Quote:
The slant has a stellar reputation because it would go much farther in miles and calendar use than its' contemporaries, but modern stuff is far better.
That's exactly right. Applies to whole cars, too: the Darts and Valiants (etc) were unusually durable
for their time, compared to most of what else was on the market, that's all. In actual fact, newer cars last longer than even fastidiously-maintained older cars. Partly it’s because now we have better materials and build techniques, and partly it’s because today’s fuels burn a lot cleaner and today’s lubricants do a much better anti-wear job.
Take a
look and see the steady upward trend of the average age of a car on American roads. In 1969 it was 5.1 years. In 1977, the figure was 5.5 years. In 1983 it was 7.2 years. In 1990 it was 7.6 years. In 2014 it was 11.4 years. And the current figure is within a spark plug gap of 14 years.
And it's not just a longer life, it's a longer, much more trouble-free life. Think about it…how often do you see a dead car by the side of the road today vs. 25 or 35 years ago? Why do you think service stations have all been replaced by gas stations with convenience stores…? It’s because there’s no longer enough dead-car-by-the-roadside business to support much of a service station industry, and cars need much less frequent maintenance. Similar situation with machine shops; there's just a whole lot less work for 'em these days.
No, the notion of the good-ol-days when cars were sooooo much more affordable (solid, sturdy, durable, dependable…) than they are today is just not real. Objectively, new cars really are better and safer and cleaner than old ones in absolutely every functional way. It doesn’t mean we have to give up liking old ones, we just have to admit that we don’t like them because they’re better (they’re not), we like them because we like them, and that’s fine as far as it goes—but not further.
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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.
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