Known Pioneers R.I.P.

Known Pioneers
50 years ago we had a car culture here in the U.S. People could put
together their own Hot Rods and drive them around the block without
police interference. Gas was less than 30 cents a gallon. Driving for
pleasure was not considered environmentally unfriendly. The density of
cars per mile of road was a fraction of what it is now. Cars were
still evolving. Carroll Shelby (ford), Colin Chapman (lotus), Zora
Arkus-Duntov (Corvette), Jim Hall (Chaparral), and Enzo were still
experimenting. It was because of these pioneers that the average car
of today offers greater everything than the exceptional sports car of
just a few years ago.

As you are well aware, at some point accountants took over GM. Many
generations of people have since been born. Most cars say nothing more
to these people about a Driver than the washing machines that they use
to wash their clothes, or the windows computer that they use to check
their email. If cars could be driven at 100% of there capabilities
then a Porsche could show it is different than a Toyota. As they are
driven today, the only difference that I can see is the middies offers
a greater safety margin in the rain to the trained driver. They both
get from point A to point B in about the same amount of seconds. No
one looks at them or even cares. Today's cars are ugly. We no
longer see it imperative that high performance drivers receive special
training, if it was available. Anybody can have any car they want if
they just wait for a few years and buy it used as the price plummets.
Cars depreciate for good reason.

These pioneers were not replaced, they now write software.
Colin Chapman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Chapman
Carroll Shelby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carroll_Shelby
Zora Arkus-Duntov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Arkus-Duntov
Enzo Anselmo Ferrari http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzo_Ferrari