The American Spectator

Print Email

Text Size

The Nation's Pulse

(Page 2 of 2)

But relative efficiency isn't the same thing as efficient.

At current prices (around $3 per gallon, depending on where you live), tanking up the V-8 G8 GT will cost you about $60. And that tankful will last the typical commuter less than a week -- so figure at least four fill-ups per month, or $240 bucks.

For many middleclass types, that's a lot to swing -- at current prices. A little runabout like the Prius (or one of the new "B" econo-subcompacts like the Honda Fit) may not make you feel all that spectacular when you stomp the gas -- but it costs less than half to feed the thing. The tank's smaller -- around 14 gallons is typical -- and the car itself can go 30-40 percent farther on a gallon of fuel.

Thirty dollars to fill up vs. $60. And maybe only three fill-ups per month vs. four (or even five).

Money matters. It's the speed bump in the road that forces us to slow down -- whether we want to or not.

We have no choice.

It's why we shop at Wal-Mart and Costco. And it's why we're snapping up high-efficiency cars like the Prius -- and saying "uh, no thanks" to big hogs we can't afford.

Muscle sleds -- and big RWD sedans and wagons -- worked in the '50s and '60s because they were cheap to feed. (Average Americans also had more disposable income.) When they suddenly became not cheap to feed in the early '70s, love turned to loathing. The divorce papers were filed. We -- most Americans, that is -- signed up for "sensible shoes" that took the form of smaller, lighter cars. GM, Ford and Chrysler went on crash diets. Almost overnight, RWD became an acronym for out-of-date dinosaur. The future was FWD -- and "cab forward."

Remember?

Now the circle's about to close again. The automakers have re-tooled and revamped their lineups and are once again building huge, powerful, flashy things the likes of which we haven't seen en masse since 1967 or thereabouts.

But the problem is it's 2007 -- and cheap gas is alreadygone. We don't even get a grace period -- let alone a few years to have our fling. At just the moment that this latter-day Renaissance of freewheeling excess is really getting started, the reality check's been mailed -- post-dated.

Much as we might love the idea, signing up for a 23 mpg G8 (or even a 28 mpg '09 Camaro) in these days seems about as sensible as an adjustable-rate loan on an overpriced Las Vegas McMansion. A "great room" with 15 foot high ceilings doesn't do you much good if you can't afford to heat it in winter. Just like a 361 horsepower muscle sedan gets to be not-so-fun when the SOB's bleeding you white every week.

Maybe we'll discover that half a mile under L.A. sits more oil than in all of Saudi Arabia. That would be wonderful. But odds are, we won't. Odds are, the price of fuel's going to keep on going up.

And the appeal of big cars with big V-8s is going to go down.

It's not something I look forward to. But it is something I expect.

topics:
Iran, Oil