September 25: Time to try this again?

There was a time in this fair land when the sedan reigned supreme. Ah, those good old days when the car hops at the local drive-in restaurant looked down on you when taking your order. Remember? Long before our heated up suv romance started. Now, if there is a Sonic Drive-in nearby, the car hops skate up to your vehicle and look up to you, since the sedan you once had has been replaced by a high ridin' suv or an even higher ridin' pick-up.

Remember also how a couple of those, oh so popular sedans, had a pick-up version in the line?

Stay with me, folks, as there might be a point to today's blog, once I figure out how to get there.

Just maybe there is a way to bring back our diminishing interest in sedans. Look at how raising a few station wagons has started to increase interest in that just about dead (in North America) segment. So, maybe there is hope yet for those better handling and better looking than an suv sedans. And I know exactly how to do it. Make a few of those sedans, that are still hanging on, into a pick-up. Something like what the Aussies have been doing for years with their beloved utes......

All car trends filter down from the luxury brands. Look at the matte finishes and the black rims. Once exotic, now common place. So all the car makers have to do is drop a couple of these car/truck hybrids into the line and watch the interest perk up at the lower ends (easy right?). Years ago even Mercedes tried out this genre.....

Time to try it again? Heck, Benz is going after every other niche, whether it exists or not.

In the past, a few custom builders made luxury pick-ups out of the costliest of American cars, but at that time we still hadn't developed our rather unhealthy lust for anything with a bed (like in a pick-up - let's not get smutty here, please). Check out these prestigious examples from yesteryear.......

 Expensive. Exclusive. Just what we need nowadays to increase interest among us in the lower classes. We always want what the upper echelons already have, don't we? Maybe we can still save cars like the "used to be popular" Ford Fusion.......

......or possibly the "now only used for police duty" Taurus......

 ......... or even a Dodge Charger or an Impala......

What do you think, folks? Play to our love of anything pick-up and at the same time get people to once again appreciate the cast off sedan. Add all-wheel drive and even wheel well flares, if that is what it takes. I still prefer a good sports sedan, so I'm trying to give those car manufacturers a novel way to revive the segment.

Please thank me when it happens (or laugh it off as an idiotic suggestion - just don't tell me).

Until next time.....