This cartoon is by me and Becky Hawkins. (The final panel, which I love, was all Becky’s idea.)
(I want it on the record that I did not, as a writer, request that Becky draw eight characters into the final panel! Becky chose to do that to herself.)
This cartoon doesn’t get at all into the policy reasons that cars in the U.S. have gotten so big. But our individual preferences have been shaped by the way federal policy shapes our car norms.
Legally, car companies can avoid stricter emission standards – and make higher profits – by selling bigger SUVs and trucks. As a result of this loophole, auto makers have spent decades on a nonstop campaign to convince us that huge cars are a necessity.
There are also tax reasons. Tariffs – which have been in the news a lot lately – are the reason we don’t have more smaller cars to buy.
In the early 1960s, Europe raised the ire of American officials by slapping a 50 percent tariff on chicken exported from the United States. In retaliation, the US enacted a 25 percent tax on pickup trucks imported from abroad. The dispute is long forgotten, but the “Chicken Tax” lives on.
Although the tariff was initially aimed at Germany’s immense auto industry (Volkswagen in particular), it also applies to pickups imported from newer automaking powers such as Japan and South Korea, where carmakers are often adept at building vehicles much smaller than those available to Americans.
The Chicken Tax (a name that is sure to confuse) makes it impossible to make a profit selling small foreign cars in America. So they don’t.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has eleven panels. The central panel says, in large friendly letters, “Top Ten Reasons Americans Want Enormous Cars.”
Panel 1
An angry woman gestures at a computer screen.
Woman: “Emissions” were made up by China to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive!
Panel 2
A cheerful man wearing a big, sparkling watch smiles as he explains.
Man: How else will strangers know I’ve got money to burn?
Panel 3
A woman lies on a sofa as if she’s getting therapy.
Woman on couch: My big car gives me a sense of security, power, and control, which I know is pathetic, which makes me feel weak, which makes me want an even bigger car.
Panel 4
A person is looking a bit up into space, crying with joy.
Person: Someday someone will ask me to move a piano and on that day I will be ready! It’s coming! Any day now…
Panel 5
Man smiling wryly: Because shooting bikers and pedestrians is illegal. … For now.
Panel 6
This is the center panel, and is dominated by the title: Top Ten Reasons Americans Want Enormous Cars.
Below that, a small girl flees in terror from a huge SUV.
SUV Driver: The higher the car, the closer to Heaven!
Panel 7
A man wearing a red baseball cap backwards pumps his fist in the air.
Man: If we don’t burn as many fossil fuels as fast as possible the woke DEI liberals win! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
Panel 8
A cheerful guitarist on stage speaks to the audience.
Guitarist: If Jesus had a big truck the Romans would never have caught him!
Panel 9
A thin man is smiling and saluting at us. A U.S. flag, but with a swole arm instead of stars, is being projected onto him.
Man: It makes me a real man and a real American.
Panel 10
A woman in a business suit looks at us derisively.
Woman: A compact? What am I, five?
Panel 11
A harried looking woman driving seven women in an SUV.
Woman: Gotta keep my kids safe from all the giant cars people drive!
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is a neglected cartoonists’ term for fun little details the cartoonist puts into the art.
Panel 1: A sticking-tongue-out emoji is on the coffee cup.
Panel 2: The man’s t-shirt says “Thorsteid Veblen was RIGHT.”
Panel 4: The person’s shirt says “I ❤️ Band.” They’ve got a full tattoo sleeve, showing a lighthouse, a bear, a sneaker, a bat, and piano keys. Becky explains:
I started with piano keys because this person wants to move a piano, so they probably like music (hence the I ❤️ band shirt). The other tattoos are a product of free association. I don’t have any tattoos, but I’d hypothetically get a Pittsburgh skyline on one calf and a Portland skyline on the other, since they’re both bridges-on-a-river cities that are important to me. My initial attempts to draw a legible skyline on a small cartoon character’s arm while on a deadline were unsuccessful. I tried drawing a bridge, but soon decided a lighthouse would be easier and just as effective. Bears are fun and great, so I drew a baby bear. Apparently bear bodies are easier to draw than bear faces, so after a few tries, I placed the tattoo where the face would be out of sight. I had a coworker who was known for wearing Converse All Stars, so much so that on his 60th birthday, the hostess gave away little sneaker keychains as party favors. A former housemate of mine had a vampire teeth tattoo, but I think I’ve drawn someone with that on a different cartoon, so I drew a bat instead.
Panel 5: Although the girl is getting away from the SUV, she’s lost a flip-flop, which is flying into the SUV’s grill.
Panel 11: So much detail here! This is one of those SUVs with three rows of seats. In the back-back, a toddler drawing hashmarks on the window with a red marker. A girl is shouting to be heard by another girl, who has headphones on.
