Cars of 2000: Re-evaluating the Internal Combustion Engine

Cars of 2000: Re-evaluating the Internal Combustion Engine

The new millenia was similar to the 1960's with protests, rumors of war, peace and revolution all mixed together. The auto-industry was going through another Golden Age that was plunged into crisis, darker than the Baby Boomer generation could fathom. Dark days loomed with stringent CAFE standards and fear-mongering lawmakers fueling people's anxiety about the future of the auto industry.                                                                                                                                                                                

The Tesla Roadster was an alternate to boring electric cars. It was an awesome looking car which didn't guzzle any gasoline whatsoever. It inspired many unique or retro-fitted sports cars build for speed as well as efficiency.

Another addition to the plug-in car types was the Chevrolet volt. It came with a pretty large ticket price of $40K which made it difficult for the average working person to afford to be "green".

In 2001, the Toyta Prius hit the U.S. as the world's first mass-production hybrid car. It was remodeled in 2004 with the hump-back style that is very recognizable. It's popularity saved Toyota's domestic manufacturers and moved global auto manufacturing to the Far East. People got behind the hybrid, despite its lack of redeeming design qualities.

Resources:

http://www.ridelust.com/goodbye-2000s-the-ten-cars-that-defined-the-decade/

Cars of Generation X

Cars of Generation X

The 1990's witnessed some of the best cars from a time when the auto-industry finally figured it out. The Mazda Miata is just one example of a new reliable fun. Its manual transmission was precise enough to control the little four-cylinder engine. It was the best-selling sports car of its time.                                                                                                                

Mazda Miata

The 1990's began with the Gulf War in August 1990 when Iraqi forces occupied Kuwait, the gateway of Saudi oil  fields. President Bush led Desert Storm which left Saddam Hussein to fight another day.

By the middle of the decade the country was into a record run of prosperity in a service economy spun off by a new technology and investment in the stock market. The auto industry grew steadily except for dips in 1991 and 1998 and high end luxury cars lead the way.

Mercedes brought performance back to the market. Two-seaters were less sports-car like and by the late 1990's the SL600 was a 4500 pound luxo-crusier with a 389-hp 6.0 liter V-12 engine. It could do 0 to sixth in 5.9 seconds and reach speeds in excess of 150 mph.

1990 Mercedes 300SL

The BMW Z3 went on sale in spring of 1996 amid hype from a cameo in the James Bond movie "Golden Eye." Demand became greater for the Z3 than the Mercedes or Porsche Boxter in the roadster reemergence market of the middle 1990's. And the Z3 was produced in the newly opened South Carolina factory which was the world headquarters for production of this model.

BMW Z3

But the public was shifting away from passenger cars and toward light trucks, mini-vans and sport utility vehicles. 

Suv's began to sell like crazy and auto makers rallied all their forces to get them to dealer lots. By 1999 this category was getting almost as many sales as passenger cars: 8.2 to 8.75 million.

Resources:

http://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/Articles/2011/12/13/The-Generation-X-Top-40-The-1990s

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/sports-cars6.htm

1980: The Age of More and Less

The 1980's: The Age of More and Less

Porche 924S

The 1980 saw a time when driveways were packed with cars. In fact, 87% of American households owned one or more vehicles, 51% owned more than one and 95% of domestic cars were for replacement autos. Americans were dependent on their cars. New technologies were appearing like electronic media, the laser, the computer and the robot, which was to change automotive production drastically.

The start of the 80's saw the economy slumping because of the energy crisis but in '84, car sales rebounded and 11.4 million cars were sold in 1996 which was the best year of the 80's. The flow of imports from Japan was threatening to slow the progress. American factories began producing Honda Accords, Toyota Camrys and other popular brands.

1983 Toyota Camry

The workers who were now making Camrys had been laid off by the Big Three in the cutbacks of the early 1980s. By 1989 Japanese models made up a third of all U.S. car sales and all of the Big Three automakers were selling cars produced by Japanese affiliates.

The Greatest Sports Cars of the Decade

Alfa Romero Spider

The Alfa Romero Spider , the Fiat and the 124 Spider wouldn't last the decade as the age of the roadster had come to a halt. 

The Italian sports cars like the DTomaso and Maserati were frozen out of the market by U.S. regulations. The Ferrari was successful this decade with its Testarossa.

Ferrari Testarossa

The Porsche 911 Turbo sailed smoothly through the Eighties and kept improving through the decade with the rear-engine that has become a classic.

Chevrolet produced a 1983 Corvette with a small-block V8 that was completely updated. It replaced the shark with more sophisticated lines. Datsun(Nissan) and Mazda began new design plans that spotlighted comfort and convenience without compromising the sports car feel.

First time models arrived on the scene including the Pontiac Fiero and Toyata MR2. They both had only two seats and were fun and affordable. In 1987 Cadillac came up with the Allante convertible and Buick countered with the two-seater Reatta.

Chrysler came up with the TC by Maserati which suffered in the market place along with the DeLorean DMC-12 the first all stainless-steel which became an icon in the movie Back to the Future, with Michael J. Fox. It symbolizes everything that was wrong with the 1980's.

Of course, every era has its contradictions. And for all the ups and downs, the 1980s not only left us some very capable, rewarding sports cars, it paved the way for even better things. Though the Acura/Honda NSX, Dodge Viper, Mazda Miata, and others would await the Nineties, they were conceived in the tough, winner-take-all environment of the 1980s. Considering how good they would be, maybe greed wasn't so bad, after all.

Resources:

http://www.history.com/topics/automobiles

http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id362.htm