After World War II, American auto designers seemed to be stuck in a rut:

Beginning in 1946, they produced tank-like creations, which later "evolved" into the strange-looking, garrish tailfin designs of the early 1950's.

But in October 1954, the Chevrolet division of General Motors literally astounded the automotive industry: they introduced the sleek, 1955 Chevy Bellaire-- a stunningly beautiful design that caused a flurry of curious Americans to flock into Chevy dealer showrooms, and drive away in the car that would make the division the premier sales leader for the next 20 years.

Previous to 1955, American cars were solid, reliable, and durable; they used heavy-gauged steel, and had frames worthy of military vehicles. But they were bulky-looking, slow, and rather ugly.

Then came the introduction of the 55 Chevy, and everything changed:

Along with the revolutionary design, Chevy had crafted an equally ingenious ad campaign. "See the USA, in your Chevrolet" resounded from billboards, radio spots, and from the most popular television variety shows of that time.

Not only did the slogan have a decided "ring", it carried a subliminal message: it literally opened up American pop culture to the era of the drive-in, cruising, and "heading out onto the highway."

Almost overnight, American lifestyles had been transformed into the "car culture", which remains to this day.

American drivers --who had bought the new Chevy because of it stunning looks-- were to discover an even more delightful surprise under the hood... the Turbo-Fire 265 V-8;  It delivered exceptional torque, and packed raw acceleration not found in other low-priced cars.

The engine quickly spawned a new "performance" paradigm-- drag racing from stoplights turned  ’55 Chevies into defacto race cars whenever they were challenged.

Shiny, "souped up" 55 Chevies dominated the drive-in scene. The car became a status symbol -everybody wanted one. Just under 2 million 1955 Chevrolets were sold, accounting for more than 20 percent of ALL cars sold that year.

Pontiac noticed the trend to performance, and how quickly it could "goose" sales figures. In 1957, they introduced their upgraded 347 cubic-inch, 290 hp "Trophy" V-8, plus a 317-hp mechanical-lifter job sporting three, two-barrel carbs, which was essentially a racing engine

In 1958, Pontiac introduced its legendary 389, with a camshaft specifically designed to deliver maximum torque between 20 to 60 mph-- the speed where most street races were either won or lost.

Chevy again countered with another legend-- the "327"-- undoubtedly the best American V8 of all time. It produced an astonishing 350 hp when ordered in its hottest, "solid-lifter" format. A 327 Impala-- thanks to its thundering powerplant-- was capable of leaving long black strips from the rear wheels for an entire city block

From 1962 to 1964, the high-torque, fast-winding 327 Chevy could blast almost anything off the road.  So quick were these demons (from a stoplight) that a good, four-speed-shifting driver would often defeat its larger cousin, the "409" in the eighth mile-- the distance of most red light encounters.

The 327 Chevy would dominate America's stoplight parade until 1964, when Pontiac upped the ante and  introduced its fabled GTO, powered by the equally-fabled 389, replete with 10.75 compression, and triple 2-barrel, "3 deuce" carbs.

Car sales reflected the trend: between 1962 to 1965, Chevy sold an incredible 5.8 million Impalas; and in its first two years, Pontiac sold an amazing 112,000 GTO's.

But after 1965, GM began to experience a slow, ominous decline-- and at the time, no one knew it was to culminate in its eventual bankruptcy.

But what had gone wrong?

Of course, the liberal "do-gooders" in Congress-- lobbied hard by Ralph Nader—had decided they would make cars SAFER; and legislated the "improvements" which would significantly increase prices --decrease performance-- and eventually drive Americans to imports.

Of course, we all remember the first time Detroit added some federally-mandated, all-new safety feature that absolutely drove one into passionate fits of frustration & anger.

In 1966,  it was the requirement for seat belts. Nobody wore 'em; they were little more than some loosely-fastened lap restraint (something like worn at an amusement park kiddie ride). 

Even when you were a kid boarding a ride at carnival, you thought to yourself..."Is this skinny stupid belt supposed to keep me from getting hurt? If this ride DOES go haywire, this flimsy thing wouldn’t do nothin!"

The practically useless seat belts were indeed a nuisance- especially when you sat on the buckle, or cleaned the interior of the car. But it all probably goes back to Ralph Nader's childhood; perhaps-- as a little kid-- he got his ideas from some kiddie ride that he obviously didn't think was too safe.

In any event, the world has never been the same. Once seat belts became law for all the "Big 3" manufacturers, there was no looking back.

Next--in 1968-- it was those incredibly stupid, and worthless front-passenger head restraints. And they're still with us! But rather than preventing whiplash, these vision-blockers have caused far more woe than they've prevented-- it's much more difficult to spot an adjacent car coming up beside (or behind) you.

Remember the first time you sat in a car equipped with the new, oversized headrests, cowering menacingly behind you? You couldn't help thinking..."What in the *&%$** are these stupid things supposed to do ? Prevent whiplash?  NO WAY...especially if  if some drunk rear-ends me!"

And from the back, all headrest-equipped cars now looked as if they were occupied by two giant-headed, alien passengers. And worse, anytime you found yourself in back of a stalled-out car, you could no longer discern if the car had a driver, or what was going on inside.

