It seems the support for the DemoncRATs fuel efficiency agenda is supported by people who don't have cars.

I love my F-150.

Ford has been so busy building trucks, they missed out on the small car market. Hyundai dealers put a bunch of small cars right out front, while Ford dealers have row on row of pickups on the front line. Shoppers looking for an economy car tend to be drawn toward anyone but Ford. Too bad, because Ford has always built a decent small car. Small SUVs will continue to make gains, because they're getting more fuel efficient. I'll tell you one thing, fuel economy is a big deal for those of us who drive lots of miles. I spent $1500 to $2000 a month on fuel, mainly because I'm expected to drive a full size 4X4. If I were allowed to pick any vehicle, I'd drive a mid-sized SUV, with a turbo 4 banger.

As we move toward more fuel efficient coffins, people will opt even more toward trucks and vans. I'm sure they will eventually require a permit for vehicles other than cars. In small town Alberta there aren't many cars.

Trying hauling around a couple of kids in a coffinmobile.

The prevalence of ugly hulking trucks on the road today illustrates just how much feminism has neutered the average male. The average male used to have taste in cars. Now all they want is a big truck, and the bigger and noisier the truck, the more they think it demonstrates some sort of degree of manhood and success. In most cases it just demonstrates that they have reverted to barbarian form.

Whereas the parameters used to be more refined, they are now simply size of engine and physical size of vehicle. So it's not so much that Americans don't want to downsize their wheels, but rather that men have lost any sense of good taste in cars, a position that has come about because feminists have told men repeatedly they are simple animals and now they believe it. Trucks are a product of feminist dogma, and perhaps the average male is trying to subconsciously stick it to feminists in some very childish sort of way.

I do hope that the day returns when men had taste in vehicles. However it may never return as modern feminists are a pretty determined lot (witness decline of men attending university, etc. etc. etc. the list is long).

penis envy
4 banger turbo works for me because of the price of gas and commuting

What TJ said.

Or, as the old saying goes, " Big car, little dick".

TJ @ 11:

Oh, what profound insight. Been reading Cosmopolitan again, have we?

TJ,Ralph !!!!!!!!!! Would you like some cheese and crackers to go with that whine?

I do a lot of driving around B.C. When ever I'm not paying the gas I love driveing my coworkers Hemi Ram crewcab truck. 160kph smooth, quite, stable warm comfortable and great sound. I save hours getting there and back.
when I pay the gas I drive the wifes 4 banger at 110, noisy death grip on the wheel so i can correct quikly when the wind direction changes, small and claustrophopic. I hate it. My loosercruiser is getting traded in for a Hemi pretty soon!
We need more cheep oil! And despite claims otherwise I am an measurably above average

I'd prefer to hang out with barbarian truck drivers over metrosexual Fiat 500 owners anyday.

Even the full sized trucks are getting better milage now. I had a 2011 1500 Ram this past fall for hunting. At 110kph on the highway, it was sipping fuel at 11-12L/100km. Not bad if you ask me.

"TJ,Ralph !!!!!!!!!! Would you like some cheese and crackers to go with that whine?"

It has nothing to do with cheese and crackers. The average male has lost all sense of good taste, and has reverted to very primitive ways to try and demonstrate that they are worthwhile.

Whether it be hideously ugly trucks, or pants hanging off their hips, or dreadful music, pick your example. Bottom line: feminists 1, males 0

TJ, you are missing the point entirely on the "big dick-big truck" thing you have going on there.

Yes, there are lots of trucks being bought by the macho man / boy's out there, but there are not a lot of really great cars out there for the pickin.

Unless you don't like the look of the Corvette or Camaro? Dodge Charger? Ford Mustang? But also there is the Mercedes SLR or any BMW M-Series or Aston Martin DBS or Porsche Carrera GT, or any Ferrari or Lambo? Those are just some of the heart-pounding-adrenaline-junkie-macho-machines which are being bought up at record paces, and for the most part have waiting lists to buy.

And by the way...my wife REALLY liked our '05 Vette,...did I say REALLY REALLY liked it. That was a fun car to drive, but not quite as much as the '94 Dodge Stealth RT/TT with AWD/AWS.

Fun is fun, but to each there own.

By the way! Saw one of the craziest things ever. An '06 Vette pulling a utility trailer full of "stuff" on the QE II, heading into Calgary!! Some guys have just a little too much cha-ching!!

Can you imagine pulling into the trailer hitch shop and saying "I want a hitch for the Vette, got to take some garbage out to the dump!!!!"

