Here it is, my last car review in The New York Times Sunday Automobiles section. And, alongside Lawrence Ulrichs look at the Lexus RC, it will be the last to ever appear. Of course, I took the opportunity to drift away from writing strictly about the 2015 Mustang and make my case that reviewing cars is something every newspaper and The Times in particular should be doing. Particularly if they claim to be offering any insight to American culture. Here are my final few paragraphs: Enthusiasm defines all the pursuits of happiness in American culture. The newspaper in your hands (or on your screen) is built around them — religion, arts, sports, business, politics, fashion, books, cooking — and the enthusiastic response to the new Mustang shows how vital the love of cars still is. Every car is a big financial commitment, and a car like the Mustang makes that commitment an easy one. To discuss cars solely as consumer products or a regulatory challenge is to miss their essence; the aspirations, hopes and freedom they embody. It’s talking about cooking without considering flavor. It’s arguing over politics without referencing principles. It’s giving Yankees’ scores without mentioning Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle or Jeter. By rational standards, the overpowered, overstyled and space-inefficient Mustang makes no sense. It doesn’t have to. It’s too American for that. I came this close -- really, really close -- to mentioning Alexis de Tocqueville in my defense of enthusiasm as the driving force of American culture. My hope is that everyone I know will click on this last story multiple times so that maybe for a brief moment the powers that are at The Times regret the decision to kill Automobiles. I know its a fantasy, but its what Im holding onto. And all my close personal friends who run sites and blogs -- Alex Nunez, Erik Johnson, Kelly Hellwig, and even you, matt hardigree -- will throw me a link this one last time. Even if its outside your sophisticated, proprietary and amazingly effective SEO strategy. If nothing else, let me say how much I owe James Cobb for giving me the chance to write for him. Not The Times... him. And for letting me mention my friend Gayle Van Leer in the piece. Im incredibly blessed in my life. But that doesnt make having one of those blessings pass away from it easy to accept. nytimes/2014/12/21/automobiles/the-pony-express-blazes-another-trail.html?_r=0
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 22:59:30 +0000
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