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Cars are sooo 1995.

Millennials don't want cars, dude. There is no correlation whatsoever between high unemployment and low wages and fewer car sales among that generation. None at all. Even if they had money, they'd rather walk everywhere 'cuz it's hip and cool to do so.  Besides, they all live in hip urban lofts a block from the Starbucks where they work and two blocks from their favorite night club, so they don't need wheels anyway.

Detroit Dude
Detroit, Michigan

What would Ogilvy do?

Ah yes.  Automobile advertising.  I've mostly given up on TV, but can't quite avoid those silver-painted cars blasting through desert dust storm clouds or doing 360s here 'n' there and whatever else the quick-cutting FX folks come up with.

But in times of crisis or change, politicians start saying "What would Reagan (or FDR or JFK) do?"

Time for ad agency people to start saying "What would David Ogilvy (or Rosser Reeves) do?"

(Yes, Ogilvy might have a rep as an image guy, but if you read his books, you'll find that he was pretty solid product-wise.)

Donald Pittenger
Seattle, Washington


There's no substitute for transportation when you’re horny and in love. Word.

Daddy shit-canned the minivan as soon as Junior went off to college. Now that school’s out, Junior’s finding that Mommy won’t chauffeur him to the ends of the earth as before. Mom’s got the Benz she’s always lusted for, and Dad’s got the mid-life crisis convertible so he can feel young again. Junior’s got no wheels. Tattoos are no substitute for transportation when you’re horny and in love. Credit Joel Ewanick for flipping the bird to FaceBook first. Accaviti was stating the obvious as you acknowledged. The manufacturer’s CMO’s (oops, GM ain’t got one) read your rants weekly as do their higher ups. If only they acted upon your words. Uwe needs to get rid of Melody Lee and her self righteous bullshit. Millennials aren’t buying Cadillacs just yet. With my tiny business I am continually solicited with robot calls by Sharon warning me that my Google presence is weak; my Yelp, Facebook, etc. are lacking. Fuck’em all.

Jack J.
Santa Fe, New Mexico

The ongoing disappointment.

As happy as I was to see the Ecoboost 3.5 Turbo do a very good job of winning the Rolex 24, I was also 'shocked' by the lack of spectators... no audience AGAIN... unless all of the ticket holders were hiding in motorhomes for the entire event, the emptiness of the grandstands was, at best, an embarrassment to professional racing. Your comments of a few weeks ago about the relevance of racing today came home to me. Why can't the sanctioning bodies put their finger on the pulse of the people they ostensibly rely on to exist? B-2-B ain't gonna cut it if no one pays attention or cares... and all of the empty seats told me that TUDOR is pretty much there. Has there time already run out?

R.R.
Rochester, Michigan


Cringe-worthy.

A big congratulations to Chip Gannassi Racing and the incredible performance of the Ford ecoboost V6.  A lot of the blue oval purists are crying foul about the new Ford GT having the ecoboost V6 engine instead of a roaring V8.  Ganassi racing has proven the engine and now it's time for them to take it and the new GT to LeMans.  On a side note... I cringed when Bob Varsha commenting on the race called the ecoboost a 4-cylinder engine... ouch.

Jay Young
Manchester, Vermont

Swingin' dickism.

I know the ad industry feels it's swingin' its collective, uh, manhood, in their "look at me" Superbowl ad campaigns, but the BMW i3 ad practically looks profound compared to Mercedes' Tortoise vs. Hare campaign. I'm guessing the association is the turtle-back look of the new AMG GT. But if the ad agencies are busy swingin' their dicks, whoever's responsible for the buildup of this Mercedes campaign should be embarrassed to be showin' their ass.

Jrhmobile
Delray Beach, Florida


Tuning in to Channel Z.

I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding Gen Z and their view of the automobile. My 14 year old son falls into that generation, and right now he is focusing his future efforts on Engineering in the automotive arena. He loves cars, reads everything he can find about them, and seems to know more about them than I do at this point, and I'm a die hard car nut! Of course, things could change drastically in the next few years with regard to his future ambitions, but it's fun to watch him and his buddies talk about cars and what they think is cool, which includes the older forms of iron I drive.

My daughter is 11, and although she has much less interest in cars overall than my son and I, even she has her interests. She pays close attention to the act of driving, and sincerely hopes that she and her brother will get my 88 BMW 325i as their car in a few years.

Eric Marr
Appleton, Wisconsin

Oh noooooo!

There may be a problem that is truly insurmountable... the alphabet runs out at Z... what will the following generation be labeled ? I hope this isn't a sign of the apocalypse.

Tom Z.
Detroit, Michigan

The future is bright.

I am not worried about kids being interested in cars. My 7-year-old has loved Camaros ever since the first "Transformers" movie. He reminds me regularly that his first car will be a Camaro. My 10-year-old daughter likes Corvettes and Mercedes. Go figure! Also, when she was 5 she saw a Smart car, and asked me if it was "full of clowns?"  I would say that they are already forming their automotive tastes.

JMC
Bloomfield, Michigan



V8 whiners.

Now that the Ford EcoBoost V6 has won both Daytona and Sebring, maybe the whiners can shut up because the upcoming Ford GT will have this engine instead of some 'stomping' V-8?  If this isn't enough pedigree, then what does it take?

SR
Montpelier, Virginia


From the "Hot Mess" File.

Mike Accaviti may 'get it' with regard to social media.  However, the glaring fact that he will not admit to is Acura has no clue as to what the brand is.  Its obviously not sports cars or luxury cars by any stretch.  It occupies some in-between limbo that is tragically uncool and seems doomed to forever be stuck there; NSX or not.

JFA
Winona, Mississippi

Editor-in-Chief's Note: As long time AE readers know, I've trashed Acura repeatedly for serial incompetence. I am giving Accaviti this point and this point only. Acura - as a brand - remains a hot mess. - PMD

Present and accounted for.

My 4-year-old was riveted to the Rolex coverage I was "kinda sorta" watching (Oh look, the Daytona Prototypes are walking the field, I wonder how long it'll be before I'll see that new Ford GT race the Corvette? Nah, they'd probably end up in different classes.)

The seats did look pretty empty... maybe I'll go next year... it was awfully cold up here waiting for the non-blizzard that didn't strike the East Coast.

My kid knows every make and model of tractor trailer on the road, I just drive the damn things. Generation Z+1 is present and accounted for, believe me!

Infosaur
Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania