Sunday
Jun222025
RUNNING DOWN A DREAM, PART III.
Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 07:58AM SPECIAL EDITOR'S NOTE: We're thrilled to announce the debut of Peter's first work of fiction, "St. Michael of Birmingham." Make no mistake, it doesn't resemble anything you've read from him before. In fact, it is quite a dramatic departure. It is mystical. It is sexy. It is funny. It's moving. And it is a flat-out wild ride unlike anything you've experienced. Having said that, it is definitely not for everyone, but then, it is from PMD, so that probably shouldn't come as a surprise! Check it out on Amazon Kindle here. -WG
Editor's Note: The phrase "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" is actually a famous misquote commonly attributed to Mark Twain. The actual quote, however, as written by Twain to a newspaper was "The report of my death was an exaggeration." This was in response to rumors of his death. The longer, more familiar version was popularized in a biography after his death. On that note, Peter returns this week, very much alive, and we travel in his dream to the year 2035 as he details the state of the industry. As PMD says at the end, "the memorable moments in life are fleeting and precious, and still worth pursuing." A hopeful sentiment that bears repeating - especially today. In On The Table, we detail big news from GM - an all-wheel drive Corvette ZR1, the 2026 Corvette ZR1X. And our West Coast Correspondent Tom Pease takes us to the Concours d’Elegance on Rodeo Drive, an annual Father's Day tradition in Beverly Hills. Our AE Song of the Week is "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. In Fumes, we have the next installment of Peter's riveting new series, The Great Races. This week, we go back to Riverside International Raceway on October 11, 1964, for the 200-mile Los Angeles Times Grand Prix for Sports Cars, a star-studded affair with a field full of the era's top drivers. And in The Line, we have NTT INDYCAR results from Road America, "America's National Park of Speed," MotoGP from Mugello, Italy, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship from Watkins Glen. We're on it! -WG
By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. Deep in the throes of another sleepless night while struggling with this damn recovery and delirious with the knowledge that it was the early hours of yet another morning, the searing guitar riffs of one of Mr. Petty’s signature songs took over my thoughts.
And suddenly, it was 2035.
I eased out into the darkness, wandering around in a world that looked, well, remarkably as it looks today. I noticed a few stray autonomous vehicles doing their rote routines, with their blue LEDs indicating what they were. But they were – not surprisingly – insignificant, part of the thrum of a new reality, but only a bit part.
And as the darkness lightened slightly, I started to see the ebb and flow of traffic on Woodward Avenue. Some avant-garde designs were noticeable – aero shapes punctuated by their wildly diverse lighting systems – but they were clearly full-zoot luxury machines. Other cars were decidedly less adventurous, a mix of small- to medium-sized conveyances that really didn’t look all that much different from today. And yes, the traffic flow was dominated by SUV-like vehicles still, the American consumer having long ago abandoned any thought of going back to a typical passenger car.
The sounds were diverse too. A mix of BEV whine, hybrids and yes, full-on ICE machines as well. It was obvious that the prognostications of a complete transition to BEVs were dead wrong. The “Grand Transition” was clearly not only a work in progress, it had stalled out mightily in the mid-2020s, as the perpetual negatives associated with BEVs – the excruciatingly slow-to-develop infrastructure combined with the costly realities – crushed the BEV dreams of those convinced that it was The Future. The result? Scores of consumers happily embracing ICE vehicles for two reasons: cost and the freedom of movement with no limitations. And the manufacturers who continued to hone their ICE offerings were reaping the financial rewards because of it.
But make no mistake, this wasn’t going to be the case for long. With the cost of EVs getting to be on par with ICE vehicles – if not less costly to build – the writing was on the wall, and EVs would continue to build momentum in the marketplace.
I did notice as I walked past the local Speedway gas station/convenience store that a row of quick-charging stations for BEVs sat empty, but the gas pumps were already busy.
