Ramblings From Justin Penney

All of the things that are cool because of their anachronistic properties were once cool because they were new. Rock and roll, choppers, café racers, and muscle cars all fall victim to a perceived tradition that was foisted upon them.

None of these things are traditional. They took the traditions of the time and stomped all over them leaving alcohol drenched, skid marked carnage everywhere they flourished.

Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of our culture froze with the burgeoning coolness of these sub-cultures. The American hot-rods are still powered by pushrod V8s. Harley has trouble selling anything that isn't an air-cooled, wobbling v-twin, and most people haven't cared about rock music since 1974.

It's time to move on! Let's look back and cherish (and preserve) our history and the path that it has presented and take that spirit, the new, fresh, aggressive spirit and forge something new. Something exciting, visceral, and innovative. I want a car that's docile and economical like a Prius until I really want to romp on the accelerator then the inner Challenger is unleashed.

I want to see a hybrid that uses a super efficient turbo-diesel engine to keep the batteries charged.

I want to see a CVT matched to an efficient but high specific output engine (like the legendary Honda B series) that sips on the oil nipple under most loads and is able to hold that peak output and let the rolling parts catch up.

At this point, it would be revolutionary for a "muscle car" to have aerodynamics that were slightly better than a brick.

# posted by Justin @ 10:27 PM