa-mobile I rented on our recent vacation had more horsepower than this thing - not to mention enough room for our luggage. And a fairly decent in-car entertainment system, too.
But here's the thing: None of that matters when you come face-to-face with an icon of automotive history. Logic means little when the engineering and design of a bygone era reach across the decades and hold you, riveted in place, as you stare at every lovingly conceived curve.
Is it as optimally aerodynamic as your neighbor's Prius? Does anybody really care? This is as close to driveway art as we're ever going to get, so I'm content to just hang out beside it for a bit, content in the knowledge that today's eco-conscious, PC world still has room for pieces of history that still inspire.
I doubt my kids will have similar moments in their driveways 30 years on with a 2010 Toyota Camry.
Your turn: Why does history intrigue us?
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8 comments:
I know for me history intrigues me because it shows how far we have come also shows where we need to improve..Also, over time u can see the creativity the person/company had in developing the product, medical, fashion, tool, whatever...History also shows what way we may be headed to as well.
Brilliant post ! My last post was on a bridge thats a 100 years old.
When you say " But here's the thing: None of that matters when you come face-to-face with an icon of automotive history. Logic means little when the engineering and design of a bygone era reach across the decades and hold you, riveted in place, as you stare at every lovingly conceived curve."
i cant help agree more ! Absolutely ! That is the only logic that applies !
:)
Why does history intrigue me?
I guess because I look backwards...while standing in the present ....and yet I'm considering al this in the light of tomorrows.
For me, history is a kinda was/is/will be. all wrapped up in possibility
History is so amazing because our lives are so obviously effected by the things of yesterday...
- Sy
check out this one...
http://stevegravano.blogspot.com/2011/01/old-blue-chevy-pick-up.html
Maybe its only a gearhead thing, but you got to get yourself behind the wheel of that car to truely appreciate the driving experience.
Yes, the ride will be rough.
Yes, it will be tough to steer if it does not have power steering.
Yes, you'll get the leg of a football player from working the brakes. If it doesn't have power brakes.
Yes, it'll squeek and rattle the entire time.
Yes, you will grin like a maniac and smell of raw unburned hydrocarbons when your ride is over. Its a raw driving experience that how you drive it is how you feel it. New cars isolate you too far from the experience of driving. You are merely holding the steering wheel of a cocoon.
I love summer and getting my car out of the garage. I've ridden in it since I was a kid, but it never fails to make me grin like an idiot when I'm driving it. Being stuck in newer cars just makes the experience that much more... experiencing.
Alex.
My history was written like the script of "American Graffiti" I doubt that my kids will have those kinds of memories? It was (and IS) a different time. ~ j///b
I know what you mean. There's just something about the art of the car. We were going thru a town with a Corette convention. For all my salivating I had to take in a lot of liquid.
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