Why Aren't Car Executives More Hardcore?

Back in the first few decades of the automobile, the only car executives were car enthusiasts, and they were usually pretty hardcore guys. For the most part, those days are gone. Why?

One great example of the old-school car exec was the legendary Marcel Renault, who co-founded Renault with his brothers. Marcel was a grand-prix winning race car driver and his death in the Paris-Madrid race of 1903 heralded the end of the great city to city era of car racing.

We don't need every automotive CEO running the Dakar Rally, but why aren't the heads of car companies more tough?
More Power imagined a more badass scenario playing out when the head honcho of Quattro GmbH dissed the new Corvette Stingray.

I was just imagining the head of Corvette walking over to Audi's space at the show and pulling off one glove slapping the guy in the face and then throwing the gantlet to the floor as he says, "It is on bitch." I have an active imagination. I wish I was the head of a performance arm of a car company. I would carry a backpack full of gloves just to go around issuing challenges to anyone who had something bad to say.

I guess not everyone can be Ralph Gilles, but wouldn't you rather see more daring car executives? Why do you think things have gotten so much more tied-down?

Photo Credit: Public Domain