Nothing like a good ol' mid-sixties American car to awaken the soul. I have a 65 Pontiac droptop that I drive when the weather permits. Chrome steering wheel hubs and hoods that clank with authority remind one of the days when cars were really cars.

I had a metallic blue 57 Dodge with the pushbutton transmission and a 325 with hemispherical combustion chambers. Sold it and now regret it. I remember one night I was walking back to the car, parked in the General Dynamics lot, its rocket ship fins being lit up by the 1950's era "molecule model" shaped parking lot lamps. In the back of the facility they had a vault-like underground nuclear dump where low-level waste was stored from decades of experiments. The evening air was charged -- it shouted "progress" and then whispered "the future will be glorious."

I have yet to walk into a car showroom and feel genuine excitement like folks used to feel back in the good ol' days.

And now with the GD plant (which played a major role in designing the Nautilus and countless state-of-the-art missiles and planes) having been replaced with just another shopping mall--I seriously contemplate what sort of progress these new generations now embrace.

;-)