Next, it was the loss of the ultra-cool side-vent windows. Everybody remembers 'em--everybody misses them. They opened up diagonally, delivering nice, breezy air...cooling and refreshing. And the faster the car went, the bigger the blast of fresh air. But in 1969 (who's ever stupid idea it was) side-vent windows disappeared from all the new cars. The convenience of  easy, fresh-air circulation in the car was now gone.

And then...ta-da!  The 1970's marked the dawning of buzzer- flasher -warning light civilization. Driving annoyance was now taken to a much higher level.

Upon opening the drivers' door...buz-z-z..."you left the key in, dummy," said the buzzer to the driver. Or if you didn't buckle your seat belt...buzzzzzz...or...e--e-e-e-e-e! And what was worse, the buzzer would be persistent-- it would not silence itself until you obeyed. And if the car had a low battery, it would ring even more annoyingly (o-o-o-o-o), like it needed a transplant operation or something.

But this time drivers fought back. They would go to their old reliable mechanic, at the old reliable gas station (yes--they actually fixed your car back then); and he would REMOVE the wire to the goddarn buzzer.

But then auto manufactures wised up. Because "too many lives were being lost," the car engineers wired them into the horn-harness assembly. So now, you couldn't foil the seat belt and ignition buzzers anymore-- and driving in America has never been the same.

Next it was unleaded gas. Then the catalytic converter. Sure, they made the air a lot cleaner; but V-8 cars were no longer fun to drive. Now, you could no longer  impress anyone by jamming on the gas and produce that ear-splitting, masculine sound of peeling tires.

Unleaded gas had all the punch of lighter fluid; and the customary fun of peelin' out of Mickey-D's, or Arby's-- or laying a strip in front of your high school-- faded off into the environmental sunset.

It's no wonder the young drivers are ALWAYS at home playing video games; today's cars are sterile, and for travel only.

The old cars had room. They had cache'. Everyone knew you by what kind of car you drove. You didn’t even need a destination, because just driving around and cruising was such fun.

Well now; it's back to reality: today's American cars are no fun. They're not even cars now-- they're basically a truck disguised as an s.u.v. Of course, they're safer than a Soviet tank-- IF you crash-- but that's where it all ends.

But what if you're never in a violent crash? Oh well... it's the THOUGHT of being safe that's worth it . Yes safety...saving lives...preventing deaths-- it’s all about doing good; doing what's right. Everything must now exist for the sake of feeling safe. Nowadays, safety counts for everything.

But stop and think... just HOW dangerous were those, "unsafe", super-fun cars of the old days? Do we know of anyone who survived the peril of living through that terrible, UNSAFE era, when there were no seat belts, no buzzers, no flashing dash lights, no head restraints, air bags, etc?

This means less work for auto parts makers; less work for heavy industry; less money for  local economies. Laid-off auto workers can no longer eat out, deposit a weekly paycheck into the bank, buy a new shirt or shoes, or even see a movie at a local theater-- or even contribute to the church. They will stay at home now --watch TV-- and collect "compensation".

And this is what Congress has been doing to our entire economy for the last 40 years; making our lives more annoying, more miserable, less fun, less exciting-- but were so much safer!

Apparently, we’ve gone off the road, and have traded our semi-affluent, middle class lifestyles for a rust belt economy--basically because today's cars must be "made safe." This is on par with the stupidity of passing laws that make our offshore (and Alaskan) oil development illegal-- because drilling "harms" the environment.

So why don't we just pass a law that says auto accidents are illegal? It makes about as much sense. Let's all write in to Washington..."no more illegal auto accidents!"

We are literally being made 'safe to death' by the people on Capitol Hill!

You can hire 30 million traffic and highway patrolmen, you can install 25 seat and head restraints into every vehicle- and air bags "for every occasion"-- whatever. But you cannot eliminate traffic accidents unless you outlaw cars!

These coconut heads in Washington have done a bang-up job of eliminating most of our high-paying jobs (in one way or another) in the interest of safety!

QUESTION: what built America's middle class after World War II? It was mainly the auto industry, with the millions of jobs it provided, and its unlimited economic-multiplier effect.

Oil companies drilled for oil. Gas stations sold gas. Steel mills made steel, which required miners to mine coal, and iron ore producers to ship ore pellets across the Great Lakes to the mills in the East.

This was the "rust belt" back then. It was the economic envy of the world! A person with no formal education could come out of high school and live a life with a secure income and retirement-- all because of the so-called UNSAFE auto industry.

But today, Congress hasn't learned. They won't let the auto companies survive building conventional cars; and once-again, it's for the purpose of safety, and protecting the environment.

After Congress mandates "green" autos, Honda and Toyota will certainly beat us with a better product to the market. WHY? Not because they're better than us, but because they have better ENGINEERS than us.

We cannot our improve our lifestyles unless we improve our economy. And this means manufacturing jobs where we make our own goods, and keep the money earned within our country for reinvestment.

But with the government in control of the auto industry, it will only magnify the mistakes of the past: more regulations; more ugly green cars; and now, the calimitous environmental regulations of the Waxman- Markey "clean air" bill will guarantee the ultimate downfall of the American auto industry-- and the tens of millions of jobs that go with it.

www.keenobserver.blogtownhall.com