Cultural Analysis of "Remembering the Golden Age of Cheap Cars"

I must note that while I found it to be possible to analyse the texts I initially chose in the last blog post, they did not work well for this blog post or indeed for the entire project so I was forced to choose another more rhetorical text. I hope that is alright.

dave 7 "Volkswagen Fox" May 25, 2013 via Flickr
reuse with attribution

I chose to analyse the Esquire column "Remembering the Golden Age of Cheap Cars" for cultural messages. 

This is a retrospective article as it reflects on how twenty five years ago car companies cared more for young enthusiasts. This is an interesting and important reflective piece for an automotive industry that seemingly only now cars about $50,000+ luxury cars. Naturally, profit margins are higher on those vehicles but the surest way, as the author points out, to get people to buy the more expensive cars is to create a brand loyalty while the customers are young.

1. Several important cultural keywords are nostalgia, youth, and affordability. 
2. The main thesis of this piece revolves around car culture for youth. The author laments the lack of genuinely affordable new cars today when compared to 25 years ago and explains based on extended anecdotes the change that has had in car enthusiast culture.
3. The author is making the case to other car enthusiasts why car companies ought to pay more attention to their youngest customers. He laments that current "cheap" cars still need to have amenities such as bluetooth and iPod connectivity instead of being much simpler and more fun to drive. Logically, the author connects the purchase of a first car to enduring brand loyalty. He also invokes cars that are generally considered to be some of the best and most interesting cehap cars ever made such as the Volkswagen Fox, the Toyota Tercel, and the Mazda 323.