Based on my observations the bigger the SUV, the tinier the woman driving it. Women like or maybe need to feel protected and want their children to be safe so they gravitate to the biggest vehicle they can afford based on the fact they are most likely to survive a crash. The fact that their jacked-up all wheel drive SUV will never leave pavement does not matter to them.

Maybe the US SUV and truck buyers are getting them while they can before the upcoming unattainable CAFE standards of 54mpg(US) come into effect.

Regarding taste in cars, the most beautiful car of all time is the Jaguar XKE (E-type) and it had a straight six 3.8 (later a 4.2) litre engine. Until I have $80,000 for one and $16,000 for a Jap import Toyota Landcruiser for winter I'm driving my Civic 106 miles every workday. Bummer.

Sorry to all you folks with the penis-envy. But if you've got a family with a dog involved in skiing, hockey, camping (and the myriad of things a family would do together)...you need at the very least a mid-sized SUV to carry all the stuff from point A to point B. Try fitting two kids, two hockey bags full of gear, 4 hockey sticks, a couple of full-sized backpacks full of clothes into a Hyundai Elantra and you'll see what I mean (saw my ex-wife try to do that this past X'mas...she had to make two trips). She could never figure out why I insisted on driving the SUV (used too much gas, higher insurance, etc) although it's 10yrs old this year.

The average male used to have taste in cars. Now all they want is a big truck, and the bigger and noisier the truck, the more they think it demonstrates some sort of degree of manhood and success.

In the Calgary bedroom community that I live in many of the hot women drive big trucks and SUVs.
I just know the type of man they go for, and it ain't the girlie boys with little willies who drive clown cars.

I will not give up my truck for a clown car.

And, BS TJ, have you not noticed that trucks now-a-days come with rack and pinion steering, 4-wheel disk brakes, traction control, 4 - 5 speed automatic transmissions, electric bucket seats, carpet, CD/DVD players , surround sound, GPS and just about anything you can get in a car you can get in a truck.

You seem more angry with men than you do trucks.

Yeah, lets find even more pointless ways to fracture and divide those of us who generally believe that higher taxes and larger government are a problem. Everyone who might prefer driving a Focus instead of a F-150 is obviously a metrosexual marxist.

You should realize that stuff like this, however trivial, is what makes any small c policy an incredibly hard sell here in the Bolshevik belt.

Or, as the old saying goes, " Big car, little dick". Posted by: Ralph at January 11, 2012 11:25 AM

Ya Ralph, I am sure you are biggest dick posting here today.

Thanks to the lefties and their "war on the car" the roads here aren't passable with a small car. The wheels would be ripped off it or the oil pan punched in the first week.

It always makes me laugh when people think it's any of their business what I or others drive. When you make the payments on my car then you can have a say. Otherwise enjoy your choice and I'll enjoy mine.

"I will not give up my truck for a clown car."

A "clown car" - really. This statement reaffirms my point. As I said, men have become simplistic animals, much to the delight of feminists. There is no greater example of the decline in the sophistication of the male species than the view that only a big hulking truck makes you a "real man".

What's being overlooked is just how GOOD the new F150 and Explorer are. It is the NEW models that are selling so well. Especially the F150 with it's new engines, it is a big step forward. Without considering the sales of OTHER vehicles in the segments, we can't say whether folks are giving the cold shoulder to small cars in favor of large trucks and mid-size SUVs (actually, the new Explorer is almost a crossover), or if a lot of truck and SUV buyers are picking Ford over the competitition.

I'm with TJ on this one.

Could take this point a bit further too. Why are the big cities so infested with leftists? Everyone I know who was born here isn't all that far left. The real leftists, the activists - they all come from rural areas where everyone who doesn't proclaim their love for a pointlessly oversized truck is branded a fag. Then they move here, seeking revenge-through-bigger-government on all of you for the rest of their lives.

So thanks for that.

"Ford has been so busy building trucks, they missed out on the small car market. Hyundai dealers put a bunch of small cars right out front, while Ford dealers have row on row of pickups on the front line. Shoppers looking for an economy car tend to be drawn toward anyone but Ford. Too bad, because Ford has always built a decent small car. Small SUVs will continue to make gains, because they're getting more fuel efficient. I'll tell you one thing, fuel economy is a big deal for those of us who drive lots of miles. I spent $1500 to $2000 a month on fuel, mainly because I'm expected to drive a full size 4X4. If I were allowed to pick any vehicle, I'd drive a mid-sized SUV, with a turbo 4 banger." What are you talking about? I purchased a 2011 Ford Fiesta for my daughter.... fantastic Car, and you are talking about Korean cars?

Geez Abe, did I touch a nerve?
Some things shouldn't be taken so seriously.

