Performance car racing really took off with the American Prohibition Era. A conservative, religious political environment passed legislation prohibiting alcohol, but the level-headed masses found ways to get their hard-earned drink after work. Yankee ingenuity led to a flourishing underground economy of gentlemen's clubs and liquor.
Someone had to supply the liquor, and someone had to deliver it. In order to avoid the police at the time and to make the boss happy, deliveries had to be fast. That meant fast cars with powerful engines.
This was the birth of the sleeper. Companies would cater to this desire to build fast cars. They became a product of the market because the fun of driving fast did not have to end with the job of getting liquor from the moonshine producer to the underground gentleman's club. Drag strips started to appear, and performance tuning shops developed. Manufacturers would throw V8s in family sedans and call them sport models. We had a car culture of fun rather than necessity. Pony cars battled at the track, and all was good.
For many, it seemed sudden that the press turned on GM, the world's largest automaker by production, brands, and employment. At this time, cheap imports had entered the market from the Far East. Toyota and Honda became the darlings of the media, and GM became the evil company of Detroit. People were more likely to take pride in their ugly economy car with an aircraft-sized spoiler than their father's Corvette. The end of the muscle car era had come, and those epic beasts had gone out of production, leaving behind hollow shells of their former glory. The Impala became a FWD product. The Camaro went out of production. It was an ever-darkening time.
But what was it that spurred this change over the course of but one generation, and why did it go away? What was different about the 20 years between 1980 and 2000 that kept American companies in the hateful eyes of the press?
We can all present our theories on this, but I have a particular one that came across me today. It hit me while I watched a movie and had a discussion online with one of our Camaro5 members. It is my belief that the media played an important role in this transition from GM success to GM's eventual bankruptcy, brought on by over 2 decades of sustained attacks on GM products and praise for the competition. To a great extent, we still feel the ripple effect of this press today.
In the late 1960s, television truly changed. Just like video killed the radio star, animation killed the real thing. Children grew up watching Speed Racer rather than cleaning out the carburetor with their fathers. Many children would grow dependent on the television for information, and this information became fact to them, regardless of the obvious biases in its presentation.
These children would grow to fill jobs in 20 years. They would become lawyers, doctors, electricians, teachers, and journalists. There it is! They became the source of the problem. Suddenly, the press had turned on American brands. They were raised watching anime, and they became the enemy of America's car culture as a result. The ones interested in cars turned Japanese, posting in the press the supremacy of cheap plastics, weird exhaust noises, and smaller engines.
It is for this reason, that I blame Speed Racer on prematurely ending the muscle car era. It aired during the late 1960s and in reruns after that. It clearly fits the mold. Here is the culprit and his associates.
Obviously, there is hope. Speed Racer is no longer on the air, and the Camaro is back. As long as we keep our children away from Japanese garbage on television, we will have the Camaro for a long time to come.
Discuss why you think the media turned on GM or any other discussion you feel is appropriate.
Please try not to take this theory too seriously.
