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Unfettered greed.

Glad you're back, sorry about that heat. But fall is almost here so we can rejoice in that. Some leaves already turning color here in Maine. Unbridled, unchecked greed for money has destroyed all it touches. I am a capitalist, but what we have now is not capitalism with market forces that used to balance the equation between price and value, especially where compensation is concerned. I read an article a long time ago where a Mobil Oil president from the 1970's criticized the tremendous bonuses handed out to then current oil company CEOs due to market price spikes that occurred on their watch. Back in the '70s when the first oil embargo spiked oil prices and Mobil Oil profits, the board called him into a meeting at the end of the year to explain to him that they were not issuing him a bonus for the higher profits as these had nothing to do with his performance that year. The exec wrote that he had never been so insulted in his career for the board even thinking that he would have expected a bonus. Now here we are today where execs who wreck companies, who are caught in malfeasance, lies, etc. demand and are given millions of dollars to go away.

DG
Berwick, Maine



Same ol' same ol'.

My wife, who hosted events for Prowler owners for seventeen years, expressed the same feelings for Dream Cruise after taking a pass Friday. And this from someone that convinced the Royal Oak police to shut down all pedestrian and vehicle traffic on Dream Cruise Saturday at 4:00 PM using eighteen motorcycle officers so her 150 Prowlers could make an illegal left-hand turn onto Woodward. Check out “Prowlers tear up Woodward” on YouTube to see it. Her comment Friday was “blah-blah-blah, all the same”

Bob Longstreth
Rochester Hills, Michigan



There's always hope.

Rational thought has always been an endangered species among car and motorsports enthusiasts of any age or stripe. The auctions certainly haven’t helped. Today, ownership of even a single vehicle that serves for purely emotional pleasure and enjoyment can instantly brand someone as irredeemably irrational, perhaps even a sociopath or an object of class envy. That’s what makes it fun. Reinforce that with the relentless persecution of the automobile as an existential threat to humanity by the safety and environmental alarmist media and politicians, and you have a portion of the consuming population turned against itself. Add to that a disproportionate or even unaffordable price point for entry to today’s mass market, and you have nearly extinguished automotive enthusiasm as a significant cultural element for future generations of Americans.

There is another infrequently mentioned but real threat to the future of the DIY car culture, much of which is centered around nostalgic affection, restoration, worship and real love of their vintage vehicles. The most desirable category of vintage autos is the “survivors”, and they are the most cherished and coveted among us. For the enthusiast, the better preserved as close to new, the better regardless of a vehicle brand or type. Valuations consistently reflect this. Problem is that many of today’s vehicles are not survivable, much less restorable or affordably maintainable in the way of those manufactured even as recently as 20 years ago. There, I said it. Values take a real hit. Look for an LCD instrument cluster to service an early C4 Corvette.

Early brain damage is the nemesis of today’s vehicles and is often not survivable or restorable due to the rapid obsolescence of their onboard electronic systems and a lack of DIY OEM or otherwise replacement components to service them, not to mention the few service technicians still capable of diagnosing and curing them. It doesn’t take much to “total” a car today even without significant collision or rust damage. Can you imagine strolling through a salvage yard ten years from now and seeing a ‘25 Escalade with its wall-to-wall dash display sitting dark and now lifeless forever? That was nearly a $100K vehicle when new. The true enthusiast of today has to be his vehicle’s personal and dedicated geek. Finally, interior high touch features such as upholstery, trim panels, headliners and flooring are now very fragile and non-fungible. Their synthetic polymer chemistry renders them very susceptible to rapid UV decay well ahead of usual soiling and friction. Notrestorable.com

This could all be distressing for the future of car culture as we know and love it. Or maybe it could be looked at as a marvelous opportunity for entrepreneurial gusto with a heavy dose of 3D printing and AI.

Car guys and girls will never confuse artificial intelligence for the real thing. Maybe they will bring both to the rescue. There’s always hope.

Dr. John
Phoenix, Arizona



Attention New England Enthusiasts!

Welcome back Peter & WG! Hope you got at least some rest! Great rant on Monterey & Dream Cruise; I add it seems nearly all aspects of our lives have been data skewered and analyzed to where everything is a big event with someone (else) soaking up our money. Or maybe I've just become an old cynical curmudgeon. Well, the cynicism was always there...

Heading out the bay area in a few weeks, and 17 Mile Drive is on the agenda. Greatly looking forward to it.

I also want to add for your New England enthusiasts to check out the Dream Ride taking place at the Farmington, CT polo grounds this coming weekend. It's an incredible collection of all types of cars (Lamborghini? Camry? Why not?) for a great cause with little commercial effort to soak up your money (except entrance fee, which is very reasonable).

Dave M.
Houston, Texas



"Yes."

I would like someone to explain Monterey Car Week to me. Honestly, in a bottom-line world, does this pay? Speaking of pay, who PAYS to go there? It seems to me that it's just the ultimate in navel-gazing at best (Cadillac's string of "Look what we can do - but won't)" concept cars to really expensive placeholders (the Caddy GTP show car) that say "We needed to do SOMETHING to justify the trip!" Is it just the trip? An excuse to be feted, wined and dined as long as you write something that's the opposite of the High-Octane Truth? Guess that's a big reason you weren't there...

Tom Pease
AE's L.A-based correspondent
Beverly Hills, California



Monterey Car Week.

From the mid-1990s until the 20-teens I attended Steve Earl’s Historics, Concorso & Pebble as a member of the Media. A close friend had an old ranch house in the 1950s subdivision in North Del Monte (Pebble). It was a Boys' Weekend of pasta, port and cigars. It was a fun time, made so by many friends who are no longer with us. Guys who made up the first post war generation of collectors. Guys who hadn’t paid a great deal of money for great cars.

Right about the 20-teens there seemed to be a significant generational shift in ownership taking place. I had started framing out a book, titled Heirs and Lawyers, about this generation who were getting title to the cars without the true enthusiast motivation that had driven their purchase, collection and participation in the culture.

This past weekend I was to attend the Port Washington (WI) concours but something came up. So, I watched the live stream of Pebble, and while I missed my buddy Alain DeCadenet at the microphone, and saw the impact of Hagerty on the production, which I had warned the directress of Pebble about years ago, I did very much appreciate the cars in attendance and recognized. Especially the Vignale/Michelotti-bodied cars.

At the same time, I had little regret watching it all from the UP.

S Scott Callan
Chicago; San Francisco; Nadeau, Michigan (The UP)



Don’t lump Woodward in with Monterey.

I have to disagree, I don’t think Monterey and the Woodward Dream Cruise are at all comparable. WDC has “Mustang Alley”, sure. But the rest of it is ‘unbridled’ cleverness, kookiness, creativity. “Run What You Brung”, tasteful or not. Owners enjoy showing off their ‘baby’, and the spectators reciprocate.

KMC
Plymouth, Michigan

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: I stand by my assessment of the WDC. It’s tired and tedious. And it ran its course years ago, with any whiff of spontaneity long since extinguished. And the lingering image is always the bumper-bumper 3-mph crawl on Woodward; in other words, a parking lot of obsolete dreams. But it will continue, so those who dig it will always have something to look forward to. - PMD