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300SL, 31 Packard, 96 Geo Prizm, Darwin Award for Detroit, Detroit-stupid, Hyundai Genesis, Mercedes Benz, Tata Nano, You can't cure stupid
How can intelligent people be so STUPID??? Are the automakers in Detroit working as a cohesive group to achieve an industry wide Darwin Award? And is the United States government going to be so stupid as to fund these fools with the American public’s money? The voters clearly have elected a new government which wants to go toward a more sustainable future society not more gas guzzling monstrosities. But, and this should be in Ripley’s, Believe It Or Not, it’s so dumb. Here is today’s Reuters. Sun 11 Jan 2009 | 19:46 EST. You wouldn’t believe this unless it was cut and pasted from the original article.
Detroit Auto Show 2009 chooses Hyundai
First: GM begs for money from Washington and then Hyundai gets top award. Well, this industry’s choice for a car of the year in this year of clear economic recession where even GM goes begging for money, one might think, would be an economical electric car from Hyundai, or the new Chevy Volt all electric, especially when the whole industry is on the verge of economic collapse. But NO! ??? they choose a new muscle car.
2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
OK it’s a nice looking car and would have done well back at the 1959 Santa Barbara Concours d’Elegance where my dad’s 1931 Packard coupe lost first place to a 1957 Mercedes Benz 300SL
1931 Packard
My dad’s 1931 Packard looked very similar to this one but I don’t have a photo handy so this one is off the net.
1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL
The car that won looked about like this. All of these are beautiful cars, including the new Hyundai, but now we are in a world that is running out of fuel to run the monster engines in these conspicuous-consumption cars and we should all be behaving more responsibly. Even rich people should be conserving our common resources.
Here are the specs on Detroit’s choice for car of the year, Hyundai Genesis Coupe—note the 300 hp:
Technical Specifications
Engine: 2.0 litre four-cylinder / 3.8 litre V6
Aspiration: Turbocharged / Natural
Maximum Power: 212 hp (158 kW) / 300 hp (224 kW)
Maximum Torque: 217 lb-ft (294 Nm) / 263 lb-ft (356 Nm)
Transmission: Six-speed manual (optional five and six-speed automatics)
Drivetrain: Rear-wheel drive
Exactly a year ago I made my feelings felt about cars in my blog
What do people really want – a Hummer or a Tata ? ? ?
Tata Nano from India
The Tata Nano is much closer to what Detroit should be taking to Washington when they go begging for money. Somehow, showing up in a personal jet and then driving up to Congress in their latest gas-guzzler muscle-car doesn’t send the right message. I understand this but the top people in Detroit don’t. It isn’t because they have low IQ’s, it is because they are stupid, and as comedian Ron White says on TV, “You can’t fix stupid.”
The Tata Nano is having some trouble getting launched, and it won’t be out until September, apparently because the slumping global demand is hitting the middle class in India but as I see it the Nano is the car America should be importing, or copying and building.
My 96 Geo Prizm overlooking Lake Tahoe CA - ( at +38.8202 -120.0273 )
If my old 1996 Geo Prizm can get 51 mpg on long trips why can’t Detroit build a new car that can beat it? The little Nano could probably get really fantastic mileage especially with its coasting feature and the new quick start engine which shuts off when the engine is idling in traffic. The take home message about Detroit executives is—
Give stupid people money and they will do stupid things with it.
(update Jan. 13th) Actually, there is some hope as seen in this video about the Detroit Auto Show. Perhaps it isn’t those Detroit auto executives who are stupid, it is the buying public that refuses to buy Detroit’s more efficient cars. It is probably that same public mentality that precipitated the housing loan collapse, that is caused by too easily available credit which allows the public to purchase something which they really can’t afford. So then the responsibility comes down to the lawmakers as being the stupid ones and they are the ones who are now giving away trillions of dollars. Slavery was made illegal throughout the world long ago but it has been replaced with voluntary self-imposed-slavery by the current debt system created by our politicians. Perhaps a further generalization on the above rule of thumb would be.
Give stupid people power and they will do stupid things with it.
(update Jan. 23) Here is a really cool YouTube movie illustrating the Detroit mentality of bigger more gas guzzling cars are better.
(update March 11, 2009) A good article about 100 MPG hybrids from WIRED magazine with lots of links.
(update April, 11, 2009) The American auto is going to eat the food off your plate.
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This is the stupidest article I’ve ever seen. The Genesis coupe is NOT a muscle car (gets better gas mileage than an optra) and it’s more than $10k cheaper than it’s competitor, not to mention it flies off the showroom floors. It was one of THE most hyped cars for 2009.
Learn the industry you’re speaking of before commenting on it. You’re clearly not an analyst, and you speak totally based off the babble that comes from the media. Grow up, and learn how to be a journalist before attempting to pass off your unfounded opinions in the form of an article.
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That Hyundai Genesis is awesome. I’m getting one this year.
thak you
Yeah, forget about fuel economy, I’m getting something that is cool to drive not a friggin’ matchbox. I own a company that specializes in recycling so don’t get on your soapbox with me, ya friggin’ treehuggers! Peace.