In the middle row, a baby is playing with its foot, as babies do. Another girl with headphones is staring at an iPad. And a boy in the middle is shouting for the boy in the front passenger seat to pass him a bag of snacks, which the boy is doing.
Don’t forget that we built loopholes into our emissions and fuel economy regulations so car companies could get around the standards if they just built bigger cars that guzzled more gas. And that a 20 minute driving commute to work in the US is both average and required, and roomier cars are more comfortable for the amount of time we spend in it. Would be nice to have denser housing and public transportation though….
I have a small amount of sympathy for Upper Right Guy. A big vehicle can be quite useful—at certain times. And when those times occur, you’re really glad to have the big vehicle.
Also, you have to appreciate his sense of humor! “I <3 Band" ? I want that shirt!
To be fair to the panel that Becky drew, if you’ve got that many kids – or even more than 2 if they all have to be in car seats at the same time – you NEED a mini-van to haul them around. And then, as they get older, there’s all the sports equipment (God help you if your kid decides to be a hockey goalie).
Panel 3; I live near a couple of very affluent Chicago suburbs. I swear, the smaller the woman the larger the vehicle they drive. I call them UAVs, for “Urban Assault Vehicle”. You don’t need a frick’in Chevy Suburban or Cadillac Escalade to go pick up the groceries. Trust me, these are not people who have 5 kids.
I do have a close friend who drives a Chevy Cherokee 3500 truck, with a 6.1 L Diesel engine and an Allison transmission. Club cab (5 passengers) and a full-size bed. Massive vehicle. You have to grab a handle and step up to get in. But then he does elevator and overhead crane welding and repair as well as concrete admixture transport and mixing and it’s not uncommon for him to have either a literal ton of steel and tools in it or a trailer with 1000+ pounds of solution and fiber admixtures on a trailer behind it. It’s an experience to ride in it.
I have what might be termed a larger vehicle – a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid – because when I went to buy another Prius the new models are built 2 inches closer to the ground and between that and their size I just can’t get myself in and out of it without at some point pulling a muscle, straining my back, or whacking my head on it.
“Would be nice to have denser housing and public transportation though….”
I live in a Chicago suburb. A whole lot of people simply don’t WANT denser housing and have the money to buy what they want. Or, at least, something approximating what they want. And if housing isn’t dense and the jobs are scattered around the region rather than concentrated in a downtown area, it becomes real hard to design, build, operate and maintain effective public transport. In this area if you work in downtown Chicago public transport pretty much actually does work. But if you work in the suburbs, not so much. In fact, if your job is not in one of the ‘burbs immediately contiguous to Chicago, not at all.
Your “ten reasons” cartoon left out a major reason why some of us buy full-size cars: Because we’re taller than the average American and don’t like bumping our heads against the top of the vehicle every time we sit up straight. (Also, we don’t want our guests in the rear seat to have their knees against their chest when we scoot the front seat far enough back to allow our legs to function normally with the brake and accelerator pedals.)
Dreidel
There are non-huge cars that are designed to fit tall people. You’d probably have more room in a c-max than in many huge SUVs.
In the link you’ve posted, Amp, it seems to say that for people taller than 7ft, only SUVs or trucks are tall enough. None of the “regular” options accommodates anything above 7ft.
It’s true people over 7ft tall are rare, and most of them are men so they have other privileges. But they exist and we shouldn’t erase them.
Sure, if a seven foot person needs to buy an oversized vehicle, that’s fine – just as it’s fine if someone whose daily life requires hauling huge loads of lumber does. But it’s still a bad idea for those vehicles to be commonplace among people who don’t need them.
Dreidel: I’m not 7′ tall. For me it’s getting in and out of the vehicle. Too much bending and contortion and getting my feet (14 EEEE) caught between the seat and the car interior.
I owned a 2000 Honda Insight until I wore it out. Tiny 2-door. When I first got into it, I assumed that I would have to reject it, as I’m over 6 feet tall. But no, it was quite comfortable. I felt less cramped and had more headroom than I have in, for instance, a Lexus RX400, which is a luxury-market SUV, far larger than my Insight.
Large people don’t need large cars; they need cars designed to be used by large people. “Large cars” and “cars designed with large people in mind” is a Venn diagram which overlaps, to be sure, but it ain’t a circle.
What happened? For at least 2 days it looked like the “amptoons.com” domain was being blackholed.
The “amptoons.com” domain needed renewing. (Oops!) Alas, it’s not an instant process.
You’re lucky someone didn’t snatch it up and try to soak you for $1,000’s to get it back. I’ve got mine on automatic renewal.