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[AeroDave]

What comes around goes around, and there is no accounting for American buying trends and fashions. Why people want to drive around daily in lumber wagons is beyond me.

New vs. old? I have been a fan of old American cars most of my life. I used to drive cars from the '40s '50s and '60s as my daily driver. No more. I dearly love those cars from that time and always will, but they have made HUGE improvements in cars since then in regards to driveability. More efficient, quieter, handle better, stop better, in many cases much faster, safer and the engines seem to last forever, but I will always have old cars in my garage.

New cars are better than old cars in everyway except one... the excitment they generate. Lets face it, 30 years from now there is not going to be a multitude of clubs and aftermarket parts companies for the Toyota Camery. No ones going to reminisce about the great Ford Taurus they once had, and say "I wish I'd kept that one". Technically, the new cars are marvels, but the souls of this new breed is about as engaging as the hard drive in your computer. Sure it's great now, but two years from now it's a paper weight.

Art reflects life. The cars of the past reflect the optimism and look to the future of the people who built them. The future used to be a bright and better place, now it's thought to be dark and complicated. Few believe in a great future now and the industrial design of our recent past reflects that. Things are designed purley for function and the here and now because there is no future.

Still a part of us still loves the light that shines from that optimistic belief in the future of the past, and has kept it alive by collecting, repairing and restoring cars, boats, furniture, appliances, and all kinds of other artifacts from the past. This in turn has started a "retro" revolution in design. Good design lasts forever. Mediocer design fades away quickly, and bad design is remembered only because it was bad. Design studios and auto executives have come to realise that.

The Solstice is an example of what I hope is a new trend in car design. It is not just a copy of some past glory (Like Ford likes to do), but a return to good styling basics of balance and harmony. It barrows from many cars before it, yet looks like no other. I hope the new generation of designers embrace the past for it's proven lessons in design and use that knowedge to make cars worthy of having enthusiast clubs 30 years in the future. I think this is happening right here, right now, with this forum and many others like it dedicated to the new crop of cars that I think embody a new hope for the future. I've waited along time to get excited about a new car.

Here's to the future car clubs that have yet to be! :cheers