Look at them. So cool and clean, they could be fueled with Frappuccino. This is a grey and silver powerbook world of discreet sculpture, subtle art-deco-like fittings and cascading brushed aluminium.
--Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear, on a brief description of then-contemporary (mid-‘00s) automobile design, though not directly referring the lot above.
Ah, the '00s. Wii We could talk a lot about that decade –though I doubt a lot of you would have positive, rose-tinted comments about it, not initially at least. I don’t think we’ll be labeling it “epic” any time soon. It started out with a bang, or more specifically didn’t –Y2K and all that, unless you count the ‘Dot-com bubble’ bursting- and quickly turned sour after certain major events took place afterwards not only in the U.S., but also around the world. Things picked up, until a little thing with the economy affected, oh, the whole world. This was the decade that I believe treated the word ‘billion’ as if it was just a ‘million’. It’s an inconvenient truth, I know. We’d notice that the letter ‘i’ and being green became cool and geek became chic. Through it all, this was the decade that my generation was forced to come of age kicking and screaming. No wonder people tried to bring the 1980s back, for better or worse.
Yes, there were changes, but this being an automotive blog, let’s stick with what we know best(ish): cars. Among a new wave of reality TV, we found the motoring crowd well-represented, with shows coming from TLC, The New TNN/SpikeTV/Spike, Discovery, MTV and even The History Channel, to name some. But no one could’ve anticipated the accolade a certain plucky, revamped British motoring show would receive around the globe. Also, who could’ve expected an imported franchise of the 1990s from Japan about a kid and an old J-spec Corolla hatchback to make waves globally, too?
Along with a new wave of supercars and hypercars –and their escalating price tags and horsepower numbers that countered their free-falling 0-60 times- vintage American car prices, especially muscle cars, soared to new heights while import enthusiasts started to pretend that their cheesy bodykits and neon lights phase didn’t happen, preferring to abuse the term “JDM” and check out this thing called “drifting”. The urban lifestyle continued to not only make our heads spin, but our wheels -while standing still. Taking advantage of Web 2.0, the world-famous Car Lust blog was formed.
We also saw the return of some hallowed nameplates (Nissan Z-car and Mazda RX-series, Pontiac GTO, among others) as the introduction of some that the North American market have been waiting for years (Mitsubishi Evolution and Subaru Impreza WRX STi). Even with the SUV craze hitting critical mass –in which every automaker had to have one in their lineup (*coughs* Porsche and Volkswagen *coughs*)- and rapid-growing CUV category, we saw the return of rear-wheel-drive American cars (Chrysler LX platform cars and GM Sigma platform). Overall, vehicles continued the trend of getting safer, but getting more bloated, too.
Around the world, we see shifts in the automotive landscape. Overall, we saw even more technology get crammed into vehicles, and like any decade, some have proven useful while others won’t. Japan drops well-established nameplates (Nissan Silvia, Mazda RX-7, Honda/Acura NSX, Toyota Supra, etc.) for a number of reasons. Car guys still mourn their passing. While many automakers got weird-looking during those years, Germany’s BMW took the cake. They’re still considered the “Ultimate Driving Machine”, but many agree that they don’t compare to the models of not long ago on certain aspects. The UK had its ups (Jaguar, Aston Martin) and downs (small, independent manufacturers) with its sports car manufacturers, while some of their automotive icons (Rolls-Royce, Bentley, the Mini) made a big comeback... thanks to the Germans. BTW, Audi was doing really well. Cadillac went edgy in all sense of the word, coming up with concept cars that I still wish they would make and producing cars that will pave the way for today’s world-challenging line-up. Focusing on the American market, new(ish) nameplates came along (Hummer under GM and Scion subdivision) and some were put to rest (Plymouth and Oldsmobile). Some were welcomed to the family (GM bought the rest of Saab) while some left our shores indefinitely (Isuzu and Daewoo). And we can’t forget the whole Cash 4 Clunkers thing…
Why do I mention all this? Why did I even bring SexyBack back the 00s out of the closet? Because not only I gotta have more cowbell, this week we’re gonna (further) celebrate the CarLusts of the decade! Inspiration came from Hemmings’ list of potential classics from the 1990s, to Vh1’s I Love the New Millennium… released in 2008. If Vh1 can jump the gun and make a show about a decade that hasn’t even finished, I’m more than comfortable making a list of cars of a decade that ended about 5 years ago.
Granted, I won’t cover every model and trim, but many will be categorized (SUVs, small cars, etc). I’ll only focus between model-year 2000-2010 production vehicles. To further whittle down the list, only USDM will be listed. And finally, because this is CarLust, only those vehicles that (might) fit in the CarLust mold shall be mentioned. That means no modern musclecars (5th-gen Camaro), obvious supercars (Audi R8) and hypercars (Bugatti Veyron), well-established automotive icons (JK Jeep Wrangler), et al… but I think I’ll just end up making a big list. Yes, there will be a lot of subjectiveness on my part. There will be some inevitable exceptions to my self-imposed rules, as well as inevitable omissions.
So pack your Oakley Overthetop sunglasses, questionably designed UFC/MMA t-shirt, Von Dutch trucker cap, bling, Livestrong wristband, neon-colored junk and Crocs or Heelys; grease up your faux-hawk, set the DVD player to record your favorite crime-drama, English dubbed anime, action/drama conspiracy theory series, “reality” TV show, or so-called talent show; recalibrate your Guitar Hero/Rockband controllers, don’t throw away your Playstation 2 (as the overpriced Playstation 3 is not backwards compatible), keep the volume down your commercialized Punk Rock, Emo Rock, Opera Rock, soon-to-break-up boy-band, hip-hop-infused Pop, Mexican Pop, Reggaeton, ‘Bachata’ or whatever you’re into; set your MP3 player on a RANDOM setting, put your AIBO robot dog in a care center, take your Razor scooter or Segway, forget about getting Scarface poster like everyone else, go easy on the AXE body spray and follow me on MySpace, because we’re going back… to a decade I didn’t think we’d visit so soon… to the ‘00s.
Feel free to discuss the theme, or anything else for that matter.
No, you’re not being Punk’d. We’re really going back. Don’t get all emo about it.
--Tigerstrypes
References:
Intro pic from caranddriver.com
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