Slipstream - June 2020

Oversteer: Letter from the Editor
by Kurt Scaggs, Managing Editor
As I write this, it seems like some of us are beginning
to reemerge from under our rocks, pasty and bleary-eyed,
blinking the world back into focus. Dates are beginning
to filter on to the club calendar without blaring red
“cancelled” warnings. Many remain cautious, but look
forward to letting down their guard and getting back to
the new normal. I think that’s a phrase we might get really
tired of hearing. Eerily enough it also happens to be a
song by Robby Heckt that Siri has just picked for me to
listen to. Like right now as I’m typing this. (I’m still trying
to figure out how Google or Amazon or Apple knows
what I’m typing, scary) Surely that was coincidence right?
Do you think it’s a coincidence that we have so many
retro-inspired production cars these days? Were the older
cars really that much more interesting or is it something
else? I don’t want to get all philosophical and boomer about
it but if you look at our automotive past, cars were usually
about looking forward. Art Deco, Jet Age and Wedge
car designs were futuristic in their time. Of course that
continues today with super and hypercar manufacturers
constantly outdoing each other with amazing shapes and
forms. Look at the more pedestrian cars today and you’ll
see that they tend to look very similar again even though
all of the fake vents and grills and exhaust pipes designers
added to differentiate and add some character. Chryslers
look like Bentlys, Teslas and Mazdas bear more than a
passing resemblance, and virtually all the new Audis look
the same to me and I drive one. Looking back through
recent history though, cars inspired by cars of the past have
been with us since the 90’s. Some figuratively like the PT
Cruiser or the SSR, some more directly pulling from the
equity of nostalgia like the New Beetle, Challenger and Ford
GT. Some manufacturers did it quite effectively like Mini,
and some did not. I’m looking at you Ford, the 2002-2005
Thunderbird was not your best work. Is there a reason that
we’re looking backwards for “newness” these days?
For many of us of a certain age, new should be kind of
like it used to be only better. Have you seen what we are
willing to pay for a resto-modded car from the 70’s? It’s
too bad we can’t do the same for 2020 isn’t it? I’d
contribute to that, but I don’t think we’ll have that luxury.
Times they are a-changin’, but know that your Maverick
Region will adapt to the new normal without losing the
past. Kind of like what Porsche has done. Coincidence? I
think not. So keep it clean and ready, we’ll be able to
‘enjoy the drive’ together again soon.
36 May