With gas prices now hitting three dollars plus per gallon just about everywhere in the US, and oil now having hit $100 per barrel, Americans are being pressed and manipulated to buy small, more fuel efficient cars, especially hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic. Employers such as Bank of America and Google now provide incentives for employees to buy hybrids; Virginia, California and Florida allow hybrids to use HOV lanes, and Connecticut, Illinois and Colorado provide tax incentives. Some cities provide free parking for hybrids. But a hybrid is not for me. I drive an Oldsmobile.
I don't feel guilty even though I drive a big roomy car. That's because my 1991 Oldsmobile 88 Royale makes 36 miles to the gallon on the highway and 30 miles per gallon in the city, not too far off from the Prius’ EPA estimated gas mileage of 46 miles per gallon (which was downgraded from earlier estimates of 55 miles per gallon).
My Oldsmobile is so comfortable it's like sitting on my living room sofa while I drive. And, unlike the tiny cars that Al Gore would like all of us to drive (unlike himself), I know my Oldsmobile will protect me in a crash. I found that out years ago when a tractor-trailer rear-ended me, pushing my Olds up against a pickup truck with its tailgate down. My poor car looked like an accordion, even though I wasn't hurt. I figured that was the end of my faithful friend, since it had over 125,000 miles on the odometer.
But that wasn't the case.
The body shop said they could repair my 88 just fine and it turned out to be true. That was over 12 years ago and it still runs great even with over 265,000 miles now reading on the odometer. The 3.8 L V-6 engine has never been touched except for tune-ups and minor maintenance, and it's the same with the smooth four-speed automatic overdrive transmission. I fully expect to drive the car forever.
Oldsmobiles have an illustrious past. They were manufactured from 1897 to 2004, and at the time Oldsmobile discontinued manufacturing, it was the oldest surviving American brand of automobile. The 88 was the top-selling line from 1950 to 1974, until the Arab oil embargo hit. It took a while for Oldsmobile, like all of Detroit, to come up with designs that made their vehicles more fuel efficient, as Americans flocked to the Japanese vehicles that were much more stingy with gasoline. General Motors had designed a V-6 engine in the early 1960s that they called the "Fireball". Thinking that gasoline would be cheap forever and that Americans would never give up their V-8's, they sold the design to American Motors. When the embargo hit, GM's engineers went and found an old Fireball engine in a junkyard, and from there went on to develop the 3800 series Naturally Aspirated V-6 engine that powers my Oldsmobile. The engine is a winner, and testimony to American ingenuity.
I first drove the Olds when it was brand new, and my employer furnished it as a company car. bought the car in 1995 when my employer believed the Oldsmobile had outlived its useful life -- the car had 138,000 miles on it. I bought the car for a song. The car ran so good I figured I could get at least another 50,000 miles out of it. I underestimated.
One of the environmental movement's favorite terms is sustainability. A rough definition of the term is the concept that people should buy things that do not have to be continually replaced, thereby putting a strain on the Earth's resources. My Oldsmobile should be the poster child for sustainability.
The Prius, and hybrids in general, however, don't appear to be part of the sustainability equation. Studies such as the "Dust to Dust" Automotive Energy Report, conducted by CNW Marketing Research, Inc., have shown that the total combined energy consumed by a Prius over its lifetime of 100,000 miles is much greater than its archenemy, the Hummer, mainly because a Hummer is expected to last at least 300,000 miles. Further, the Prius requires nickel for its batteries, which must be mined in Ontario, shipped to a nickel plant in Europe, then moved to China to produce nickel foam, and finally sent to Japan for final assembly of the batteries. That's far from being environmentally responsible.
And let's face it. Riding in a Prius or similar small car is not comfortable, especially for someone like me who’s 6'3" tall. Nor will such a car carry five people comfortably along with plenty of room in the trunk for such vital necessities as golf clubs. Not to mention the risk of life and limb when you try to accelerate into traffic in Dallas or other metropolitan areas with a puny 76 hp engine. My Oldsmobile engine shoots me out into traffic like I'm on my way to Mars.
The Oldsmobile has additional advantages over cars like the Prius. For one, its air conditioning system. Here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where I live, it gets over 100° pretty frequently. No problem for the Oldsmobile; it keeps me cool in the hottest of temperatures without one bit of strain on the engine. In reading some of the Prius owner comments on the Internet, some owners stated that they only ran the air conditioning system when they were going downhill, so as to not put a strain on the engine and electrical system. Well, we don't have too many hills here in my part of Texas!
Another advantage of the Oldsmobile is its traction. With its full-size engine and front wheel drive, I've driven it up and down the mountains of Colorado in heavy snow and in icy conditions, most recently this past December, and it's as surefooted as any four-wheel-drive. The Prius, however, slips so much in snow that one Vermont driver called it, according to ConsumerAffairs.com, a "serious design flaw".
Many Prius owners report that they drive the car, not because of its mileage or its unique style, but because it makes a "social statement". Some Prius drivers have described their vehicles as a "middle finger on wheels" to Hummers, Escalades and Suburbans.
I don't need to make any kind of statement with my Oldsmobile, though. It's just a good comfortable fuel-efficient car that can take me just about anywhere, doesn't need a lot of maintenance, and runs forever. What more do you need?