This postcard really is about the present day, but it's from the perspective of the 1960's. My topic is the metallic form of testosterone: cars. We all drive cars today that would literally have been a fantasy in the 60's or early 70's. The shapes (no fins?), the powerplants (how many computers are in there?), the efficiency (240 real horsepower from 180 cubic inches). And of course, the price. Of course In the 60's they couldn't produce the cars we have today, but perhaps more mysterious, they wouldn't have been interested in consuming them either. If you could put a boatload of today's most popular cars (Tauruses and Accords) into a way-back machine, nobody from the 60's would have bought them. A Chevy SUV today costs more than a Rolls Royce did in '68, and it probably wouldn't have sold many more than the luxury liner did back then. The weird thing about cars of the 60's is that they were something you got very emotional about. Despite their crummy designs and shoddy workmanship, they were objects of adoration, envy, and pride. Somehow, marketing worked a hell of a lot better back then. Today's Ferraris just don't compare as objects of desire, yet even today's Toyotas way out-perform virtually anything made before 1980. People (ok, men) still go more ape over a 65 Mustang, a 67 GTO, or a 69 Barracuda -- hell, even a '70 Javelin -- than they do over anything made since. These were all complete trash- heap cars even when they were new. There was nothing sophisticated, elegant, or well-made about them. Yet their images stuck in our heads and our hearts like a James Bond chase scene. Cars today are just too predictable. When we started making them reliable and efficient, we made them boring. You pay $24,000 now and you get exactly the car that Consumer Reports and Ralph Nader were screaming for throughout the 70's. Logical. Maybe even pretty. You get exactly your money's worth. Pay $42,000, and you get a heavier version of the same car... some trappings of elegance, but no pizzazz. No thrills. While you can still get nice spinout potential if you buy a 10-cylinder Viper, it's almost unique in its reckless design. In the 60's, you could get a thrill for $1800, less than a Chevy. They were all reckless designs. Nothing on the road was safe, none of them was well made. Yet a used FIAT 124 Spider was just cool as hell, plus you got the adventure of never knowing whether you'd make it to your destination. A BMW 1600 wasn't very fast, but it wasn't much money and it handled way better than anything from Detroit. A Renault Dauphine was as poorly made as a Corvair, but it gave you a touch of international intrigue for practically nothing. If you had some money to spend, a Jaguar XKE cost about the same as a Monte Carlo...and it came with real leather, something you couldn't get on the American cars. There must be some sort of lesson in human nature in this: Things or people that are dependable, economical, sensible (the marriage material) just aren't unpredictable or trashy enough to be thrilling or sexy (the kind of girl you'll never introduce to mom). David O. Taber www.D-O-Tnet.com DOTnet Consulting, Inc. direct line: +1-650-326-2626 best times to call: 8 AM or 7 PM PST 555 Bryant Street, Suite 789 Palo Alto, CA 94301 USA page: mailto:5105024055@mobile.att.net (<100 characters!!) mail: mailto:DOT@D-O-Tnet.com ICQ: 138661538 MSN-IM: DOTnet Y! davidotaber AIM: DOTnetConsulting best times to send instant messages: any time I show up "on line"