The Detroit Auto Show continues, and the New York Times reports that the big American automakers–that’d be General Motors, Ford and Chrysler–are once again backing away from the once-mighty V-8 engine.

I say once-mighty only because once, in a faraway land called 1950s and 1960s America, men respected you, women wanted you, cops ticketed you and beatniks feared you–all based on the size of your car engine. (Lousy beatniks!)

Size mattered–but now, thanks to a coupla wars, $100-a-barrel oil, melting glaciers and out-of-work polar bears, the Times reports that Ford–which virtually invented the V-8 in 1932–is now stumping for a turbocharged V-6 engine.

Over at GM, they’ve cancelled a $300 million program to develop a new V-8–and remember, this is the company whose small-block Chevrolet engine is considered the best V-8 ever; it debuted in 1955 and you can still buy one new today.

And Chrysler, smallest of the so-called Big Three, will harness its legendary 1950s Hemi engine of racing fame (now back in production) to hybrid technology.

What does that mean? It means it’s over, maybe for the last time. At Mitsuwa Marketplace in Costa Mesa–an Asian super-grocery-retail-food-court that is one of my favorite places to eat and shop–the bookstore sells Nostalgic Hero, a Japanese magazine devoted to vintage Japanese cars–all of which sipped gas.

Toyota Coronas, Datsun Bluebirds, early Celicas, first-gen Civics–they’re all here. You should go buy a copy, even though it’s pricey for a magazine. These are your role models, though I hate to say it. I own a ‘49 Ford–but this is where we’re all headed: cars that don’t use much gas.

And now, after so many years, all those early Japanese compacts look pretty damn good again (thanks to the work of legendary studios like Pininfarina, which designed the Datsun 410 Bluebird).

It’s ironic: the modern Japanese auto industry copied us, when it emerged after World War II–and ever since, we’ve been trying to figure out how to copy them. Maybe some day we’ll get it right.

Because you asked, I’d have to say that one of the coolest American combinations out right now (at least I think it’s still out) is the Dodge Ram with the Cummins diesel engine. It sounds like a fire truck (only because fire trucks have used diesel engines forever), it’s faster than hell, and at least it doesn’t run on gas.

Tags: beatniks, California, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cummins diesel, Datsun 410 Bluebird, Detroit Auto Show, Dodge Ram, Ford, General Motors, Hemi engine, Honda Civic, Japanese auto industry, Long Beach, Mitsuwa Marketplace, new york times, Nostalgic Hero, Pininfarina, polar bears, small-block Chevrolet, Southern California, The District Weekly, Theo Douglas, Toyota Celica, Toyota Corona, V-8 engine