I think the reason our economy hinges so much on the auto industry is because
of the residuals the auto industry has to offer. The finance and insurance
sector benefit from this in a big way, after market manufacturers, labor
unions,lobbies, and of course, big oil.
Then there is that romantic notion of the flying cars of the future. Remember
all of those various and sundry magazine articles foretelling the future of
transportation?
As I look at the average driver who drives a car that is five years old or
older, I can't bear to think how that kind of maintenance would work on a
flying machine!
The FAA would probably become the nation's largest bureaucracy trying to
watchdog everything automotive! LOL.
(No wonder the Chrysler Turbine concept was scrapped. Can you imagine the ill
effects of bad maintenance on something that is spinning at 40K or so RPM's?)
But that aside, I am in agreement to the fact that the average person does not
want to be bothered with the maintenance, much less the knowledge, of keeping
their technological trappings intact. On the same tangent, this is why a
majority of consumer electronic equipment is also "throw away". Much of the
electronic gadgetry out there is all proprietary, designed with application
specific integrated circuits (ASIC's). It's cheaper, it protects the
manufacturer from plagiarism by the competition, and it limits the amount of
repair that is available several years down the road. (Especially when the ASIC
manufacturer decides to make that chip package obsolete)
Of course, when the consumer is much happier with a cheaper price for an item,
than for the quality of the item, this forces what I see as a downward spiral
of quality and overall expectations. Manufacturers get bullied by retailers to
cut their costs, so manufacturers begin to scramble in order to save their
margins. First by reducing the material cost(which in turn reduces the overall
quality) of the product, then by shipping the labor to a foreign market. The
bar has been lowered. Somehow, this doesn't seem to apply with the automotive
market though. People seem perfectly happy
paying on the average 32K for a new car or truck! And they don't even wink
when they finance it over a six or seven year period! (This is the part where
the insurance and finance sectors make their killing)
I may be going in all directions here with my rant, but it was all to set a
platform for my following thought; the Packard Corporation. When I think of
quality and consumer satisfaction, I always think of Packard. Grant it, they
were already in the history books for ten years by the time I was born, but
they left a legacy and an example. Based on my grandfather's accounts when he
worked there as an engineer, Packard enjoyed the highest customer loyalty of
any motor car built in the world - even to this date. (About 90% retention,
and some of those customers were even from foreign lands!) It was very common
for generations of families to all have Packards in their driveways to the
exclusion of everything else. Why? Service, and customer commitment. Plus
the fact that they built a damned good car too. Did you know that if you were
good with a wrench and needed to do something to your Packard, you could drive
it into a dealership and borrow their tools and garage? That's right. Only
Packard dealerships had "guest garage area
s" where you could pull up in your car, do whatever you need to do, borrow the
tools (and know how too because they had a full time mechanic on duty for
assistance) and buy the spares right there. That's service!
Can you imagine doing that today? Automotive dealerships and their
manufacturer mothership, are like a bunch of paranoid insecure folks, acting
like we are all out to steal their livelyhood when we figure out how to fix
something.
I worked for the automotive industry for a few years in my engineering career.
And it left me with a very bitter taste. As much as I love cars, I move on to
leave that chapter behind me. It is the most cut throat business I have ever
been involved in. Corporate espionage exists at many levels on just about
everything, and there is as much reverse engineering (of the other guy's stuff)
as there is design engineering for many different parts. No wonder the stuff
looks so cookie cutter eh?
Yes, sadly the Packards and Pierce Arrows of yesterday could never survive
today. People could never appreciate them for what they represent in the first
place!
Just a little side note, my grandfather switched to driving Imperials after
Packard took a nose dive in 56. He always admired Chrysler and their "spirit
of innovation" as he used to tell me. He passed away in 1978, leaving behind a
beautiful 1972 LeBaron (Which was totalled by my hot rodding brother back in
'80).
