LAST TRAIN TO SMALLVILLE.

Editor's Note: This week, Peter has some follow-up comments about the absurd auction activity last week in Monterey. He then presents a dismal look at the forced contraction of the U.S. auto industry and what the future holds for the "Little 3." In On The Table, the wave of giant SUVs continues with the latest entry from Genesis. And we take a look at the all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Our video this week features the Can-Am series and Team McLaren's sensatopnal 1969 season. Our AE Song of the Week is "Butterfly" by Crazy Town with an assist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In Fumes, Peter brings us the next chapter in his new series, "The Racing Machines." And finally, in The Line, we have F1 results from the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, INDYCAR results from Washington, D.C., and IMSA GT results from Virginia. Remember, you can read past issues by scrolling down and clicking on "Next 1 Entries." Onward! -WG

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

 

Detroit. The blowback from the luxury gorging during Monterey Car Week is going strong, fueled by the uproarious auction prices that are still resonating and reverberating throughout the car world. $42 million for one of the original Shelby American Daytona Cobra Coupes. $18 million for one of the original Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sports. And, of course, the $40 million paid for the Ferrari Luce No. 1, which was just astonishingly absurd.

 

As I said last week, the whole auction thing, or as I refer to it, the "Circus of Artificial Enthusiasm," is a bad joke. There is no excitement generated by these auctions, just a gloomy emptiness hanging in the air over machines that once brimmed with passion and creativity, but are now relegated to marks on a ledger, which will count toward a tally that will be used to promote next year's installment of the "circus."

 

This calculated feeding frenzy manufactured by the auto auction houses has graduated from being merely tedious to a threat to car enthusiasm itself.

 

And what can be done about it? Absolutely nothing. Do you think you’ll see that Cobra Daytona Coupe or that Corvette Grand Sport at a vintage racing event near you? You may see them parked in a paddock somewhere, but the likelihood of seeing them actually running on a track – like at the Goodwood Revival – is slim and none. And that’s really depressing.

 

The future for these machines is grim. They were paraded on stage – souls removed – only to end up in antiseptic, "perfect" garages until they're prepared for another auction down the road. This isn't about the car culture or the sheer passion once associated with these automobiles. Now, it's the living, breathing embodiment of Greed is Good.

Don’t assume I take any of this lightly in the least, because I certainly do not. It’s pretty much up to enthusiasts currently present and accounted for to keep the whole thing going. And therein lies the problem. A cursory glance at the participants in the “Dream Cruise” exposed an obvious dilemma: I’d say 95 percent of people who brought their cars to Woodward Ave. were well into their 60s and above. I saw more “for sale” signs on cars than ever before, because it’s clear that there’s a huge number of people “aging out” of the hobby.

So, then what? Are there enough people getting into the hobby to keep it going? That’s debatable, to be sure. I think it will be far more splintered than it even is today, which makes the whole auction thing even more frustrating.

Why? Because the tech bros and other newly-minted billionaires have no sense of history, no sense of what matters, no perspective on basically anything when it comes to cars. They just think acquiring a car that a lot of people lust after is just part of their reason for being. Soulless, moneyed people perpetuating the vacuous, soulless atmosphere promoted by the auction houses. It’s a perfect match. And a giant gavel of Not Good.

Getting back to the current state of the car business, the prevailing winds of “It Won’t Be Long Now!” are blowing hard and strong. 2030 is shaping up to be a huge year. Just ask the Jimmy Farley-led minions at Ford, who insist that they will be the “affordability” kings. Or GM. Or Stellantis. These companies’ operatives are tripping all over themselves suggesting that 2030 will bring new-found product dominance and certain profitability. That’s assuming, of course, that their various product blitzes will exist in a hermetically-sealed vacuum.

This just in: that’s always the assumption. It reminds me of the auto show press extravaganzas of old when each manufacturer got up to say that because of its product brilliance, it would be increasing sales enough to claim 25 percent of the market, or a market segment. This was, of course, followed by the other manufacturers claiming the exact same thing. And then, when you went to tally-up the day’s percentages, the market would have been expanded by 350 percent!

Nicely done, you unmitigated hacks.

The reality for this business is substantially uglier at this very moment in time, however. China Inc. has overproduced cars to a shocking degree, which means that the inevitable “dumping” of these cut-price machines threatens to destroy home markets around the globe.

The European manufacturers – Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, VW – are reeling, with wholesale job cuts and product reductions being undertaken just to keep afloat. And don’t forget that these manufacturers are continuing to develop their EV technologies, which is absolutely killing their bottom lines, in order to meet ever more restrictive environmental regulations. The only auto companies standing hard on the gas are Toyota, Honda and the Korean manufacturers, Hyundai and Kia, which doesn't bode well for what's left of the Little 3.

The automobile industry is permanently mired in chaos. In fact, chaos has become the new standard operating procedure across the globe. A two-step forward and five-back dance of mediocrity. A kaleidoscope of occasional winning product guesses, combined with out-and-out product failures, and the obligatory and massive overpromising of what’s to come (I’m looking at you, Ford). This is an otherwise moribund industry clamoring for something – anything – to be optimistic about. And that’s nevergonnahappendotcom by the way, especially here in this market.

The serial incompetents in Washington have made sure of that by decimating this nation’s home auto industry with egregiously damaging tariffs that have effectively closed off this market to innovation and forward thinking. The Canada debacle, completely orchestrated by the stumblebums in Washington, being Example No. 1. (That’s not to suggest that the True Believers will stop trying and innovating, because they won’t, which offers some degree of comfort.) As I’ve said before, this is a rerun of the decline of the British Motor Industry, only now it’s the U.S. auto industry we’re talking about. We’re going to be just fine with our giant SUVs and pickup trucks (Right. – WG), which are suited to this market and this market only, while the rest of the global auto industry leaves us standing like a house by the side of the road.

We’re witnessing the forced contraction of the U.S. auto industry right before our eyes. Any thought that our industry will recover somehow and someway with the next administration is just wishful thinking by individuals who should know better. (As for the burgeoning defense contract optimism? Good luck with that.) The reality is that it will take a decade or more for the U.S. auto industry to recover from the miscreants in Washington, but I should point out that this isn’t a given; instead, it will be a giant “We'll See.”

The automobile obviously means more to me than it does for most. I grew up immersed in this business, and the passionate endeavor surrounding the creation of automotive art has never stopped being interesting for me. And it is very much art, by the way. Emotionally involving and undeniably compelling mechanical art that not only takes us where we want to go but moves us in ways that still touches our souls deeply. As I have reminded our readers often, I for one will never forget the essence of the machine, and what makes it a living, breathing mechanical conduit of our hopes and dreams.

Which makes all of this that much more painful for me.

In the midst of what’s going on, I must admit that my interest in this whole thing ranges from Jimi’s “still raining, still dreaming” of a better, more optimistic day, to me notgivingashitdotcom. And my feelings swing wildly depending on the week, or the day, or hell, by the hour.

This business has gotten too predictable and too tedious. And it’s punctuated by too many small-minded but beyond-wealthy people with negligible perspective and bad intentions, motivated by flat-out greed, pure and simple. And with a rapidly contracting U.S. auto industry headed inexorably toward SmallVille, it’s really depressing. Because this was never a “small” industry. It was big and loud and jam-packed with blue-sky dreams, bold thinking and unlimited possibilities.

Which is why I’m paraphrasing the fabulous Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard” today: I’m still big, it’s the industry that got small.

And it really stinks.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG