Gentlement, and Ladies...please forgive my use of the latter term but I have had this thrust in my face too many times, whether by intention or not, raising my ire. Taste is completely subjective. Most of us have chosen the Cadillac La Salle Club because we love the marques. Many of us love the older cars, for whatever reasons, prompting us to bask in the warm glow of rememberance or idle away the hours playing with the mechanics. Some of us like the new Cadillacs (new being relative, of course) whether talking about the 1970s or those just out on new tires under the Cadillac 2005 marquee.
Whatever your pet love or peeve there is absolutely no reason to be insulting.
Even in jest, it propagates the general scism between the younger and older generations, something in our devisively split society we do not need.
Personally, as many of you know, I do not care for the new cars.
Why? Because they have no ambiance...no special flavour other than expense to drive them.
Colors, material and textures have given way to doudy taups and greys with an indescriminate strip of wood-like substance. Chrome is absent except as a foil, and the general shapes inspire little more than bemused indifference. I have sat in a new (last years De Ville) Cadillac and a new Malibu and came away with an impression that both were essentially the same, and the Malibu was impressive as to how much they could squeeze into its relatively small shape. The Cadillac made me feel like I had put on a 2 ton coat! No leg room, no head room (I had to take off my hat) and every surface seemed to press into me like a Miata. I dont know about you, but I expect a better impression from a 50K + price tag. I do not think a truck suffices as a replacement. I own one...its a truck. It serves as a truck. Stick an impressive badge on it, layer it in leather, and bedeck it with electric finery, it comes away still a truck.
I could care less if the engine is better or the drive train could pull a train. It doesnt need to do that...it just needs to move the car, and that has been done a long while ago.
As I said, this is my opinion. I am 48....hardly an old . Educated, well travelled and relatively well off (something of a feat given my disabilities). I like things that are special. Grand, and in some respects, unique if they are not so rare. I like images of rarety and vision...the girl with the pearl ear ring rather than say Guernica (although it is without a doubt brilliant as it is disturbing); an IM Pei structure over the Sears Tower...or Bauhaus rather than US Homes. Call me what you will, but do not dismiss me as a crank just because I do not fit your modern mode.
I joined this club because I wanted to be with like minds on Cadillacs. We can enjoy the new as well as the old but in particular it is with the special qualities of the past that are by everyones count long gone. Should we moarn them? I see no reason to do so. I would rather enjoy the qualities we see and love for what they are as we too will disappear. If the direction of the club goes beyond the old they so be it. Times pass...all things pass. There is nothing wrong with that. And I say, let the others in the future dream if they so choose or not for what it is worth. I intend to enjoy my cars and those I love. It is as with most things, a purely personal experience that if I can share, I shall. The rest can go hang. Happy New Year!
