People are influenced greatly by thier sense of style.
Many people drive SUV's because of the image it gives
them. If everyone drove a honda civic the world would
be a boring place. That is why there are people like us
that own a distinctive classic Datsun. They are fun,
sporty, uncommon, and they say something about us.
Granted SUV's follow a common pattern. They have front
engine, rear drive, high seating position, etc... Most
convertible sports cars follow a standard pattern. We
might not see much difference between a suburban and an
expedition, but they might not see a difference between
a Fiat and a Ferrari. My point is that we may be
intolerant of SUV's and thier owners because we don't
understand them. I have funny story along these lines.
I was flying somewhere telling the guy next to me all
about my Datsun Roadster. The poor guy had to listen to
me ramble on for hours about all the time, effort, and
money I spent on my car. He finally asked me why
someone would dedicate thier life to such a worthless
cause when I could have a Miata instead. I asked him if
he had any passions. He said golf. I knew I had made a
mistake at that point. I had to listen to golf stories
for the rest of the flight.
On a different note, I read that the increase in front
drive cars came about to maximize interior room and
allow for smaller overall cars that pollute less. The
thoery is that smaller cars with smaller engines use
less fuel. The problem is that a small front drive car
doesn't have the ride quality of the big rear drive cars
from years gone by. I could hit a speedbump in my 64
Mercury Monterrey and not even know it. The irony is
that the average weight of cars has increased since the
70's because of the SUV trend. I think that we as a
people like the ride of big heavy rear drive vehicles.
With the death of most big cars there are only a few
options. I'll stick with my crew-cab Chevy until there
is another Fury, Caprice, Montigo, etc... available.
Andy
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