I almost agree with him. Personally, I believe "The Big Three" have gotten too big - more like bureaucracies than "car guys" - in the last three-four decades. The top-floor execs get more of "a woody" out of a rise in stock prices than in the rumble of an engine or the smell of a tire burning down. Where's Larry Shinoda? Bunkie Knudtsen and his gang? - cripes, even Coletti gave up. No more building up "Specialty Cars" and the engineers taking them down Woodward at night for a little "stoplight performance evaluation". Sure, stock prices and sizeable dividends are what make the ownership happy; but somewhere along the way, The Big Three mostly forgot what makes the stocks go up - sales! Sales jump when desire jumps. After the first T-bolts blew down a quarter mile, or "went fast, turned left"; sales went up. The Boss 429 sold more Mustangs (even six bangers) than all the marketing hype of several model years. GM had 409 Impalas, 396 Chevelles, 327 Camaros...... The guy who first thought of stuffing a 455HD in a Firebird was probably an engineer; but he turned out to be a marketing genius! That guy sold more Trans Am's than both "Smokey and the Bandit" movies and "Knight Rider" combined - even those gawd-awful turbocharged Chevy 305 T/A's! Unions are no better. Lord knows I wouldn't last three days "on the line" air-wrenching lug nuts; but, with a combined pay-and-bennies package worth eighty-one bucks an hour I could buy a helluva lot of Prozac and make serious bank for a while longer..... Where are the guys doing that who would do that just working towards the dream of maybe someday building big-azzz CJ motors? In the very early 80's even Bob Seger had it figured out - go look up the words to "Makin' Thunderbirds". Nah, this bailout is only going to keep the Big Three alive to do what they've been doing since about 1972. It's not going to make them lean, hungry, maniacal "car guys" again...... ON AN OFF-TOPIC NOTE I looked around the Factory Five site for the first time in a long time..... HOLY GOD! That HOT ROD kit!!!!!!! There's a guy on mercurycougar.net that has 'chopped this picture to include a big green WANT!!!! across the bottom. That was me looking at the HOT ROD F5 replica '33 Roadster Jim Schenk and Dave Smith are mondo CAR GUYS!
I thought the same thing looking at that kit....pretty sure me n' kyle drooled over that for a good 5 mins...that was pure sex on wheels....
Nice soapbox speech. What scares me is the way the young kids who work for me hate US cars. I can't believe the attitudes these kids have got. Worst of all, they are selling out their own futures and can't see it.
i would just like to say that im 21 and stand with everyone here i hate most of my generation, and you hit the nail on the head as to why.
Are we dumber or smarter.......... As was said above, when they make something I want, I'll look into it. It is an investment for some of us. But with their track record...........hmmmm. I don't feel bad investing in a company that is not worried about making it through 09. Plus I just can't compare an Audi or BMW to an American luxury car. Sorry, can't do it. After saying that, I'll probably keep our my classic stang and my Jeep and get the Mrs. an Audi next go around.
