V6 is for Vendetta

The Peugeot looks good, and boy, will it back up!

As a “Car Guy” ages it becomes important to maintain a certain dose of what Henri Bergsson called “elan vital.” This can be translated to mean a spirit for life. I could find a suitable substitute in English but this would betray my continental bias toward culture. Our country is just too young to have perfected the art of enjoying life. The French seem to exhibit a remarkable capacity for doing nothing but.

It is in this spirit, therefore that I wish to offer a Francophilian perspective on what ails my all too many American “Car Guys.” For some reason they seem to feel that ecological sensitivty is important when buying an automobile. So they buy hybrids with small engines. The true car guy will always keep a Porsche (or similar subsitute) in the garage to remain both suave and sensible.

It is when his little automotive appliance becomes his sole mode of transport that I begin to feel like merde for mon ami. At this moment in his life, he should be striking back at life instead of settling for the “approximated” driving experience of his Prius.

Now before you get too hot there Iron John, recognize that the Road Rake will never cut anyone down to size simply because they prefer driving a sewing-machine sized (and equivalently powered) car. My vendetta is against all those who fail to test drive a brilliant new alternative called the Lexus GS 450h. From the advertising, “Working seamlessly together, an invigorating V6 gas engine and a dynamic electric motor produce 339 horsepower – equivalent to many V8s.”

Better yet, the Lexus GS 450h is available now for 51k (less than a 540) and does 0-60 in 5.2 seconds–right up there with the Porsche in the garage. This Lexus is proof that stereotypes can be shattered in seconds (to borrow again from the ad).

Speaking of stereotypes, I have had quite enough about the French, as well. When I get around to it, I will paste in the ad that inspired this little blog. It was an ad for a brilliantly-styled new Peugeot with the headline “Men are back.” While it suffered from the akward translation that French car ads often fall prey to in Italian fashion magazines (I think I saw it in Vogue) it struck me as just right. A French car company, at least, would say something like that and might even deliver on it (they’ve designed some great cars lately, and they don’t care what you think.)

I am sad that I cannot say the same for GM or Ford. Their advertising lacks any form of inspiration (remember any?) Their cars are so bad they put people out of work at alarming rates (sorry to hear about the Ford plant, but what did you expect?) Most of all, they lack vitality.

I hestitate to call these companies “American.” The 89-year Carrol Shelby is an American. He has talked about building a 500 plus horsepower hybrid next year. He is a devotee’ of Colin Champan, an Englishman, who designed perhaps the seminal small sportscar of his generation, the Lotus Elan. The type of car (in addition to the above Lexus) that could prove vital to both aging car guys and companies alike.