I just got back from the New York International Auto Show. They’ve scaled way back on the buxom blondes, but there’s still plenty of lying going on.

A car, after all, is an extremely expensive device with a fair amount of utility. But that’s not what they sell at the show. The going price for utility is $15,000 or maybe $20,000. Figure $25,000 if you want a Prius. What they sell at the show are cars that cost many times that, or cars (like the one being hawked at left) that are totally cool but not particularly useful.

Unless you define “useful” to mean, “useful at making me feel sexy and young and filled with energy.” Because that’s what they’re selling and that’s what we’re buying. The fact that it can also get us somewhere is slightly irrelevant.