The reality of what was going on in the market had hit some auto manufacturers hard. Stellantis in particular had struggled mightily to gain a foothold in the “Grand Transition” to BEVs but had failed miserably, so much so that the company returned to churning out ICE vehicles at a feverish clip. This manufacturer seemed to be perpetually running in place. And not one thing had changed.
The Toyota conglomerate now included Honda and Mazda – as completely separate entities – as well as Subaru. And Lexus survived as a fully-electric brand after Toyota bought out the assets of Tesla, which had gone bankrupt five years earlier, a direct result of the “Muskian Nightmare” as St. Elon’s runaway ego and political suicide, plus his fatal bet on autonomous vehicles ran the company right into the ground. Other news? Peugeot-Citroën had taken over Renault and solidified into one company, with Nissan being absorbed and rebranded as Datsun worldwide and Infiniti having been discontinued.
Daimler and BMW had entered into a joint operating agreement after being decimated by the tariff regime; both Mercedes and BMW retained product independence in the new German company and were joined by Aston Martin, which finally ran out of time and money trying to keep its luxury brand afloat.
The VW Group long ago established itself as the largest automotive conglomerate in the world. The news? Its working agreement with the Ford Motor Company had evolved into a full takeover, as Ford’s restructuring was stalled by its perpetually late product cadence, painfully ineffectual leadership and having pissed away billions trying to become a mobility company. And for the first time in its history Ford was no longer controlled by the Ford family, although the family still maintained a significant – but notably reduced (from 40 to 20 percent) – presence in terms of stock and influence.
And what of GM? Mark Reuss had succeeded Mary Barra, and his wise strategy of continuing to develop ICE technology, while selectively competing in various BEV segments, resulted in GM delivering increased profits and market share. But Mark would soon retire, and who would run the company after him was still in question. The Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC-Hummer divisions remained intact, however.
As for the Chinese and Korean manufacturers, their presence had been growing to the point that the mainstream BEV markets around the globe were dominated by their brands. It was indeed a different automotive world. Although Chinese BEVs were still effectively banned from this country.
The most amazing thing I discovered in my future dream was that all of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the development of autonomous vehicles had turned out to be the biggest financial disaster – this side of The Great Recession – in automotive history. The focus on autonomous conveyances and the promise of a Utopian future of no-involvement ride sharing and rent-by-the-minute usage had devolved into lawyered-up tech companies fighting over a few big municipal fleets, contracts with the U. S. Post Office and very narrowly-focused utilization for the elderly. The Masters from The Valley of Silicon were incredulous that consumers just didn’t buy into their all-encompassing brilliance.
The wholesale consumer acceptance of mass-usage rental vehicles turned out to be a mirage, as real people with real lives convincingly reminded the brainiacs that the reality of mass ride sharing just doesn’t work in the real world, where the comings and goings of an average family will never fit into a perfect little autonomous box.
The brightening sky was now getting dark again, as storm clouds rolled in from the west. I went out and fired up The Beast one more time, just to remind myself that the memorable moments in life are fleeting and precious, and still worth pursuing.
And then I woke up and began writing...
I’ll leave it to Mr. Petty to close this one out:
I rolled on as the sky grew dark
I put the pedal down to make some time
There’s something good waitin’ down this road
I’m pickin’ up whatever’s mine
And as the darkness lightened slightly, I started to see the ebb and flow of traffic on Woodward Avenue. Some avant-garde designs were noticeable – aero shapes punctuated by their wildly diverse lighting systems – but they were clearly full-zoot luxury machines. Other cars were decidedly less adventurous, a mix of small- to medium-sized conveyances that really didn’t look all that much different from today. And yes, the traffic flow was dominated by SUV-like vehicles still, the American consumer having long ago abandoned any thought of going back to a typical passenger car.
The sounds were diverse too. A mix of BEV whine, hybrids and yes, full-on ICE machines as well. It was obvious that the prognostications of a complete transition to BEVs were dead wrong. The “Grand Transition” was clearly not only a work in progress, it had stalled out mightily in the mid-2020s, as the perpetual negatives associated with BEVs – the excruciatingly slow-to-develop infrastructure combined with the costly realities – crushed the BEV dreams of those convinced that it was The Future. The result? Scores of consumers happily embracing ICE vehicles for two reasons: cost and the freedom of movement with no limitations. And the manufacturers who continued to hone their ICE offerings were reaping the financial rewards because of it.
