Had the bonnet up on the MINI yesterday and noticed a piece of trim had come loose. Tiny screw broke free from a plastic mount. Guessing the dealer would replace the strip and it would cost me a couple of hundred bucks. Plan B was a piece of duct tape, just to keep it from rattling. (A time-honored tradition in southern Missouri where I grew up)

Once upon a time this would have been a piece of chrome, not a bit of plastic. As I thought about this I realized chrome has been gone (for the most part) for a long time. Everything molded plastic, the same color as the vehicle. Is there ANY chrome on cars/trucks these days? Our Ford Fairlane and our Chevy Impala had so much chrome on it you could hardly look at it on a bright summer day. Americans loved their shiny automobiles.

Thinking back on the countless photos and videos of Land Rovers I’ve looked at in recent months, I don’t recall seeing any chrome. Which makes sense. Why put chrome on a farm vehicle?