[DeTomaso] NPC: Re: I'm going to be sick.

[gow2 at rc-tech.net]

What I see is the Pantera is a car and the Prius (and most modern cars) is
a tool.

We like classic cars of all types for many reasons. 1900 to about 1980 saw
advancements in our society in ways nothing will ever compare. Cars are a
key visual and physical representation of this.

In the early 1900's every state had car companies and some had as many as
a 100. Cars at that time were buggies with motors. As cars advanced the
amount of people who could produce them competitively dropped and weeded
out most of the car companies.

As we look back we all identify with a car, style and technology we can
identify with and enjoy. Cars represented so many things.

Since about the 80's government regulations, complexity in cars,
manufacturing etc have made cars (with exceptions) more tools then
anything. They are also our personal space kind of like our personal
mobile room where we keep a few items.

Cars advertised on TV often don't even show the cars anymore; they show
the moving map, the tv's, the internet connection, etc. People don't turn
these cars into hot rods but instead "DECORATE" these cars with 17" rims
and other "Autozone" style garbage.

So in this respect I don't see a Pantera and  Prius in the same light.

As far as battery hybrid cars I am all for "Market" driven solutions not
"government driven" solutions. GM was set to put a Hydrogen station in
every major city across the United States. This program was scrapped when
they were bought out by the government and pressure by the government
forced GM to move toward the volt.

If the Volt succeeds on it's own great!  Forcing it down our throats has
only suppressed "the next step or better alternatives. In this respect I
see much resentment for cars good or bad.

The Pantera? It represents many things; the Italian/ford racing spirit of
1970, the technical ability of what a small manufacturer can do in 1970,
some out of the box thinking for 1970, and a car which we can interact
with, change, and make our own. When we change it and make it our own it
becomes a part o who we are.

A prius, when we get done, we throw it away, recycle, move on. It's a tool.