But make no mistake, this wasn’t going to be the case for long. With the cost of EVs getting to be on par with ICE vehicles – if not less costly to build – the writing was on the wall, and EVs would continue to build momentum in the marketplace.
I did notice as I walked past the local Speedway gas station/convenience store that a row of quick-charging stations for BEVs sat empty, but the gas pumps were already busy.
The reality of what was going on in the market had hit some auto manufacturers hard. Stellantis in particular had struggled mightily to gain a foothold in the “Grand Transition” to BEVs but had failed miserably, so much so that the company returned to churning out ICE vehicles at a feverish clip. This manufacturer seemed to be perpetually running in place. And not one thing had changed.
The Toyota conglomerate now included Honda and Mazda – as completely separate entities – as well as Subaru. And Lexus survived as a fully-electric brand after Toyota bought out the assets of Tesla, which had gone bankrupt five years earlier, a direct result of the “Muskian Nightmare” as St. Elon’s runaway ego and political suicide, plus his fatal bet on autonomous vehicles ran the company right into the ground. Other news? Peugeot-Citroën had taken over Renault and solidified into one company, with Nissan being absorbed and rebranded as Datsun worldwide and Infiniti having been discontinued.
Daimler and BMW had entered into a joint operating agreement after being decimated by the tariff regime; both Mercedes and BMW retained product independence in the new German company and were joined by Aston Martin, which finally ran out of time and money trying to keep its luxury brand afloat.
The VW Group long ago established itself as the largest automotive conglomerate in the world. The news? Its working agreement with the Ford Motor Company had evolved into a full takeover, as Ford’s restructuring was stalled by its perpetually late product cadence, painfully ineffectual leadership and having pissed away billions trying to become a mobility company. And for the first time in its history Ford was no longer controlled by the Ford family, although the family still maintained a significant – but notably reduced (from 40 to 20 percent) – presence in terms of stock and influence.
And what of GM? Mark Reuss had succeeded Mary Barra, and his wise strategy of continuing to develop ICE technology, while selectively competing in various BEV segments, resulted in GM delivering increased profits and market share. But Mark would soon retire, and who would run the company after him was still in question. The Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC-Hummer divisions remained intact, however.
As for the Chinese and Korean manufacturers, their presence had been growing to the point that the mainstream BEV markets around the globe were dominated by their brands. It was indeed a different automotive world. Although Chinese BEVs were still effectively banned from this country.
The most amazing thing I discovered in my future dream was that all of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the development of autonomous vehicles had turned out to be the biggest financial disaster – this side of The Great Recession – in automotive history. The focus on autonomous conveyances and the promise of a Utopian future of no-involvement ride sharing and rent-by-the-minute usage had devolved into lawyered-up tech companies fighting over a few big municipal fleets, contracts with the U. S. Post Office and very narrowly-focused utilization for the elderly. The Masters from The Valley of Silicon were incredulous that consumers just didn’t buy into their all-encompassing brilliance.
The wholesale consumer acceptance of mass-usage rental vehicles turned out to be a mirage, as real people with real lives convincingly reminded the brainiacs that the reality of mass ride sharing just doesn’t work in the real world, where the comings and goings of an average family will never fit into a perfect little autonomous box.
The brightening sky was now getting dark again, as storm clouds rolled in from the west. I went out and fired up The Beast one more time, just to remind myself that the memorable moments in life are fleeting and precious, and still worth pursuing.
And then I woke up and began writing...
I’ll leave it to Mr. Petty to close this one out:
I rolled on as the sky grew dark
I put the pedal down to make some time
There’s something good waitin’ down this road
I’m pickin’ up whatever’s mine
I'm runnin' down a dream
That never would've come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
Runnin' down a dream
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
That never would've come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
Runnin' down a dream
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG
