Matthew Romack

It was a cool and slightly breezy day in Lake Orion on November 25th, 2009. Most people didn’t mark it as a particularly important day. Some were busy preparing for Thanksgiving the following day, others were traveling, and still more were doing some last-minute shopping. As Phil Collins would say, merely “another day in paradise”.

The Rotary engine has a special place in the hearts of automotive enthusiasts. Specifically, lodged somewhere between the 2JZ and the LS. There’s just something special about that sound— perhaps best described as “a horde of angry bees”. Watching the tachometer race up to the 9000 RPM redline, then hearing it bounce off the rev limiter, is music to our ears. That sound, and that experience, hits us just right. But that joy doesn’t come without a price. The 2JZ and LS engines are beloved especially for their reliability, modabilty, and disreablity for different car builds.

I work at a Hyundai, Subaru, and Mazda dealership as a technician for Hyundai and Subaru. One day, a BRZ (automatic, major yuck!) came in for the valve spring recall. Another tech handled the recall work, and a week later it comes back in knocking like a Hyundai. For those of you who don’t know, Hyundai has a recall for bearing failure in some of its engines, causing them to knock. The specific problem in this BRZ was a failure of the CVVT system, which meant one cylinder doesn’t get oil, resulting in bearing failure. The tech rebuilt the engine and sent the car on its way.

As we sit here, basking the glory of a new year, a new decade, many use this as a time for personal reflection, meditation, and to reminisce. We set goals for the new year and vow to keep them… at least through February, this time. But who cares about what’s happening in our personal lives, we’re here to hear about what happened in our car lives and in the automotive industry over the last decade!

The horseless carriage, automobile, car, or whatever you want to call it, has changed the world as we know it. When National Geographic asked a Library of Congress librarian to list 10 inventions that changed the world, the automobile was number 6. There is no doubt that the car has fundamentally changed the way we experience life, but merely leaving it at that is a bit vague. After all, thousands of car models have been produced all over the world. Which of these countless unique vehicles have bore the most responsibility for catalyzing vehicular evolution?

The year is 1950. The war In Europe is over, the forces of fascism lay in ruins, and the cold war is brewing like a seething pot of coffee. Eager GIs return home and reenter the workforce, setting the economy off to a booming start, and what to spend their new found prosperity on? Why, new homes and cars, of course! And not the diminutive, wimpy microcars of postwar Europe. American cars: big, lofty, stylish, and increasingly powered by bigger displacement V8s.

The 1980s brought us fleets of boxy, slow, and exceptionally boring cars. GM’s stable was filled to the brim with them, and Chrysler’s new “K” car ensured that nearly every Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth shared parts with each other. It shows how boring 80s cars were because we remember the platform, not the cars themselves. It was becoming much harder, likewise, to tell the difference between GM’s considerable makes. Everything looked the same, drove the same, and felt the same. Pontiac had built an identity as GM’s performance brand, offering fast and fun to drive cars.

As a car and driving enthusiast, the driving experience takes precedent above everything else in a car. Style, speed, brand, all those attributes mean nothing if the car isn’t engaging to drive. And nothing makes a car more engaging than a manual transmission. That’s why 99% of car enthusiasts prefer a manual transmission over an automatic. In fact, every car I have owned has been either a 4 or 5-speed manual.

Young people love two things: cars, and music. Cars provide a sense of freedom and an escape from the mundane of everyday life, while music helps express emotions, personality, and is often meant to be shared. Combining the two was one of the greatest innovations in automotive history. Now we could listen to our favorite music on the radio, and with the later invention of the cassette tape and later the CD and MP3 digital format, listening to our favorite music became even more a fundamental part of the driving experience.

The Mazda Miata, revolutionized and reinvigorated the roadster, the classic two seat convertible sports car formula. When Mazda debuted the Miata in 1989, it was an enthusiast breakthrough: it was quick, handled like a dream, and best of all, it was reliable. Critics praised the styling, handling, and its overall fun to drive quality. However, some also complained about the power, or rather, the lack thereof. In 1990, the Miata had a 4 cylinder engine making a mere 116HP at 6,500 RPM, and 100 ft-lbs of torque at 5,500 RPM.

These days, car enthusiasts are difficult to please. But it wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, all it really took to please a car enthusiast was a big engine in a smaller car so it went fast. That formula worked great for a while. Then the 1970’s brought the oil embargo and high gas prices that put an end to the ponycar party. Consumers and enthusiasts couldn’t afford a big engine that chugged gas like a drunk anymore; they needed something smaller and more practical.

In the late 90s and early to mid 2000s, American automakers Chrysler, Ford, and GM were feeling nostalgic. Visions of hot rods with big fenders, giant wheels, big rear ends, with huge V8 engines, popular in the 30s and 40s, were dancing like sugarplums in their heads. Chrysler, desperate for a hit, gave Plymouth the go ahead for the Prowler: envisioned as a modernized hot rod. Not to be outdone, GM said “lets make a hot rod too!” But theirs would turn out better. How, you ask? Well, GM combined the three things Americans love: speed, trucks, and convertible tops, into one car.

Think back to when you were 16, with a freshly printed drivers license in hand, you jump into the family hauler your parents were crazy enough to let you drive. All the while, you think about the car you want to drive. Sports cars like the Corvette, Mustang, Viper (Blue with white strips) Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Miata are all on the list, and probably a poster on your wall. These cars are the pinnacle of the driving experience. They are fast, fun, and iconic cars that have stood the test of time. But then, you grew up, got a job, and probably a family.

What’s more American than the pickup truck? Apple pie? Baseball?, Well all of things require trucks to get stuff where it needs to go. Pickup trucks are now one of the most competitive segments of the automotive market in the United States. While names like Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, and Ram have cemented themselves in the mind of most Americans (myself included), Asian automakers have also carved out their own share of this incredibly competitive market.

The 80s ushered in a time of time of bland, boxy, and purely uninspired cars, with a few exceptions like the DeLorean and Fiero. The 90s ushered in a time of less bland, boxy, and purely uninspired cars, if only slightly less boring. Everything looked the same, drove the same, and was just a rebadged version of something else. One of the automakers leading the charge of blandness and rebadging was Chrysler. Chrysler made bland cars, minivans, and trucks under the Jeep, Dodge, and Plymouth badges. Plymouth was by far the blandest, most boring, and the most uninspired.