Interesting developments in SUV market

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Notice the new GMC Trailblazer/Envoy line of SUV? Ground clearance 
approaching that of a normal station wagon (heck with the factory running 
boards the ground clearance seems less than that of my 164; alfa content 
duly noted by all I trust) What with the IRS on these huge wagons as well 
as on the Ford Explorer/Navigator reborn (again!) these piggies are 
starting to look a lot less like light trucks and more like ordinary 
passenger cars every day. You all know (and/or could care less about) my 
views on the US regulation (har har) of these vehicles as compared to 
passenger vehicles so take it as read.

That's really bad news because they will still totally crush your beloved 
passenger car in any sort of serious collision, using up your high priced 
and paid for collision protection with their ridiculously rigid 
construction and heavy weight, possibly killing you in the process and 
likely injuring you far more severely than the occupants of the 
SUV.  Darwin? Ha, reverse Darwin actually * see scientific note below. Now 
they are also more like a real car even more ignorant souls will be buying 
them (not just those who really need a truck and drive them accordingly, 
brief nod to those responsible truck users who buy a truck because they 
need a truck, they'll not be buying too many of these hybrid trucksters, 
useless for real heavy work and equally useless for passenger hauling).

*And a final note, since I'm wasting bandwidth again anyway, Darwin's idea 
was that beneficially adaptive mutations would spread through a species by 
the process of natural selection operating BEFORE reproduction by the 
parents not having the beneficial adaptation in their genetic makeup. 
"Natural Selection" was Darwin's Victorian euphemism for "dead." Extinction 
of the less favourably adapted organisms before they reproduce is how 
natural selection works, not survival of the fittest as it is so often 
wrongly referred to, are there really any Lamarckians left out there?

Astute observers will note that the apparent majority of SUV owners have 
already reproduced......


Cheers

Michael




Michael Smith
Calgary, Alberta,Canada
91 Alfa 164L
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