Transport Crucible

Sales of luxury and ‘gas guzzling’ cars are plummeting – and not because rich would-be buyers have finally succumbed to a ubiquitous strain of the E coli bug, known as ecologitus – which until now was far more prevalent among the cautiously-off readers of the Guardian than What Car Playboy. It is because the credit crunch has made them; run out of ready cash for big car buying moments, too scared to splash out in case their city incomes dry up, or they can’t get a loan because their bankers can’t get a loan. But TC offers a cautionary note for those who might be overjoyed by market forces that cause car sales to crash. Even the most organic of carrots that enter retail outlets spend some time in a motor vehicle to get there… A collapse at the top end of the automotive world may seem like good news but history tells us that collapses at the top usually hurt the people at the bottom most. So, perhaps the credit crunch will bring an end to life as we know it faster than the melting ice caps. But there is some hope. TC notes that humans have survived various global catastrophes including the last two ice ages – and all before we had the internet and radiators to warm our cockles. Despite other harbingers of doomsday from Aids to Bird Flu, as a species we have mostly prospered. And, for the last two hundred years since Richard Trevithick started the Modern Transport age (by building and running his first steam car in 1801, which was the world’s first working self-propelled motorised vehicle) we have also managed to move ourselves and goods we need by ever more effective modes. Go here for a similar though better scribed reflection on this by Jeremy Clarkson – and yes even if you don’t think you or your mother would like it, the view from the other side of the politically correct tracks isn’t as dark as you may guess – and may even bring a smile before the end.