10 Cars That Sank Detroit

[Ron61]

Saw this on the news module and thought it may interest some of you. A few of them I wasn't surprised at.

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...-sank-detroit/

Ron

[Cobrabill]

Inaccurate list.Where's the Aztek?Where's the Pontiac Astre?Where's the Vega?As bad as the Pinto was,the Vega made it look like an engineering marvel.
Where's all the AMC "entries"?Even though they are gone,their disasters helped fuel Detroit's "swirl" into the sh!tter.

Ragging on the trucks & SUV's is a constant theme here.But nothing is mentioned about GM not having a light diesel truck to compete with the Cummins & PS for 10 to 15 YEARS!But that does fit GM's M.O.

[Ron61]

Bill,

They would have had to list to many cars and trucks to get in all of the flops that have helped drag Detroit down. My Father bought a Pinto and I swear I was afraid to drive it after the first few times. I always felt as if the seat may fall through the floor. And of course the Chevy Chevette, The company bought a bunch of them and you wouldn't believe the things that fell off and broke. I remember starting out one day and it was a 4 speed and when I shifted I wound up with the whole shift knob and handle in my hand and no way to get it out of 2nd gear and I was on the freeway.

Ron

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by Ron61

And of course the Chevy Chevette, The company bought a bunch of them and you wouldn't believe the things that fell off and broke. I remember starting out one day and it was a 4 speed and when I shifted I wound up with the whole shift knob and handle in my hand and no way to get it out of 2nd gear and I was on the freeway.

Ron

Ron,
I think I can help bring back to life some of the past fun times in your life.

I have an Original 1976 Chevette Scooter.
It is down at Port Aransas at the Beach House.

I believe we could make a deal on it.

[Ron61]

Fred,

What a nightmare to post in public. How many pieces have fallen off and does it have 50K miles on it. Every one the company bought, the rear ends started howling at about 50K miles and by 60 to 65K just froze. And of course there was the asphalt ripping 4 cylinder engine that couldn't run the air and car at the same time. I could spend hours telling tales of what all happened to people driving those cars before the company sold them to a scrap dealer.

Keep yours. It will be worth a fortune some day as I haven't seen one around here for years.

Ron

[bart]

I had a pinto, best $35 dollars I ever spent

where oh where will our government "lead" us now?

[cobra de capell]

It's not necessarily the cars, it's the perception of a lack of quality that did in Detroit. Well, partly the cars - but the competition stressed quality with style secondary - that's a winner over time. Therefore, it's all about the union workers just not giving a damn, with exceptions of course.

Also, lame management played a huge part - not being able to manage the union, no being able to envision simple things such as the price of gas can go way up.

[Ron61]

Ray,

There was a great lack of quality in some of the cars, but I think the management fell on their faces with the refusal to stop making those huge SUVs and other big gas hogs when the other car makers were making more fuel efficient vehicles. The this is what made us tons of money 10 years ago attitude I feel really hurt Detroit. It wasn't they couldn't make quality cars that were efficient and reasonable priced, it was more the stay with what sold big a few years ago attitude. Now GM can't even sell their Hummer division as no one wants it.

Ron

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Ray,

There was a great lack of quality in some of the cars, but I think the management fell on their faces with the refusal to stop making those huge SUVs and other big gas hogs when the other car makers were making more fuel efficient vehicles. The this is what made us tons of money 10 years ago attitude I feel really hurt Detroit. It wasn't they couldn't make quality cars that were efficient and reasonable priced, it was more the stay with what sold big a few years ago attitude. Now GM can't even sell their Hummer division as no one wants it.

Ron

If they started putting diesels in their SUV's like the H2 they would be a more attractive option. I own a 2004 Chevy 2500 HD Duramax diesel that I love. I am getting 18-20 MPG with a 6" lift and 35's. The H2 would probably be in the mid 20's. I am retiring my truck to a tow vehicle this summer, but I am not going to sell it. I think people out there that don't tow or have the need for a large truck or SUV miss the point that they are very useful vehicles if you have a need for one.

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by SP01715

I think people out there that don't tow or have the need for a large truck or SUV miss the point that they are very useful vehicles if you have a need for one.

Around here you see soccer moms in H2s. The truck is never used for towing or hauling anything other than groceries or kids.

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by cobra de capell

It's not necessarily the cars, it's the perception of a lack of quality that did in Detroit. Well, partly the cars - but the competition stressed quality with style secondary - that's a winner over time. Therefore, it's all about the union workers just not giving a damn, with exceptions of course.

Also, lame management played a huge part - not being able to manage the union, no being able to envision simple things such as the price of gas can go way up.

Got to agree. It was not the cars, but the mindset of management.

[427 S/O]

Why is the most butt ugly not listed.........Gremlin?.

[Ron61]

That was a car?

Ron

[olddog]

I have to say that ragging on a car built 40 years ago and claiming it has anything to do with today’s problems is about as lame a brain thing as I have ever heard.

Hell, why don't they bring up Nixon taking us off the gold standard too, while their at it?

No wonder corporate America is about to collapse. The CEO and talking heads all around us are true idiots!

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by olddog

I have to say that ragging on a car built 40 years ago and claiming it has anything to do with today’s problems is about as lame a brain thing as I have ever heard.!

Not as lame as someone that doesn't realize that Detroits problems TODAY started in the early 70's.If you think otherwise-you're a fool.

[Jamo]

Cobrabill...ya just bought some time off. Olddog...you're right on the edge.

We meant it.

[427 S/O]

Chevette!!, dang Fred, I forgot what they looked like...................

[Wayne Maybury]

What kills me about that list is the reference to GM and Chrysler following Ford's lead with the Explorer. They completely disregard the fact that Toyota, Honda, and everyone else also followed with their own versions of the Explorer.

By today's standards, the quality of cars built in the 60's or 70's was very poor not only for the Big 3 but for all of the Japanese cars and many of the Europeans cars as well. Toyota's quality recently started to drop off as their market share got close to GM's.

Wayne

[1ntCobra]

My local mechanic had an interesting thought on where quality was going. He claimed that with a lot of parts being sourced from various suppliers around the globe these days that was sort of equalizing quality. Japanese cars not having as high of quality as they used to and American cars coming up in quality. Sort of meeting in the middle. That sounds like bean counters buying adequate quality for the price winning out over engineering for really good quality.

Originally Posted by Wayne Maybury

... deleted some stuff ...

Toyota's quality recently started to drop off as their market share got close to GM's.

Wayne

[jbuchert]

I think the big three come a long way in the past five years in improving quality, fuel economy ect. In my oppinion they have met or in some cases improved beyond the foreign competition in quality/engineering. People have been brain washed into thinking foreign cars will run forever and get better fuel economy than what any American car can. At one time they may have been correct but those days are long gone. Its very sad but people also dont feel as strongly about supporting there country as they used to.. "buy American, its the American way.

I think GM has led the way in recent years with refining there product. Hell, even the Dodge boys are building a good car these days. I think Ford has the biggest issues with quality today and still gives the American auto market a bad name to some extent. While they have improved there line up considerably in the last couple of years it fails in comparison.