Despite being a lifelong camper, a one-time vegetarian and a dedicated, if lazy, supporter of environmental causes, I’ve also always been a GM man. (With the exception of the ’72 Dodge Dart that I owned for the three weeks it took me to find my beloved ’81 Oldsmobile Delta 88, nicknamed “The Penthouse.”)
So obviously, the recent news has been tough. Still, I don’t think anything could be more emblematic of the shift in global geopolitics than Hummer going Chinese. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Hummer fan. In fact, the only thing I find more ridiculous than a Hummer outside of a war zone is a Ferrari stopped at a red light (spotted yesterday). But when even the exagerrated excesses of U.S. consumer culture are being bought by Chinese brands, it’s something of a wakeup call.
And while I’m on the subject of cars, I just saw a matte-black Maserati the other day, and that, my friends, is a fine paint job for a fine automobile. I once thought about buffing the paint off the Penthouse to get down to the steel. But the effect, I’m sure, would not have been quite the same.