I really quite enjoy being 72, but it pays for me not to pretend that I am somehow different ... Truth is I am just as crotchety as the next guy a lot of the time and while I certainly look to the future rather than the past - not all that is gone was wrong and not all that is new is an advance.
Marcos circa 1969.
In the Automotive sphere.
I pine for round headlamps (and tail lights unless imaginative like first Murano and original Maserati 3200 GT).
I want key start.
I would like to see a modern interpretation of column auto-change allowing for three abreast front seating.
Oddly, some might say, I am happy with foot-operated ‘handbrake’ - emergency or parking brake if you get my drift.
I generally prefer minimum 50 profile tyres.
I still like manual gears - the more the merrier.
I hate touch screens - on phones and sat nav etc in cars.
I believe ‘hands free’ is every bit as dangerous as hand-held while driving - the distraction of chat with someone who is blind to the challenges you are facing on the road is the danger, not one-hand driving.
I do not want a reversing camera (I wrote this a long while ago before I bought Optima which has one - not essential but can be handy).
I believe all learner drivers should have minimum 30 minutes experience on skid pan.
I like rear opening doors - front and rear.
I dislike dark tinted windows, especially front and front side.
I have a general preference for British cars - most Bentley, pre-Phantom R-R, Jaguar, McLaren, Aston Martin etc will do ... and Marcos (John has a Marcos in Australia)!
I see no reason why I would thank you for any electric car, either production or concept.
I fail to be convinced that there is such a thing as man’s measurable impact on global climate.
I neither understand, nor wish to understand CO2 emission ... let the cows, and my car, fart without commentary.
No matter how much I read about it the (Australian) carbon tax justification does not justify it to me.
I believe that unleaded petrol and the whole catalyst introduction was a scam (powered I understand by GM) on par with such later events as the Millennium Bug (Y2K) and Climate Change - formerly Global Cooling and Global Warming, not to mention reports every decade or so of the imminent end of world oil supplies ... all classic BS and highly profitable for the scammers.
(So that’s John Weinthal’s thoughts on modern motor cars, and a bit on pollution thrown in as well. Many points to ponder.)
