To begin with, I am a young man for my obsession. I don't have any particular training in writing, and I am unsure if my musings would be of interest to anyone. However my mind is reaching capacity with the studies I have amassed over the last 16 years. I spend an average of at least 1-3 hours most nights studying history of automotive design. I have to dig deep sometimes to find new stories, new studies to embark on and the information should be documented in a useful way, so I am going to attempt to open it up to anyone who may be interested. Why? I often wonder if the obsession I find myself submitting to year after year is a fading interest to my generation. In the day of iPhone's, instant gratification, and growing cloud of general impatience leading to the savage annihilation of pride and true craftsmanship I wonder if anyone really still cares about what I care about.
I'm sure I will turn off individuals who see this blog. I have certain points of view, but I am also not afraid to defend those points of view. I can't help it, but some people need to be turned off. I hope that I will in turn be beat up by elitist gurus if I am able to entice any to participate. The deeper I go the more I realize that I know very little, but it is rare to meet anyone within my reach who studies as much as I do so I look forward to the education.
I do not like American cars to start out with. I have a certain affinity for classic Americana, its what my old man raised me on but I don't like new cars. Very few of them are noteworthy. Sorry, but its the truth. In 2008 I bought my wife a VW GTI 4 door. It came with sports suspension, 6 speed manual, direct port injection with a variable finned turbo. I went to a Saturn dealership just to see what the General was offering in the hot hatch category. I found a Saturn Astra with an N/A 4 cylinder, base model, cloth seats, no real amenities at all for $4000 over what I paid. I couldn't believe it. I'm sorry, but GM deserved to fail. They made a classic mistake of forgetting and neglecting their market. Their real bosses. My dad used to have a plaque on his desk which said "let all those who refuse to innovate move over for those who will not." And truly, if they do not they will be run over by those who innovate. I will however always love certain American cars which are a symbol of American strength and ingenuity but I don't believe in pulling punches. It is ridiculous that the country who is responsible for innovations like putting a man on the moon touts that the greatest selling point for the new Camaro is that it has fully independent suspension... That seems like saying "it comes with a radio," it is the minimum of every non American car in its class. Its absurd. It should have come with it in 1967, the C2 Corvette at least had the lateral leaf spring so the technology was there, just unused... Which I wish I could say is unusual for GM.
I look forward to putting together well researched articles and posts to present my opinions. The only truth out there in the car industry is innovation. When companies stop innovating, the entire industry dies. We almost saw it in 2009 when the American car industry came screeching to a halt. Shame on the GM executives for profiting from damaging the reputation of our great country.
Lastly in this first post I wanted to discuss what I call the illness. I realized after 13 years of obsessing that my interest isn't actually in the cars. They are however a byproduct of the process. Like diesel was a cheap effective option because it was a byproduct of the refinery process of fuel. So what is my passion? What drives my interest? GHOSTS... I am haunted by them. I see them everywhere I look. Zagato, Abarth, Bertone, Vignale, Ghia, Figoni, Guigaro, Rapi, and many many others. They were visionaries. If it weren't for the competition created by these and hundreds of other designers we would never have seen the Ferrari 250 GTO, Jaguar E type, Mercedes 300 SLR, Porsche 356 Carrera Abarth GTL, and literally thousands of others. Passion through innovation is stitched together in a foundational framework though out time and culture by these ghosts. The unknown and unspoken geniuses. The masters.
This blog is to honor their memory. The memory of self made hard working expert craftsman who left an indelible mark on the world. I hope that these ghosts will visit the readers of this blog. I hope they change you. I hope they keep you up at night like they do me. That passion and obsession drive us all to understand more fully the art and rarity of true craftsmanship. I raise my meager symbolic glass to the masters of art, design, and innovation.
Scott Madsen
- Zagato's Ghost
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