It’s not the first time I’ve come to Texas. In fact, the first time I was in the United States was in San Antonio. I have driven cars of all types, flavors and colors in the north, on highways, country roads, cities and off-road routes. But this was the first time I spent a full week in the largest state in the American union., on my own and with my agenda. And this made me look at American cars from another angle.
Perhaps the size of the state makes a difference in the behavior of people and in the way they live, but the notion of size here is really another. Houses are older, in fact Houston is the city in the United States with the largest average size of houses, according to a study by LendingTree, published by The New York Times. Dallas and Austin rank 4th and 5th on the list. Texas is the only state outside of California to be a leader in a sales segment of the automotive industry and this, obviously, is the one for pickup full size.
With rare exceptions, cities are growing horizontally, distances are very great, and people spend many hours each day in their cars. The road network is as extensive as public transport is scarce. And those teeming arteries are big, too, not just in Texas, but across the country.
Many will say that The immense “boats” of the 50s to 70s of the last century are no longer madebut the reality is that if the sedans shrunk, the other vehicles grew.
In the 1980s, Chrysler created the minivan with the idea of making a vehicle capable of carrying more than five people, but one that would fit in the average American garage. The detail is that anyone who buys an old-fashioned house today will see that their average 20×20-foot garage is no longer enough to store the best-selling vehicle in this country: the Ford F-150.
space and torque
Today the builders already make them 7.13 by 7.13 (24 x 24 feet) but many prefer 7.13 by 8 meters. “The bigger the better”, as they say, applies to everyday life.
The detail is that there is practically no other country like it, with the possible exception of Canada. That is why the US automotive industry was the largest and most important in the world while its market was the largest and most important in the world, a position it has lost to China since 2009. So, making global vehicles that satisfy American tastes, where size is much more important than anywhere else, it’s tricky.
Another issue that is difficult to find in another country are the immense “freeways” that cut through cities like “saphenous bridges”, seeking to improve circulation. To enter them, very good acceleration capacity is necessary, since in them the cars travel on average at 110 or 120 km/h. If you don’t enter at a similar speed, you can cause a serious accident. So you need force, more than anything, torque. Torque is also necessary for towing, something that is a part of life for many who live in this country.
Don’t forget that fixing things isn’t something ingrained in American culture, which traditionally prefers to replace what no longer works. This also applies to cars and I am not referring to the theories of planned obsolescence, but to the very fact that very few want to keep their car until it is no longer useful. Come on, you and me who are reading me, we know that in general we feel like much more the car that is about to leave than one from five years ago. And if anyone has learned about their own market, it is the Americans.
For many -and I include myself- to enjoy a good car is to feel its precision, its good finishes, its power, the way it grips in the corners. But if you live in the United States, indulging in space like you have at home when you’re also commuting is another way to enjoy life, because they even eat in cars.
None of us today want a car without air conditioning, without a good sound system and, of course, without cup holders. And those, among many others, are American contributions to the cars we love so much.