I just bought a new Ford Escape SUV, its my 3rd one. Great car good mileage, V6. When you are a geezer, with some arthritis, you don't want to twist your body into a prezel to get in a small car, and then have your ass drag on the pavement. I did that in my 20's. This is deer central country, where I live, I want something to buffer the next buck I hit.

So, let's see if I understand one of the thrusts (Oops! sorry for that masculine metaphor. Probably means I have penis envy!) of this thread:

(1) According to TJ, trucks are a product of feminist dogma. (I'm not making this up. See TJ@11) And men drive trucks to retaliate against feminism.

See? They buy the products of feminism to retaliate against it! So obvious once it's spelled out, isn't it?

(2) According to TOut@1:03, Toronto is over-populated with leftist refugees from the country forced to live there by truck-driving anti-feminists.

So, ... both their problems would be solved were feminists to produce smaller, more fabulous cars. Guys who retaliate against feminists would buy them, and guys who like fabulous would buy them. Radical leftists would return to the countryside, and cultural harmony would ensue.

I think there's a Ph.D. thesis lurking somewhere in there.

I still love my F-150. In fact I might step up to a an F-250.

Yes I've decided. My next vehicle will definitely be an F-250, then I'll have a bigger penis.

The commments remind me of an old limerick

"There was a man from Boston,
who had a baby Austin,
He had room for his ass
and a gallon of gas,
But his balls fell out and he lost 'em."

Yeah, as a family guy I'll tell you another little secret: see those child seats? Until the age of 7+ the kiddies "need" one. ( The infant ones can, I think, be dropped from orbit without harming the child.)

That means if you have 2 kids any normal (sub-large) vehicle has about ZERO useful room in back. Add a midsize dog and a stroller and the back of medium station wagon is full.

-MUCH LESS ANY CARGO- like groceries and a suitcase.

I drove a rental Fiat 500 the other day, cute, fun, and USELESS for more than two adults and minor luggage/groceries. Kiddie seats will not fit back there.

I'm so lusting after a modern minivan ( I dislike SUV's) it's crazy. A nice big Caravan ( which is aces at the Home Depot too) will set me back less an a Mini cooper.

I've been driving big ole trucks all my life, finally decided time to buy a small car to save on gas. So I bought a VW golf and you know what I mourn my truck on a daily basis. Driving a truck is a lifestyle choice, like owning a sport's car only you can drive over said sport's car.

nick at January 11, 2012 1:42 PM you are over-analyzing.

Men no longer have good taste in cars and that is because they are now diligently following the very path that feminists want. Just look at some of the posts in this thread. If you own a big truck you are a "man", and if you don't, you are not. And the bigger the truck/engine, the more of a man you are. What could be more simple-minded and indeed childish than that? It is a very elementary view.

The average male used to have a far more sophisticated, nuanced and mature view when it came to cars. But after being told for generations by feminists that they are nothing but savage barbarians they seem to have decided to adopt the part (much to the delight of feminists I am sure). In my view nothing illustrates this theory better than the current obsession with the notion that a hulking truck makes you a man, and anything else makes you a clown/fag/loser/metrosexual/etc.etc. (see above posts for more).

What I do find remarkable is how readily so many men have adopted this simplistic view of the world. Don't think for one minute that marketeers don't understand what is going on. The car companies, as we know, are laughing all the way to the bank.

I hate to think what the modern, "I'm a man and you're a wimp" truck owner would have called me and my friends as teenagers given the cars we used to lust over, sissies/fags/wimps/girlie boys/etc.

Buy what u want, who give's a rats ass.

I still like my 1990 six cylinder toyota p/u truck. And...just to show I still have my balls I have an easy rider rifle rack on the back window. I'm a chick magnet, what can I say.

What I find remarkable is the lack of a sense of humour most men have when the subject of their choice of vehicles comes up.
Lighten up people. It's a personal choice-nothing more.
Or a Doug says, "who gives a rat's ass"?

If driving a type of vehicle is a "lifestyle" the rest of your life is pathetic and sad.

I recently traded in my Escape for an Acura sedan, and my wife's Escape for a Dodge Caravan. Both due to need and not pride.

I'm not happy that technology has been directed toward more power, instead of better economy. The biggest passenger vehicles are also the fastest, and that's unnecessary. I learned to drive pickup trucks in the 70s and 80s, when they couldn't even maintain the speed limit on an average hill. We got by with those trucks, but now, guys want something they can drag race a Mustang with. We could be driving 30 MPG 4x4s, if the engineers had put their minds to it.

