Protecting Your Ride

I find it intriguing to witness the trend of tricking out one’s automobile migrating into the demographic of middle class dads. The ritual of enhancing your ride with spinning wheels, flashy chrome grills and chunky dual chrome-tipped exhaust pipes was once reserved for the young urban constituency, those who emulate rappers and their flashy music video vehicles. In fact, I recall my father scoffing at these spinning spectacles, sarcastically remarking that the accessories exceeded the value of some of these pimped rides.

Today, my sixty-three year old father proudly parades around in his 60k Volkswagen Toureg adorned with all the flashy fixings, including an OEM chrome grill, upgraded xenon headlights, bold stainless steel exhaust tips and chrome VW vanity plate. What inspired the change of heart remains a mystery to me. Perhaps, the evolution of the Cadillac, once widely considered the crest of the senior citizen, could shed some light on the adoption of automobile accessorizing opulence amongst aging men. After all, the modern incarnation of grandpa’s classic Deville, the 2009 Cadillac DTS, offers a 292 V8 engine, 18” 9-spike chrome finish wheels and bi-functional Xenon HID headlights standard with the mid-level version of this model. From the looks of this trend, accessorizing the car represents the new retirement rebellion.

Tata Motors Company took the car covers off and revealed the world’s cheapest car! This car in know as the Nano (The People’s Car) and is being launched in India. This car continues to make headlines in both directions. While providing India with transportation costing only around $2,200 it could help move the country forward. On the other hand the safety of these vehicles is being criticized. Only time will tell if the comparison’s to Henry Ford’s Model T holds true for the Nano and Tata Motors Company as a whole.

To learn more about the Nano and Tata Motors, visit them online at http://www.tatamotors.com .