Chris Middlebrook
62 Custom Southampton
--- On Thu 04/29, < RandalPark@xxxxxxx > wrote:
From: [mailto: RandalPark@xxxxxxx]
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 15:50:42 -0400
Subject: Re: IML: Ecologically correct/economically disasterous
Well, once again, that opinion my float very well in this forum, but asking the
same of our financial markets would quickly provide a great deal of solid
evidence to the contrary. <br><br>The economy itself doesn't focus on anything.
It is incapable of that. The economy comes from what we want and buy. The
markets seek their own equilibrium based on supply and demand. If the econmy
would be better served by producing public tranportation instead of private
automobiles, then that is exactly what would happen.<br><br>I have always
driven HIGH QUALITY OLDER CARS myself, but by doing that I have gone against
the grain of what is best for our domestic automotive industry. Like you, I
don't find newer cars particularly appealing. I didn't even in 1975 or 1980. In
those days I was driving old Imperials.<br><br>Regardless, our economy has been
very dependent on the automotive industry to succeed. Whether we like it or
not, that is a fact. Maybe it will change, but so far, there has been no
indication that it will happen soon.<br><br>The re
ason cars don't last 40 years is that the automotive industry doesn't want them
to. In the old days, they built a car that would last a really long time, but
styles and engineering changed so rapidly that no one would keep anything very
old. Plus, it had no value. They also discovered that in this country, people
don't really take care of their equipment, so there is no point in it being
built to last very long anyway. Have you ever heard of "the throw away
society"?<br><br>That is where us Imperial collectors are different than the
rest of our brothers ans sisters. We keep our old iron going and reap some
personal rewards in doing that. <br><br>Paul<br><br>In a message dated
4/29/2004 11:04:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time, dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
writes:<br><br>>Paul, that's debateable too. �Perhaps the economy would have
focused on other<br>>things (like public transportation projects for example)
that would have kept<br>>the money flowing, yet it would be producing something
more socially useful<br>>than low quality status symbols t
hat wear out after 5-10 years use. �As for<br>>example the cold war wore out,
the reduction in defence contracts in the 90's<br>>did not collapse the economy
as new (and more useful) acivities replaced the<br>>old ones.<br>><br>>Most
people in our times have never driven an old car. �I have been driving
high<br>>quality 60's cars ever since I started driving. �I have a serious
moral<br>>objection to the cars made today, and that's one of the reasons I do
not want<br>>to be an engineer for the automotive industry. �If they could
build infinite<br>>life cars 40 years ago (granted, only the "quality" cars
like the imperials<br>>qualify for that), why can't they now? �I think the
answer to this is double: <br>>1. �The manufacturers on purpose build
disposeable cars because they are<br>>cheaper to build and it ensures their
future business. �<br>>2. �The average consumer only cares for short term
advantages. �They would<br>>rather have an extra 2 mpg and half a second better
0-60 mph times instead of<br>>having thick body panels and rea
l bumpers and sub frames. �They plan to sell<br>>that car 3 years down the road
anyway, so the long term benefits of real<br>>quality are irrelevant to them.
�Quality now is defined as number of cup<br>>holders or how your SUV can turn
into a p/u.<br>><br>>D^2 <br>><br>>Quoting RandalPark@xxxxxxx:<br>><br>>> And
our economy would have collapsed 50 years ago...<br>>> <br>>> Paul<br>>> <br>>>
In a message dated 4/29/2004 7:35:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time,<br>>>
hugtrees@xxxxxxxx writes:<br>>> <br>>> > <br>>> > <br>>> > If one is just a tad
on the "green" side, such as myself, an Imperial<br>>> owner<br>>> > has a
right to feel just a tad superior to owners of modern cars. �While<br>>> > many
cars have being recycled designed into them, the<br>>> > Imperial is �designed
to be re-used, which is self evidently better. <br>>> Gosh,<br>>> > if only
everyone could have the same car for forty years, the world would<br>>>
be<br>>> > a much greener plac
e.<br>>> > <br>>> > Hugh<br>>> > Tongue firmly in cheek<br>>> > <br>>> >
<br>>> > <br>>> > <br>>> > <br>>> > -----------------
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to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please <br>>> > reply to
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everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the<br>>> > Administrators
should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<br>>> > To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to
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