[wbradley]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

this is most definitely not the golden age to own any kind of car, let alone sports cars.
High insurance costs
High fuel costs
Safety above function
Social stigma (ie, unless you have a race car you should not race your car)
More beurocratic bullshit
Higher speeds due to tire technology (good for real racers, bad for econoboxes not meant to run on A6's or something)
Shitty design
Higher involvement of electronics

No, every year is becoming worse and worse for automotive enthusiasts, soon there won't be any point to it.

Ahh my favourite cynic chimes in finally We have to get together for a bottle of Stoli and discuss it one day.

The high costs are all relative to income. Not so sure whether that is better/worse compared to previous eras.

Safety above function....AMEN! I'm not sure about anyone else, but the safety of my family is WAY more important than anything that could compromise it.

I think for luxury and technology, cars now are better than ever before, however it's not the golden era.

The crowd here is too young to consider this for the most part, but I'd say the 50's. The 57' Chev Belair and Impala were not only iconic then and now, but also that was probably the last era of world leading quality for American cars. My dad used to buy and trade his car every 2 years back then and his depreciation was maybe $200-$250 for Chevs and Pontiacs. Relative to incomes this was probably the most affordable period for quality product.