The rise of the SUV is of the lefts own making by enforcing more insane seat belt regulations for kids now up to eight. Unintended consequences by the usual ding bat control freaks. Small cars are hard to drive now amidst the huge carven lines of vehicles. So no one buys them anymore, because they can't see to drive. The small cars are coffins on wheels.
The left always wants it all, no matter what they do, especially if its against human nature.

"But if you've got a family with a dog involved in skiing, hockey, camping " - that's a helluva dog!

coach-
don't you mean drag race a Mustang while towing a 35' trailer?
The turbo- diesels are insane nowadays.

Buy what u want, who give's a rats ass.
~doug

That's the point of the thread.
People are doing what they want(not listening to government, media, environazis, feminist apologists, etc.) and what people want are BIG vehicles.
People are not buying the 'save Gaia by purchasing what we tell you to purchase' propaganda.

I asked my neighbour(a retired RCMP officer) what to get for safety, a small car of a larger SUV/Truck?
(he drives a new pickup truck and his wife drives an SUV-both always drive solo)
He said, "Forget how well the car does in impact tests against a post or wall...the little cars get torn through like tissue paper when they get hit by a truck or SUV especially when they get T-boned which, he said, were the majority of fatal accidents he saw as a RCMP officer.
Oh, and the height difference?
If you're in a small car the bumper of a truck or SUV hits you at upper torso/shoulder or head level.

""Too bad, because Ford has always built a decent small car"" Coach and S. Becker.
Hmmmm, The new Fiesta is a good car as is the new Escort... but for pete's sake to say that Ford always built a decent small car ignores the decades of rather crappy cars like the Pinto, the original Fiesta and the first year Escort.... And in those decades people shopped elsewhere for a better small car, and they still do. This isn't about quality now, because I think Ford has fixed that, its about effort and marketing and Ford fails in this for its small cars.

I've seen too many pictues of little cars ripped in half. I remember seeing lots of cars from fatalities in the 1950s and 1960s that were intact except for crushed areas. Seatbelts would have saved most of those. I drive a pickup and my wife a van.

Well here I am in AMERICA today, the Phantom is coming to you from Arizona. You know what's on the road here? TRUCKS.

Poor people drive clapped out ten year old crappy sedans with the paint peeling off, most other vehicles are pickups and SUVs.

The Phantom is driving a 1986 F-350 four door dually, thank you very much. Long box, four point harness on racing seats. Because why? Because road speeds are high and people don't watch what the hell they are doing, is why. People are -afraid- here, afraid they are going to get picked-off like a duck in a shooting gallery by some IMBECILE on a cell phone.

My thoughts on the matter are that I haven't seen a single cop on the highway since I got here. There's not any law enforcement for moving violations. They only come -after- you crash.

Therefore, DUH, everybody wants the biggest ugliest behemoth they can manage. I'm no different, mine has a skull and crossbones on the front. People see that in the rear-view and they get off the phone.

I may post pictures from Barret Jackson and some of the other AWESOME car shows/auctions going on the next week or so.

By the way, TJ and company: the car = dick, gun = dick thing is so lame its in a wheelchair. get some new material, eh?

Let`s see now....all this talk about hidden meanings in what one drives.

I have a full array of vehicles that compliment all aspects of my life.

Starting with my 2000 Dodge diesel-for pulling trailers. Great power and I rarely go out of 4th when cruising!

Then I have a Honda van (best van in the industry)
You gotta love that van with the heated leather seats,dual zone air; V6 power...an all around great rig for summer driving...comfortable as all gettup...great transporter for me, my lovely wife and our two rambuncious schnauzers.
I might add you can sleep in it very comfortably as well. Talk about feeling good all day on a long haul. Good resale too!

Then there`s the Jeep Liberty...my wife`s winter rig...she always feels safer with winter driving when in a 4x4... What can I say...When shes happy, I`m happy...a man would be a fool not to keep his wife happy! Trust me I`ve been around the block a few times on this one!

The Liberty`s a little tight on space but so what; its her commuter car and also doubles as our towed(toad) behind our big rig motor home with the humungous industrial Cummins diesel pushing it around like there`s no hills here in BC.

I`m of an age where I like my creature comforts at the end of the day.
I like roughing it too so there`s a camper to throw on that Dodge diesel pickup when we want to get into those out of the way places and do a little communing with old mother nature.

Which brings me too my favourite rig of all...My 1950 Willys Overlander Jeep Gladiator.Shes an old F-head four cylinder with vacuum wipers,one tailight(original equipment) heater(an option in those days)and a floor pedal starter. She`s a beautiful old gal and my wood truck to boot. I don`t think any one but a total fool could get this one stuck...she`s a tractor disguised as a truck. I`ve still got the original bill of sale and the showroom pamphlet for it. Cost in 1949 was just under sixteen hundred dollars and NO sales tax.

