In which Sid considers the cars on American roads.
We should start by saying Sid is not a connoisseur of recent American cars and cannot tell the difference between a 2019 Chevrolet Impala and a Ford Taurus without a good look at the badge.
Insurify made this graphic in 2019 which shows the ‘Most Popular Cars in America’. This looks odd and is probably only looking at cars. What this does bring out is the loyalty of the area around Detroit to the Impala, while the US built ‘Japanese’ cars are more popular elsewhere.
It’s also looking at the whole car park – that is, cars being driven not just being sold. You can see more here.
More presentative if less pretty is this from Forbes: www.forbes.com/wheels/news/best-selling-cars-suvs-pickups-2021/ (you will need to click through a consent page to see it).
Here we see the three biggest selling vehicles are trucks such as the Ford F Series, Dodge Rams, Chevrolet Silverado and Toyota Tacomas. These range from merely large to ginormous load luggers like the Ram here. 
Trucks are much more profitable than cars and of course represent that pioneering, independent spirit that farming Americans have. (How much is spent subsidising corn for ethanol and bio-diesel?)
Once in the middle of the country we saw more pickups. Sometimes they were work horses but also being used for everyday pottering about. Very often the back of the truck was clean and tidy, never had anything in it more pioneering than a fairy bicycle.
Americans hang onto cars for longer, maybe because in some states rust is not an issue. Or perhaps because you just have to have a car and besides in some states there is no MoT. The average US vehicle is 12 years old where in the UK and Japan the average is eight.
Clearly Monterey in car week does give a false impression of the variety of cars in the USA. Once out of California we barely saw a hobby car until we reached Colorado Springs, which did have a bit of a scene. In the middle we were surprised to see an Audi 80 Convertible. Probably a Democrat.
The team at Gateway Classics in Nashville said they were opening a new branch somewhere in the country every month so there is an appetite for old cars out there. The cars may still be around but we don’t get to see them because owners drive them so little. The average classic in the UK does around 1,200 miles.
Just driving across the States you are no more likely to see a hobby car than anywhere else. If you want to see classic cars in America go to where they gather. Monterey is a bit top-end and Ferrari heavy but with a little effort you can catch a good range. Otherwise seek out the coffee-and-chromes and town cruises.
And if you were worried you couldn’t tell the difference between the Impala and something else? Well, Chevrolet took the hint and have stopped making it. Nice profitable Silverado, anyone?