1 2 3

IMAGE imgs/carculture03.jpg

Each era has produced a variety of remarkable trends that seem to relate to the cultural nature of cars and highways. Imagine the prohibition era without the Packard, or Bonnie Clyde without their Model "B",or the second world war and the Jeep, the massive expansive chrome monstrosities of the fifties and the drive-in everything of the sixties. Time moves along and we measure it with model years and milestones in development. Hydraulic brakes 1939, monocoup construction - 1949,acrylic paint 1957,electronic ignition - 1978,fuel injection - 1984,and these are only a few of the innovations that made their way into our driveways.

The late nineties have become the time of the "BIG" machines,in this part of the continent the extended cab pickup rules while SUVs (sport utility vehicles) are a close second. The personalvehicle is, and has been for a long time, the most expensive purchase for each individual and because of the societal infrastructures, it is not a luxury but is a necessity. Sociologists and anthropologists have not had a lot of luck explaining the phenomena in terms of the history of human beings. The horse culture of Europe never achieved this sort of