The New York Times is reporting that the end of the road is near for an American icon. GM is closing its Janesville, Wisconsin SUV plant.

If you do the math and if the government doesn’t push up the price of gas (that’s a big if) then buying one of these behemoths actually pencils out provided the discounts they now go for holds. I had never driven one until I was on a consulting trip to Florida and the sponsor provided a tricked out Tahoe. It took me about a day to understand why people love these dinosaurs.

I may go out an start shopping for an Escalade. If nothing else, the scarcity value might make it every bit as good as a bet as the S&P.