Ok after a discussion last night i've decided to make this rant public- for future reference.
Jeremy Clarkson. He's a very funny man. But i do not respect his opinion on cars. Normally when i say this, people jump back and/ or look at me with disgust and patronisingly ask why. So here it is.
Firstly, i'll admit the opinion is not entirely my own- i inherited it from my dad. But that's ok, because he designs cars, and if you're going to get an opinion on cars, may as well be from the man behind the drawing board actually designing the damn things.
Anyway, his (and my) opinion on Mr Clarkson is many fold:
The most obvious first of all it's Jeremy's rudeness towards cars he doesn't like. This can't really be helped because he is a reporter and, well, rudeness gets laughs. Still my dad's thoughts can be summed up when he accidentally won a raffle to drive a tank over a ford car, but he refused: 'Some poor buggar had to design that'. To the rest of the world a car is just a metal object that materialised in germany or wherever, but, for some poor buggar it put the dinner on the table for him and his family. Even shit cars take years of effort to make.
As said though, this really can't be helped. But it's worth noting this a little hint at the distance he puts between the car buyers and the industry. Let me explain more.
Environmentalism. Jeremy Clarkson has been pretty blunt about not liking it. You could almost say he promotes the petrolhead, anti-environmentalist attitude on his show. That's fine, that's his personal opinion.. but he is so out of step with the automotive industry it's almost a crime that he's allowed to be seen as the face of it.
The bottom line is, the automotive industry is one big, powerful industry. It is backed and funded by some of the most rich and powerful oil merchants in the world. If engineers didn't want to become environmentalist, they wouldn't have to. In fact, there are oil companies who actively do not want the car industry to pursue environmentalism, and engineers have had to fight, reason and bypass them for any change at all. Why would automotive employees want environmentalism? Let's take a look.
Money and jobs. Research into alternative fuels, research into improved fuel efficiency, the redesign of engines, the manufacture new engines, testing of new cars.. all vast businesses in themselves and these all create vital jobs. Clarkson may like to see the same ideals rehashed in every car ever made but sadly for him the industry doesn't. When you're using something old and established you're minimising jobs and that doesn't go down well with trade unions and employees. I mean, there's a limit to how many jobs adding extra cup holders can make, and people certainly haven't been working 25 years in the industry to make a bit of plastic with a hole in it. More and more research is being done into alternative design, like electric cars, plant fuel and even speed record breaking
steam cars.. and guess what, the industry is healthier and livelier for it.
Then there's the selling bit. If people are switching on to environmentalism, they'll buy things with that mark. If you're the first to produce a car with that selling point, you've got a niche on the market. If you can produce a car that's better at it than the last, you've got an edge over your competitors. these are very good things. Now if only you could stop TV presenters getting the public to laugh at them..
Then theres the fact that people in the automotive industry are.. well, people. They aren't evil, mindless pollution-bent monsters like you see on captain planet, they're intelligent, well meaning humans like you and me. They live on the earth too, they eat food too, many have kids or grandkids or want to have kids. The majority are clever, well educated people with sound scientific understanding. When they watch wildlife programmes or read science magazines they care about that stuff just like anyone else would. When my dad tells me about things like the ethanol fuelled cars of south america, or his visitations to the steam car land speed project, he isnt just making it all up to look noble and cool to environmentalists, its because he is
an engineer and
engineers find this stuff interesting. So please, just stop treating them like they hate the earth, okay? Even if you think you're standing up for them. Actually, especially if. And if you do nothing else, stop blindly agreeing with what you hear from funny men on TV.
So essentially, my thoughts are this. He is a journalist, and he does the job well because he's engaging and he can
talk about cars, but he is not a representative of the industry. Think about how many times he's ever had someone from the actual industry on his show to talk about the cars. Or even cars in general- and no, owning a car does not automatically make you an expert. The majority of information comes from his mouth in the form of his opinion, which is no better connected to the automotive world than anyone else's.
But most importantly, when he promotes an opinion that goes against the thoughts of the industry, he's essentially standing in the way of progress. And that is why i do not respect his opinion on cars.
may i suggest you leave this kinds [sic] of topics alone. bad move wired. i am a huge fan but not with this stuff.