Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Guys, it's a Monday. Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottled water. Let's see what's happening out there.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $5.68 a bushel, 550lb steer calf, not moving much, but I'll quote them right where they're at, $5 and a nickel, $5.05 a pound. Butcher hog in Iowa 67¢ a pound, and a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $3.10 a pound. But guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:Okay. Better get going. It's a good one. It's Monday, and that can mean only one thing. It's Jay and Joe's Motor Monday and I can't wait for a change. I have something good for you today.
OK Solberg:So let's use that theme bible verse because it sets the stage so well from Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you. Deuteronomy 32:7 I used it last week and I'm not ashamed to use it again. It's a great verse for this program.
OK Solberg:Now sit back and enjoy. Here's a something you haven't heard before. Ready? There was a time not so very long ago when a young man could walk into a showroom, lay eyes on a machine with a rumbling heart, and drive out with more horsepower than sense.
OK Solberg:They called them muscle cars, but that name was never used back then, but that's what we know them by now. Names like the Pontiac GTO, the Dodge Charger, the Chevrolet Chevelle SS, cars that didn't whisper down the road but roared, big block V8's, quarter mile bragging rights, and a generation that believed gasoline and freedom, well, would never run out. In 1970, it all reached a peak.
OK Solberg:Some engines were advertised at over 400 horsepower. The Plymouth Hemi Cuda carried a four twenty six Hemi engine officially rated at 425 horsepower, but insiders knew that number was polite, conservative, a wink and a nod between manufacturer and buyer. Because even then, the numbers mattered, not just to drivers, but to insurance companies, car insurance companies. Yes. Insurance companies had begun to notice something.
OK Solberg:These cars, lightweight bodies with enormous engines, were finding their way into the hands of the youngest drivers. And those drivers, especially 16 and 17 year old boys, had a tendency to test the limits of both machine and mortality. By the early 1970's, Insurance underwriters were no longer just glancing at a driver's age, they were studying engine codes, carburetor sizes, horsepower ratings. A car with 300 horsepower didn't just go faster, it cost more to insure, sometimes a lot more. And then came October 1973.
OK Solberg:The 1973 oil crisis struck like a sudden winter. The Arab oil embargo choke supply lines, gas stations ran dry, prices climbed, lines stretched for blocks. Overnight, America's love affair with excess, well, it was questioned. At the same time, Washington tightened its grip. New emission standards from the EPA forced automakers to detune engines.
OK Solberg:Compression ratios dropped. Horsepower numbers fell on paper and in reality. And here's where the story turns. Because even before the gas lines, even before the government regulations, something quieter had already begun to squeeze the life out of the muscle car and that was insurance rates. By 1972 and 1973, documented reports from industry showed that ensuring a high performance car could rival the car the cost of the car itself especially for young drivers.
OK Solberg:A brand new Chevy Camaro z '28 might cost around $3,500, but for a 17 year old boy, annual liability insurance premiums could exceed $1,000 for a year, sometimes even 1,500 depending on location and your driving record. That's nearly half the value of the car every single year just to keep it on the road legally. In some cases, insurers simply refused coverage altogether. Families began to do the math. The dream car in the driveway or the ability to afford college or rent or even fuel.
OK Solberg:Now automakers noticed. Almost overnight, something curious happened in Detroit. Horsepower ratings began to fall, not just because of the emissions, but because of insurance classifications. Engines that once proudly wore 350 or 375 horsepower badges were suddenly listed at 270 or 250. The machines hadn't changed much, but the paperwork had.
OK Solberg:Manufacturers quietly shifted from gross horsepower to net horsepower ratings, more accurate, yes, but also far less intimidating to insurance companies. Some models dropped performance packages entirely.
OK Solberg:Others, well, they disguised them because a low number on paper could mean a lower premium and could mean a sale. Still, it wasn't enough. The rise in cost of insurance stacked on top of fuel shortages, emission controls, and shifting public sentiment became the tipping point.
OK Solberg:The hinge pin. The quiet force that didn't make headlines but made decisions. The muscle car didn't disappear in one single moment. It was squeezed, priced, regulated, and finally insured out of existence. Not by one blow, but by many.
OK Solberg:And in the end, it wasn't just the cost of gasoline or the will of government. It was the simple, unaffordable arithmetic of an insurance premium notice. And it arrived in the mailbox quietly telling a generation that horsepower had become unaffordable. And there I end the quote of a beautiful story. And you might ask, did it affect me, the person telling the story?
OK Solberg:Well, let me just say this. In 1974, when I was 17 years old, I had a Buick GS stage one 455. On paper, it was listed at 360 horsepower, but in reality, it was closer to 410. And, yes, I remember it raised my parents' insurance rates plenty high from State Farm right here in Malta, Montana. So now you know the best of the story.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.