My grandparents had two criteria for buying a car: It had to be blue, and it had to be American. The last time they purchased a car was in the '90s, when American car companies didn't have the best reputations for quality or reliability. When a few members of the family's younger generation brought up the possibility of my grandparents considering Asian and European makers, it was as if we were suggesting that they commit treason. "We have to buy American," they said. End of conversation. Living through the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War ingrained upon my grandparents and their generation that buying American was just a way of life. You brush your teeth in the morning, and you buy American. That sentiment has slipped in succeeding generations, but there appear to be signs that, to some extent, it is returning.
