Hall of Very Good Cars

Welcome to the second half of 2022. Technically, though, that doesn’t really happen until noon tomorrow.

 

Not all value systems are equally valid. The Nazis had a “value system.” Do I really have to tolerate or respect that paradigm? Too many people think that freedom of speech means freedom from consequences.

In a marginally related vein, here is a passage from David Maraniss’ wonderful biography of Vince Lombardi, When Pride Still Mattered, that I am reading for the 10th or 12th time:

 

“WITH EVERY [sic] national scandal comes shock, surprise and lamentation on the fall of man. The event is seen by some as substantiation of decline, as though human imperfection were a modern-day phenomenon. Along with diatribes come complaints of public apathy; the righteous express bewilderment that no one seems to care.”

 

Maybe I’m projecting my own views onto Maraniss’ words, but when he writes “the righteous” I think he means self-righteous. Thomas Sowell–noted economist, historian, social theorist and a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution–uses the word “anointed” as in self-anointed. From his book The Vision Of The Anointed:

 

“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce and canonized those who complain.”

 

We have lost our way and I don’t think we will ever find the way back. That’s my lamentation. NO ONE has all the answers no matter how much they think they do. EVERY endeavor of human beings is flawed because EVERY human being is flawed. By the way, that is not an indication of any religious belief of mine.

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This Hall of Very Good Cars post is the ultimate anti-climax, but I figured I better Shit Or Get Off The Pot.

 

 

The pictured car is, of course, a 1958 Chevrolet Impala. That was the first year the Impala was produced. Despite the protestations of many, reliable sources indicate that for its first year of existence the Impala was a variant of the Bel Air and not a model unto itself. The Impala became a separate model in 1959.

I don’t know if it’s the wrap-around rear window, the noticeable but not excessive canted rear fins, the triple rear taillights, or all of the above, but I just love the looks of this car. Apparently, so do many collectors as good examples of this car are hard to find at (much) less than $60,000.

Why this car doesn’t rise to the level of an Ultimate Garage is difficult for me to articulate, but that it doesn’t is clear to me, nevertheless. I am loathe to stoop to “I know it when I see it.” However, that’s the difference in a nutshell. (Yes, I hear you; nutcase is more like it.)

It can be said that the Hall of Very Good Cars posts will be a long presentation of automobiles that “Just Missed The Cut” like those I posted in the first two versions of my Ultimate Garage. Maybe it’s just an excuse to write about cars I find appealing. I am far from perfect and would love to have more reasons to keep writing, even if I have to invent those reasons. By the way, through yesterday I had written about 738,000 words in this blog. An educated guess (am I capable of such a thing?!) would be that I have written about 940,000 words in total in my two blogs.

As always I welcome thoughtful comments. Of course, if any of you want to offer a list similar to the “Hall of Very Good Cars” we would like to see it.

 

#HallofVeryGoodCars

#NotAllValueSystemsAreEquallyValid

#1958ChevroletImpala

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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