The culture surrounding cars and how it has grown in the US.
Henry Ford once said that he wanted to see a new car in the garage of American. His dream was realized with the creation of the first Ford Model T costing just under four hundred dollars. With the use of the assembly line, production was faster, and interchangeable parts made production and maintenance that much easier. It was his dream and self motivation that took the burden of pushing us to this point in the history of car culture. It was inevitable that with the evolution of the automobile a culture would surely follow. It started with a car powered by only 20 horsepower, but today the numbers can reach as high as 500 on a stock car, or twice that after modifications. But the major point is not the specs on cars but the culture that surrounds them. It is that we have come so far that we have a separate cable channel (speed channel) completely devoted to everything and anything cars. Cars have become an object of obsession for so many Americans ranging from the novice at age 16 to the seasoned enthusiast at age 65. Today Americans with a television can watch NASCAR drivers drive around a track at 200 mph because of a tiny camera mounted inside of the car.
Speed Channel is a cable channel completely devoted to anything and everything cars. Discovery channel has a number of shows that are all about automobiles; American Chopper, American Hotrod, OverHaulin’, and Monster Garage are four series that are all about automobiles. MTV has a series called Pimp My Ride and its spin-off sister Pimp My Ride International, and the series Trick It Out Tuner Challenge. These three shows are all about a subculture of “car culture” called customization and personalization; making your car stand out from all others. The question of why cars are so appealing is an interesting path to tread. The answer in a nutshell is variety.
Yes variety, something simple yet complex at the same time because in encompasses so much in just one word. Cars offer something for everybody. It has always been this way. You have the soft-spoken and luxury cars like Mercedes, BMWs, and Saabs, and the loud, aggressive ones like the Vipers, Corvettes, and Mustangs filled with raw power. But even this previous statement even holds a truth about people who are involved with cars. People who prefer the quiet luxurious would know the name of specific cars not just the make whereas people who prefer the raw power of muscle cars know the specific names and not just the make. The point is that car culture in America has evolved from its humble beginnings because cars have appealed to the masses based on their variety but without the media and the ability to connect to the masses it would have never taken off and soared like it has.
In the beginning we had a very simple machine costing no more than four hundred dollars, but today people pay as much as one point one million for a single car. People buying these kinds of cars usually do not do it because these are the “best” cars but as a sign of status. Others buy less, much less, expensive cars but spend ten grand on “dope” spinning rims and another ten on a “dope” sound system, and just for kicks another five to ten grand in “dope” accessories. These trends have actually led to another subsection of American culture: popular culture. People at home see something on somebody else’s car on one of many shows devoted to cars and want that item or items. So it all comes full circle back to the television.
