Random Shots
Auto culture
Random Shots
A road sign with a sense of humor?
Was this sign on a highway in Maui, Hawaii turned upside down — and put unusually low on its post — to humorously emphasize the size of an impending dip? Or was the sign’s installer […]
Quotes
‘Doling out progress at the minimum possible rate’
“The US auto industry has been perhaps the best example of a sector falling into a rut and doling out progress at the minimum possible rate for at least 30 years. It’s criminal IMO that […]
Quotes
Vance Packard: The quality of cars declined in 1950s
“In late 1958, Printers’ Ink conceded that ‘there is a widespread feeling that ‘they don’t make cars the way they used to’ — either mechanically or from the point of view of interior decor.’ And […]
Satire
Mature reflections about societal collapse on Interstate 5
The interchange between U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate 5 running north is an asphalt monument to automotive freedom. This river of highway descends from the elite cliffs of Olympia, Washington’s westside into its more plebeian […]
Quotes
The future of auto blogging after the fall of Rome
“I think we’re kind of in a postmodern, ‘Fall of Rome’ era of blogging. The golden age is well behind us, and there’s a glut of content and channels, a few barons and a lot […]
Quotes
Vance Packard: Blurring of auto status in late-50s helped imports
“The makers of lower-priced lines, under pressure to find new buyers, had introduced longer, fatter, more expensive, more powerful, and more luxuriously designed models that competed directly with their traditional superiors in status such as […]
Quotes
Peter DeLorenzo: A ‘wandering spirit’ defines nation
“(O)ur individual and collective experiences with cars and being on the road are seared in our memories and are irreplaceable. Where we’ve been has everything to do with who we are. This nation was transformed […]
Photo Essay
Bumper stickers about pets and kids can get really dorky
It makes sense that parents — both of kids and pets — would stick with PG-rated bumper stickers. But why are they so dorky? The obsessiveness of pet parents is amply displayed in the above photo. […]
Random Shots