The CT5-V BW is the real deal. As such it doesn’t need to try to be something it isn’t. Modifying a truck to have the characteristics of another vehicle shows that they now serve needs unrelated to their original purpose. Self image has a lot to do with that. Your insinuation that applies to other types of vehicles is valid. The difference being the image one wants to project. Trucks by design lend themselves to an image that can have a half ton bed’s worth of appeal to persons with feelings of inadequacy. Considering the cost of ownership nowadays it might be more cost effective to just find a good therapist. ... View more

I did not suggest need is the determining factor. Quite the contrary. Much of the consumer spending that (to use an appropriate pun) drives our economy is based on want. Automobiles are not only not an exception but a glaring example of that. I own 2 cars. Didn't need the second one. I wanted it. So, I got it - and I "get it." ... View more

As you said - cool story. Can't say that I understand how it relates to my point, i.e. that size definitely matters to the American automobile buyer. Thus, the boom in truck/SUV sales largely driven by persons with little to no need for such a vehicle. ... View more

A shining example of the need/want dialectic. If you want a vehicle that rides like a Cadillac and handles like a Corvette you certainly don't need a truck. Buy a CT5-V Blackwing. Admittedly, a set of shocks is way more affordable and there's no need for a self-image adjustment.    ... View more

This country has a bigger is better ethos: income, home, vehicle (size and/or power), defense budget. Generating a feeling of superiority has a lot to do with that. Living based on need is for those without the means to live the dream, or the need to feel superior. ... View more

Let's not absolve the automakers of their responsibility for the flouting of speed limits and promotion of hooniganism by engaging in a seeming arms race, making vehicles that have way more power than the average driver needs. Offering 4-5-6 hundred horsepower vehicles to drive on public roads in the most populous parts of America is going to tempt even the most mature motorist to want to go Dominic Toretto on occasion. I'm tempted at times and I'm around 200 hp shy of qualifying for "the brotherhood." As much as I speed - and agree that the limits are too low even in high population areas - I understand why they're there. Any fool can go fast but that doesn't mean that you can drive fast. I see way too many of the former who don't care about safety or courtesy. If you live in a part of the country where the roads are overcrowded that's - as the saying goes - an accident waiting to happen. Your policy proposals are both worthy of adoption - each for their appropriate driving conditions. As much as I'd like to check out the vanishing point I'm perfectly okay with going "a little slower, a little smaller, a little weirder." If you knew me you'd know that I'm already there. ... View more

Jack will not go gentle into that ICEless night. 🙂 ... View more

You’re not saying anything that you didn’t already say in your previous message, i.e. your cart before the horse explanation. The hard fact is that human activity - specifically the burning of fossil fuels - contributes to global warming. If you have research to the contrary please share it with the scientific community who I trust has done their due diligence.  ... View more

It’s obvious you’re not interested as you have nothing to say except make the erroneous claim that saying CO2 emissions contribute to climate change is a “straw argument.” ... View more

The burning of fossil fuels affects the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. That’s a scientific fact whether you recognize it as such or not. I’m not saying that it’s the only source of CO2, it’s just the one that we have the most control of. To say that CO2 is not a cause but rather an effect of global warming inverts the correlation of global warming and rising CO2 levels in a way that makes me curious about your research as I’ve yet to see anything that supports such a claim.  ... View more

Based on what you said I think you’re the one who’s had their fingers in their ears.  ... View more

So, your perspective is the Earth’s natural systems regulate the climate and human activity doesn’t matter. I’d call that wishful thinking.   ... View more

I thought I made the distinction between those who have a need for these vehicles and those that prefer them just for their size. Your opening statement is a repulsive rationale for owning one but it relates to what you say they are the manifestation of, and those are the very qualities that automakers use to try to lure people into buying one. The people that I know who own a truck/SUV don't have them out of necessity. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the trucks/SUVs that clutter the urban/suburban roadways that I travel have never been off-road nor ever will be, and they're rarely stuffed with anything other than one person driving like they're late for work. God help the small, cramped, gutless, Tupperware drivers they crash into. ... View more

The American consumer might not be as stupid as the American media make them out to be but it appears that they are as easily susceptible to manipulative advertising as the automakers believe them to be. From what he says, Brian is probably in the minority of truck owners who actually have a legitimate need for such a vehicle. Trucks and SUVs have transcended their original design purpose to become de facto daily drivers for persons who rarely use them for anything other than getting from point A to point B. Their preponderance on the roads reinforces what seems to have become something of an American ethos - bigger is better. For everyone who doesn't subscribe to such automotive gluttony they can be intimidating vehicles to be around, which for some, I suspect is the reason they drive one. ... View more

The issue is too serious for sarcasm, Jack. If the consensus of the scientific community doesn’t count for much to you and your ICE compatriots then consider the research done by the oil cos. that show they were aware of the impact of CO2 emissions on the climate decades ago. Some of the replies after yours smack of a flat-earther mentality. To those who make  specious denials based more on opinion than fact, or claim that there’s no proof, I say, that considering the consequences wouldn’t it be better to err on the side of caution?  ... View more

Lots of pushback but little in the way of solutions from those doing the pushing. We're approaching the redline and risk blowing the engine if we don't find a means to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Like wearing a mask this is an issue that requires one to put aside their politics and do what's in the best interest of everybody. We went to the moon over 50 yrs ago! We can - and must - find a means to deal with global warming/climate change before it's too late. ... View more

I wasn't going to read this article as I have no interest in luxury vehicles which is just as well being as I can't afford them. But your photo reminded me of my brief ownership of a 1977 Sedan DeVille that I was given by my grandmother in-law at the time. The car was in stereotypically mint condition and it sort of made me feel like a big shot driving it. I'd never driven a car so big, so luxurious, and which had such a soft ride and lack of road feel. That last characteristic came back to bite me as I tried evade a wasp from doing so on my way home from work one day. Trying to shoo the intruder out the window from which it entered I wound up driving off the road and into a tree without even realizing what was happening until it happened. Fortunately I wasn't going that fast and the bulk of the car soaked up the impact in a way that left me more damaged emotionally than the car was physically. I wound up selling the car rather than repair it and regret doing so. It was an easy chair on wheels - totally antithetical to what became my preferred automotive aesthetic - but it was Das Boot and I sometimes miss it.  As always, your wit infused writing that blends the personal and professional into something of a contrarian perspective made for an enjoyable read ... and in this case a fond if somewhat lamentable reminiscence.  ... View more

Yeah Jack, I thought you were gonna talk about vegetable juice but your article was about the Charger. Don’t know that I’m part of your base but apparently one doesn’t need to be in order to take an interest in your column and continue to read it despite its shortcomings. My advice is don’t change. ... View more