11/26/2008

Reynolds links to this Popular Mechanics piece titled: Ten Cars that Damaged GM's Reputation, which is a collection of shit unrivaled in modern cardom. I've always asked myself regarding the array of shit cars turned out by Detroit over a decade and a half if anyone who really loved cars would ever have allowed them out the factory door. Did those clowns testifying before Congress last week ever in their lives build a hot rod in their garages? Did any of them channel or lower their own cars while in high school? Did any of them have any urge at all to build a car from scratch in their back yard? Hell no, had they ever done so the mechanical monsters depicted in the article would not have even been considered.

2 comments:

Roux said...

You'd think that the actual engineers would have stopped some of the fiasco's. Converting a gasoline engine to diesel. How stupid?

Anonymous said...

articles like that are why i roll my eyes every time GM, or yet another blogger, blames GM's infinite myriad of problems on the unions. instead of the spectacularly incompetent management, where the blame *belongs.*

each and every car in that article had 3 things in common:
1) GM management clearly spent no time, effort, or money in designing them, because they couldn't be bothered to think outside the box. or to give a damn.
2) GM management arrogantly trotted them out to the public with the attitude of "so what if they're shit. you buy american, you hear?!?"
3) they were built *exactly as designed* by the GM unions, using GM supplied/mandated parts, tools, procedures, and equipment.

35+ years of absolute garbage from GM. 35+ years of GM management pissing away **tens of billions of dollars** in value and goodwill.

yeah, it's the unions fault. the reason GM makes shit is "because our labor costs are $70 an hour, compared to toyota/honda's $50."

never mind the fact that toyota honda can sell *all the camry's and accord's they can build* at $22K, while GM can't give away their chevys and pontiacs at $19K.

let GM sink.