The ancient Greeks and Romans didn’t have a problem coming up with new ways to understand their
world better. To them it was easy to conjure up a story to which they can relate and also used these stories as guidelines to live their lives. Both these ancient cultures have created stories of beings and humans with extraordinary powers and abilities. And these stories often spurred them on to do great things; to want to achieve.
In the case of the Greeks, they created myths about gods and heroes: Zeus and Hades, Hercules and Achilles. The heroes, to the Greeks, were humans with superhuman skills: superhuman to the point where one could say that they are Gods. The Greek hero would often think of himself as being better than the rest, that he is greater than the next hero. To the Greek hero, the world revolved around him and everything he did was to get recognition, to be seen, to live for his own glory.
The Roman hero, on the other hand, was nothing like the Greek hero. Yes, both share the trait of being better and greater than normal human beings, but never did the Roman hero put his needs before the needs of others. The Roman hero would live for his assignment, for his purpose. It would also happen that the Roman hero would receive his purpose from the divine, the Gods, and he would execute the task with no argument.
In our modern world we also have our ‘heroes’, even though they may not be to everyone’s liking. Both Mercedes-Benz and Chevrolet have created heroes for the motoring society, even if they battle at different ends of the field. Like the ancient heroes Mercedes-Benz has created the C63 AMG using its famed 6,2-litre V8 engine. Chevrolet created the Lumina SS, also making use of a 6,2-litre V8, albeit of much older technologies. Here we have two cars, still fighting a battle in a world that has rejected their hearts, so to speak.
The Mercedes C63 AMG can be compared with the great Greek hero, Hercules. Hercules possessed great strength. His twelve labours still capture the minds of those hearing of his tales. Hercules came of divine ancestry; his father being the king of Gods, Zeus. Zeus wanted his son to achieve great things, to have him take the world by storm and to be the greatest king that had ever lived. Hercules lived his life, doing good unto others, but at the same time, took his chances to become the greatest of heroes the Greek world had ever seen.
As is with the C63 AMG, Mercedes had not built the car to just be muscular and bold as Hercules, but also to do good unto its driver, to make the driver feel like the hero. And for someone to feel like the hero he/she would have to do certain tasks. Hercules also had tasks he had to perform before he could be accepted into the accolades of the gods, and that he did. Nothing could stop Hercules from going forward and pushing through with his mission.
The C63 AMG had its mission cut out for it, too: find and destroy all competition. It found the competition, but it didn’t exactly destroy them. There would also be something that stands in the way of the C63 AMG and it achieving the ultimate greatness, and in this case, it didn’t have the final knockout blow. Yes, the C63 AMG makes use of an engine that definitely had much more potential to offer, but it ‘lived’ in a time where heroes are putting on different cloaks. Where difference between the nature of motor heroes of yore and today are as vast as the biggest ocean. Hercules too had to die. As Achilles had said: “Not even the great Hercules could escape death.” And in our day, not even the great Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, with the potential filled V8, could survive the onslaught from a world seeking smaller displacement engines.
The Chevrolet Lumina SS I compare to the Roman hero, Aeneas. Aeneas is the most well-known of Roman heroes. He was said to be the truest resemblance and representation of what the ideal Roman were striving towards. The Romans didn’t want to have the same brass, in your face nature of the Greek heroes, and their heroes were thus the complete opposite of the Greek hero.
Aeneas, a mere mortal and son of the goddess Venus, were given a task by his mother to go out and find a new Troy. Aeneas didn’t argue, but instead did what he was told to do. Here one can see the first resemblance between Aeneas and the Lumina SS. The Lumina was created to offer the masses an affordable alternative to what the Germans had to offer. It did so. With aplomb. One could say that the Lumina SS stayed humble in its quest to offer the new Troy. It didn’t run away with sales, but it did what was needed to be done: give to the motoring society the chance to be a hero in his/her own right. Aeneas’s humble nature should not distract from his ability to do battle. As is his nature, Aeneas would first find a solution to a situation. If a solution cannot be found and battle is the only way, Aeneas would fight like a man possessed. He would hold nothing back and keep on attacking until life had left his opponent. With such a big, old school V8 that the Lumina SS utilises, it would come as no surprise that when needed, the Lumina SS can offer plenty of punch; and a brutal one at that! The Lumina SS can be driven with great ease and it rewards its driver with the knowing that the car under his control is a piece of automotive history.
The Lumina SS is nearing its end. The Aeneas of the motoring world is fighting his last battles, but with an engine that big and in a world moving away from heavy, big armoury, the war will not be won. This is the end. The metaphorical Troy had been found and the Lumina SS had reigned for a while. Albeit not with great flare and fame, but it subtly made its presence felt and the automotive world knows its name.
Heroes come and go. The automotive world is in a constant need for something onto which it can place its hopes. A new hero will emerge; that much is clear. The Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and Lumina SS V8 wrote their tales. Their myths and feats will be remembered for some time to come. They are heroes to the current generation of petrolheads and their presence will be missed.
- See more at: http://www.carmagblog.co.za/opinion/hero-worship/#sthash.RiqP76T2.dpuf
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