I have burned up more than my share of JP-4 and enjoyed every minute of it but that was then and supposedly for a good cause. Freedom! But, now that there are several billions more people here on Earth we can’t do that much longer and Monther Nature is soon going to limit our freedom in increasingly unpleasant ways. If we don’t destroy those things they will last a little longer and someone we don’t know can destroy them. Humm?
Your opinion would be taken seriously if you had a clue what you were talking about. The Car of the Year was the 2009 Hyundai Genesis. It was NOT the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which you have chosen to post a picture of.
“If my old 1996 Geo Prizm can get 51 mpg on long trips why can’t Detroit build a new car that can beat it?”
Does your Prizm contain the structural steel necessary to withstand current impact regulations? Does it contain the weight-increasing complement of safety and pollution-control devices of today’s cars? Do you honestly believe that car makers willingly choose to ignore whatever miraculous mileage-enhancing magic your Prizm contained so that they can – what? Suck up to their oil-bidness buddies at the country club? And do you seriously believe that the Tata Nano is something that a person with a choice in the matter would want to drive?
I’m flabbergasted.
Oh, and what exactly does the automotive press’s choice of a Hyundai have to do with Detroit automakers, anyway?
I don’t think you’ve thought much through here.
…this sucks
Society in the United States (except Michigan) have clearly lost sight of what made this country strong. It was the manufacturing industry, especially during WWII. Automobile plants were one of the main reasons we won the war. Halting production on automobiles to produce military vehicles. If the manufacturing industry dies, then the U.S. will not be as strong as it once was. For all those of you who think the Big 3 going bankrupt won’t affect you because you live in California, Kansas, or any other state, you are wrong! Because the suppliers are scattered throughout the U.S. and if the Big 3 cease to exist, then so will the suppliers. Then that will branch out to some of the foreign automakers stationed in the U.S. (like alabama) then local businesses will go out of business and so on and so forth. Your parents, you and your children will feel the effects of the bankruptcy of the automakers. If you think otherwise, then you are living under a rock. Give Detroit credit, we are trying…granted there are some city officials that are standing in the way, but change is coming and I’m optomistic for what is to come. You can voice your opinion all you want….but you don’t have to criticize the people and autoworkers of Detroit. Crucify me if you will…but unless you’ve lived here and seen what is going on first hand keep the criticism to yourself.
The point is that Detroit chose a car for its prize that wasn’t a super efficiency one while begging Washington for money so they could survive and build efficient ones. I would think that if they were truely serious about efficienct cars they would have been building them and promoting them and giving the best one first prizes in auto shows. I agree with your analysis except for the last line about keeping my thoughts to myself. I defend this countries right to express myself and I will defend yours also.
ok, so i guess i dont see what in the purple hell the detroit auto companies have to do with the car of the year award, or the Genesis; nor why you choose to bring up the detroit auto companies asking for government money…
Hyundai isnt an american car company, they didnt ask for government money, nor is this car a muscle car.
you have two different topics crammed into one tiny thought.
if you want to rip on the Genesis fine, if you want to rip on the Detroit auto groups fine, but they arent one and the same
I’m responding to the title of the article. “You can’t cure stupid!” especially Detroit-stupid. That’s pretty ignorant if you don’t know what Detroit (the auto industry) has done for the modern world. If they didn’t step during WWII the U.S. wouldn’t be what it is today.
That’s the whole point! Back in WWII the auto industry still had some good sense left over from the likes of Henry Ford. They were building cars for effeciency of transportation, like the Tata Nano is now doing, instead of for looks, comfort, amenities, acceleration and other forms of conspicious consumption. Modern Detroit has lost contact with the reality of what cars are really for – it is quite simple – to get from one place to another reasonably quickly, safely and cheaply. The Tata Nano does that the Detroit productions don’t.
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Really great post/article really informative.
how about u buy ur tata nano car and get over the fact that the rest of the world still wants the nice looking hyundai “not a muscle car” or the mustang whitch fyi is a “muscle car”. u should keep ur typing fingers to ur self when u dont know what ur talking about. as previously explained detroit has nothing to do with hyundai and hyundai should no be ridiculed when they never asked for money to survive in thes tough economic times. I praise them for building a bad ass car that looks great, performs great, and gets decent milage compared to half of the cars in the world if i were in the situation to own one i would never hesitate so esentualy its time for u to buy a new car and stop filling peoples head with ur b.s. ramblings
Who the fuck need those plastic vehicles??
WE need the “gas guzzling monstrosities” NOW!
Whats about the enviroment? If we don’t have those big cars, there wouldn’t be so much CO2 in the Atmophere, and the sun would burn harder because it’s easier for it to heat us up!
The CO2 is blocking the sun and the warming of the earth’s atmosphere, so the temperature is getting colder, no Ice would melt and animals would dieing, natural disaster would be less and so on.
Think, before doing anything!
Right you are! The only to drive a good car, is to drive an American Gas-guzzler. They have always been what can be considered ‘role models’ in the car world. I can’t understand that you treehuggers are against these cars. That piece of junk Tata Nano, that you call a car (or is it a shopping cart?) isn’t safe in any way. It’s cheap, nasty and made to be recycled. The only way is the American way, and the way of the Gas guzzlers. Cash for Clunkers was the worst thing that ever happend to the US. I guess the stupid treehuggers made their point with that one.
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