Sept. 28 Weekly Open Thread
by Chris Hafner
on September 29, 2009
As always, this is the place for the random, off-topic conversation.
What did everybody think of Our Cars Week Undetermined Period of Time? Personally, I loved it--Car Lust is about cars, yes, but more than that it's about how we relate with those cars. A car can be just awful when it's released; but that's just an abstraction. What's important is the person who buys that car and loves that car; the car becomes a member of the family, loved while it lives and mourned when it passes away. It's The Velveteen Rabbit in an automotive context, and I love it.
--Chris H.
David Colborne on September 29, 2009 at 09:04 PM
Hmm... I take it this means the rest of us contributors will have to start contributing again. Scary stuff, there.
I thought it was an excellent series! Some of the cars were moderately ordinary (Accord), some were interesting twists on otherwise pedestrian cars (Turbo Sprint), and others were cars that I never thought we'd get to cover like that (Frazer Manhattan). All in all, our visitors really pulled us through!
Shawn on September 29, 2009 at 10:53 PM
This weekend I headed to the local junkyard, which as expected was full of Cash 4 Clunkers victims. I stocked up on some needed BMW parts for cheap, but it was amazing the caliber of cars that were in the boneyard, compared to the normal wrecks. These were prime for the picking but I also enjoyed looking at some of the other C4C casualties: Jaguar XJ-S, Subaru XT and SVX, and Audi ur-S4 to name a few.
Chris Mallow on September 30, 2009 at 06:19 AM
I thought the Our Cars feature was outstanding! There are lots of models and types that I have never found attractive, but I think this was great to show how a) there really is no accounting for taste, and b) car relationships are like romantic relationships: there's a car out there for everyone, and when you find the one for you, you can really fall in love. (It was also great to see that there are other people out there as crazy about cars, and especially ordinary, underappreciated cars, as I am. I wrote in about my Ramcharger but I could easily have written about several cars I've owned, because I love them all.
There were cars that are well-known and commonly seen, and there were cars that you might never have seen (and never see again).
Rob on September 30, 2009 at 09:48 AM
Ugh, the cash for clunkers thing is infuriating. Tons of cars were scrapped that didn't meet the requirements.... it makes no sense. I guess free government money = nevermind about the requirements, just take free money!
Cookie the Dog's Owner on September 30, 2009 at 09:51 AM
The second annual Our Cars Lunar Cycle has been a raging success. I can't imagine myself ever having any particular affection for a Ramcharger or a Chevy van or a Scion xA, but I loved reading the stories from those who do.
kenny heggem on September 30, 2009 at 01:36 PM
I was always interested in sharing my Sprint Turbo story, and look forward to my 16v GTI one when you feature Our Cars again!
Such a diverse range of vehicles too. Great job everyone.
Steaming Pile on October 01, 2009 at 08:00 AM
My Scion xA might not be the most luxurious car on the road, or the fastest, but it sure is a blast to drive. It reminds me of my dad's old '71 Beetle, only my car has four doors.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on October 01, 2009 at 08:36 PM
TTAC (http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/) has a roundup of September sales figures:
GM -45% from last September
Chrysler -42%
Honda -20%
Toyota -13%
Mercedes -9.6%
Nissan -7%
Ford -5%
Subaru +1%
VW +1.5%
BMW +3.6%
Porsche +8%
Kia +24.4%
Hyundai +26%
There seems to be a real serious bailout backlash against GM and Chrysler.
That Car Guy on October 02, 2009 at 08:08 AM
Cookie, those numbers are frightening! Are we seeing the end of the American car industry? GM & Chrysler will never survive like this. Looks like the best cars are winning. :(
Yup. The GM dealers that got axed should call Hyundai & KIA. Maybe a few should call Porsche! :)
Cookie the Dog's Owner on October 02, 2009 at 10:43 AM
@TCG: "Are we seeing the end of the American car industry?"
Depends what you mean by "American"? If you mean "American nameplate produced by a company headquartered in Detroit," well, unless the name happens to be "Ford," it's looking like the answer is a resounding "no." If by "American" you mean "designed and built in the USA, regardless of where the company is headquartered," well, that's another story entirely. The "furrin'" nameplates are doing much of their manufacturing, and more and more of their design work, here--which is a smart way to insure that the product fits the market.
Some drop-off after the end of C4C was inevitable, just because of how C4C distorted the car market. It's no shock that Hyundai and Kia are doing better; like Rambler in 1958, they're entry-level bargain brands in a contracting economy.
What jumps out at me is just how much negative brand equity GM appears to have collected from the bailout. I've heard a lot of people in my community say they'll never buy another vehicle from "Government Motors." I live in a very "red state" part of Ohio, so I was reluctant to draw any general conclusions from my experience. (See also, e.g., the entry on Wikipedia for "Pauline Kael" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Kael#Nixon_.22quote.22)) Sure looks like a more general phenomenon than I'd realized.
I'm less surprised by the decline for Chrysler. Chrysler has a dreadful product line--the Caliber is an atrocious excuse for a car--but being bailed out with taxpayer money so it can be given away to the Italians probably isn't helping its image.
That Car Guy on October 02, 2009 at 03:03 PM
The truly "American" car industry is on life support, to be kind.
When I worked with Nissan in Tennessee from 1980 - 1986, I learned that the term "American" cars was blurred forever as we knew it. From Nissan's design center in LaJolla, CA, to the Final Line in Smyrna, TN, and with the profits going to Tokyo, Japan, it seemed them furrin' cars was sure commencin' to gittin' a Southern accent rather quickly, ya'll.
Later, all Camaros were built in Canada, the country which GM proclaimed "Invented Rock & Roll." I guess GM has never heard of Cleveland LOL.
...m... on October 02, 2009 at 10:47 PM
...it's truly saddening to think of all the brilliant engineering, really world-class R&D, which made its way through the back laboratories of general motors over the last thirty years only to have the life ground out of it by corporate culture before anything made its way to the end consumer...
...i remember visiting GM's world of motion at epcot center back in the mid-eighties in abject fascination; so many genuinely talented people had their life's work squandered by overmanagement and petty accounting...