Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 13:25:02 -0400 From: "Jeremy Brown" <Jerem43nopsamnet> Subject: Re: Saab and GMC
"Nutmegger" <Nutmeggernopsameja.com> wrote in message news:aO1d7.5886$NJ6.27754nopsamnewsranger.com... > Jeremy Brown says... > > >In the 1970s GM and the other US car companies really dropped the ball, and >more than 20 years later they are still trying to pickup the pieces. > > What do you mean by that? > How did they drop the ball? All Four major US companies made cars that were gas guzzling behemoths and were, to quote Ralph Nader, unsafe at any speed. Quality was way too low, in fact Chrysler went bankrupt from the lack of quality. Ford had their memorable Pinto Fiasco (it blew up in when hit in the rear end). GM came out with the Chevy Citation (oft called the Shit-tation), the Pontiac Phoenix (Poor name, since the bird it was name after was famous for bursting into flame. Bad association) and the Cadillac Cimmeron (this one was the biggest joke of all 70s US cars.). All these were the exact same car with different trim and accoutrements. They were poorly made and prone to break downs. They had a truly weird sideways mounted radio, that didn't work. They looked like shit. The smallest of the four big US car makers, AMC/Jeep, actually closed up shop and was adsorbed by Renault. Chrysler later bought it from Renault, and thus it is now part of Daimler-Chrysler. Here in New England we still see a few of the old AMC Eagles and Gremlins still puttering around. Notes on the US in the Seventies and other times: The seventies was a time when many of the Asian and European car companies went from small, fringe players to big well known marques in the US. It also lead to some seriously xenophobic reactions from many US Citizens who felt that the people that bought these brands were traitors, especially those who bought Japanese and German cars. Many people who fought in WW 2 were only in their fifties, the country was still reeling from the Viet Nam war and its aftermath, and was in the middle of a major economic recession. All of this lead to some really nasty fights and racism. I still see an occasional bumper sticker that reads "Hungry? Try eating your rice burner!" Thankfully this has really changed. You still do see this behavior in some older people, including my own 87 year old grandmother. My uncle, 74 years old, would not buy any foreign car, and had a real tough time when Daimler-Benz and Chrysler merged. Many WW2 vets have vowed to never buy a Chrysler again, in fact. Many still associate Mercades with Hitlers infamous limo. Most US citizens forget that Henry Ford distributed a book with every new car he sold during the teens and twenties that was a diatribe against the Jews. Hitler in fact used this book as a partial basis for "Mien Kampf" and awarded Ford a medal for it. Enough on my opinions of the US car makers. We do some right and some wrong, like anyone else. Jeremy
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