In my over 40 year driving career I have owned well over fifty vehicles. Many were trucks up to 5 tons and many cars as well. I`ve had big cars and ,a few Saturns, Austins, Morris Minors, Chevy Novas and even a few 57 Belairs including a 58 Nomad which disappeared many years back.

So to conclude I would have to say that in my experience what works with vehicles is what makes sense to the individual. Its an extension of oneself so it should feel good, serve a useful purpose and get you there the way you want to arrive.

No one vehicle can do it all if you live an active life.

Out here in rural BC north, about 80% of the vehicles on the Highway are pickups and SUV's. All 4x4. Nothing to do with feminization . Long severe winters, Bambies constantly crossing the road, overabundance of swamp donkeys (moose for you city folk) and a absolute requirement for anyone not spoiled by city amenities. Logic and experience is the deciding factor and cars just don't cut it. My wife has a Jeep Grand Cherokee and I have a Chev Silverado. When we moved out here from southern BC more than 20 years ago we came with a Volvo and a Honda civic. Between Sept. and end of Jan. we found them to be next to useless, got rid of them and have had 4x4's since. If TJ ever made a winter trip up here he would probably have to re-evaluate his theories as they apply to urban residents only.

Phantom@5:35: Attaboy!

If TJ ever made a winter trip up here he would probably have to re-evaluate his theories as they apply to urban residents only.
~peterj

Surprisingly enough, many of the secondary/residential roads in cities don't get plowed and people often can't get to the primary roads without a 4x4 or vehicle with high clearance undercarriage if it snows alot.
Having a BIG vehicle is just sensible in Canada.

TJ >

Yea I donno. my F150 crawls along winter ice and summer mud up back mountain roads hunting and fishing like most cars can't seem to do all that well.

I do laugh my @ss off driving up and down the highway during a blizzard seeing all the smart people’s cars in the ditch, some waiting over 24 hours for a tow truck.

Couple that with yard work, hauling my own appliances and other miscellaneous garbage chores in and out, it just comes across as not all that helplessly feminine.

PS: My wife wouldn't trade her F150 for the world either.

It s sad that people deem themselves morally superior to others because they drive a small car. If I were rich I'd buy a new challenger because they are awesome looking and still keep my beat up 96 Sierra (which i had to put a new engine in last year)for pulling my camper, lugging stuff to the dump, hauling my motorcycle, and running my kids to hockey etc. It seems to me that wagging your finger at people who drive trucks is indicative of a neutered self righteous wuss. Drive what you want Im going to keep my truck, if you don't like it- too bad

when the "car" you drive, the cloths you wear, or the balance in your bank are the that which DICKtate the man you are, YOU are in deep sh!t

Where I live the primary vehicles on the road are trucks and SUV's. I'd like to have a pickup but for now borrow the neighbor's F150 when I have to take a load of garden waste to the local composting area. My Grand Cherokee works quite well even though it's a fairly small SUV. For comfort, nothing beats the Ford Expedition I rented during the move from Vancouver. Had it totally packed with stuff but the drive was a very pleasant one.

For summer driving, I like a car as they corner better than SUV's and was pleasantly surprised at the Volvo S80 that I rented for a trip to Alberta. Even with my lead-footed driving I got to Calgary on one tank of gas. Felt very good at 180 kph on some of the excellent back roads in S. Alberta but I'd far prefer my SUV in the winter.

As old duffer noted, one needs a variety of vehicles for different purposes. A vehicle such as the S80 is one that wouldn't go off the highway, but my Grand Cherokee is old enough that it doesn't bother me to go off road with it. The only thing I wouldn't drive is some tiny POS that I can't fit into for starters and secondly it provides absolutely no protection if someone drives into me. Every time I rent a vehicle I make sure to get an SUV or the largest full size car on the rental lot. There were great deals on Navigators last time that I went to rent an SUV but my wife didn't think her parking skills were good enough for this size of vehicle. Where I live, an F350 fits comfortably into most parking spaces unlike Vancouver. I'll go back to a bicycle before I'd ever consider getting into a stupid car.

$16,000 for a Jap import Toyota Landcruiser

The best investment in a vehicle I ever made, and the best vehicle I've ever owned after Ford and Chev trucks for most of my driving life. The turbo diesel I-4 easily gets 22-25 MPG, and maintenance cost is next to nothing. It's easy to see why Toyota wasn't allowed to sell them here. It's just too bad that N.American manufacturers can't make a comparable vehicle.