Ah yes, angry Pete.
A few things to keep in mind:
1. Pete is advancing in years. And while all of us are advancing in years I think we can agree some do it more gracefully than others. If you're not particularly thrilled with where your life was, is, and is going, you can get pretty crotchety in your old age. As I like to say, cliches don't materialize out of thin air. They come from somewhere. In this instance, I'll reference a franchise that was good for at least two moderately successful movies: Grumpy Old Men.
2. Pete couldn't be more red-white-and-blue if he was permanently tattooed in a full-body flag. Once again, there's nothing wrong with being a fan of America. I certainly am. But being a fan of America and being angry/hating everything that isn't from America are two different things. Pete does both. Notice where all the cars he skewered come from, as well as where the one car he held up as the end-all-be-all of modern performance comes from...
I have a history with Pete. About 15 years ago, when I was editor in chief of Edmudns.com, we released our latest round of "Most Wanted" winners (basically our list of best cars in 20+ different vehicle categories). The list was overwhelming populated by Japanese and European (most German) cars. Why? Because it was the U.S. auto industry in 2005, where the Ford GT was an enigma among nearly universal crap from the Big 3. Some U.S. trucks and SUVs were on the list, but the other 15 categories went to "foreign" brands (like the Honda Accord...built in Ohio...). Anyway, Pete saw the list and went into a tirade about how "anti-American" Edmunds and the Edmunds editors were. I don't normally get into public shouting matches, but I had fun with this one by posting an editorial with a list the 30+ cars I'd owned (at that time). All but 3 were American, including a then-new 2004 Chevrolet Malibu (that I still have, next to my Dodge Demon and Ford GT -- because, you know, I hate America...). Happily, U.S. cars have come a long way in the last 15 years and the foreign/domestic competition is much tighter for Kelley Blue Book awards these days.
3, As correctly pointed out above, Pete can't buy these types of cars. I've come to the conclusion that ENVY is the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins because it involves so many purely-evil forces. First, it means you're focusing more on someone else's station in life than your own. Second, it's assuming you can't achieve what they've achieved (how depressing!). Third, its basic essence is wishing bad things on others simply because of their success. In my opinion it drives the bulk of problems on this planet. I'm talking at a global level. Plus it causes angry old journalists to write angry columns.
4. Most of the cars Pete listed have no appeal to me because, on some level, he's correct. They're more about ego and "out specialing" your rich friends, "I got one and you didn't! Na-na-na-na!" Rich people spend lots of money everyday to "out special" their friends. It's silly, but I don't blame the manufacturers for cashing in on it or the rich people who have the means to do it. In theory we're all supposed to be working to better ourselves and enjoy the benefits that come from that process. If at some point that includes "out specialing" your rich friends for some of us, knock yourself out. Hopefully your friends are above caring (see my "envy" point above).
The other comment I'd make relates to the cars themselves. About 20 years ago I settled in on what I believe is the best possible existence for unique/special cars. Remember, once upon a time people didn't buy cars to admire them in a static display, they bought them to DRIVE them -- yes, even the rare/special ones. I think of the original buyers of Ferrari GTOs, Mustang GT350s and Corvette Grant Sports (as just three examples). People bought those cars to not just drive them, but frickin' RACE them. Beat the hell out of them! Many of them were destroyed in the process but most survived and eventually were seen as the rare machinery they represented. Then the owners restored them and put them in museums or kept them safely in personal collections.
A common term I see thrown around today (mostly on social media profiles) is "Living my best life". The situation I described above, where a new, special performance vehicle is fully utilized right after it's built, and eventually, AFTER BEING FULLY UTILIZED FOR SEVERAL YEARS, reaches a "retirement" stage and is kept safe for future generations to admire? THAT is a car "living its best life." It always cracks me up when people get a new performance car and stick it safely away for years with less than 20 miles on the odo.
Hey Einstein, you know that vehicle has full warranty coverage, right? And guess when the coverage starts? And more importantly, when it ends?
Anyway, I'm glad I was able to put 31,000 miles on my Ford GT over 13 years (including trips to Monterey, Salt Lake City, San Diego and Denver, plus track time at Laguna Seca and both Willow tracks). If the new GT hadn't come out I planned the same life for that car. I would have enjoyed it for at least another 10-15 (as we know, the 2005-2006 GTs are arguably the most durable supercars ever created), then I would have had it restored from the ground up and wiped it with a diaper (probably the same ones I'll be wearing at that point). Instead I had to sell it to Doug DeMuro to afford the new one, and now he's driving it on a regular basis.
Instead I'm doing my best to enjoy my 2019 Ford GT like I did the 2005. If owning and driving that "hypercar" makes grumpy old journalists feel envious, and call me "greedy", oh well.
