Sometimes an article attracts comments that warrant a separate post. This is one. Bill’s Comment:
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admin
Well I have to say I agree, it is sad. I’ll spare everyone my “I know what went wrong with U.S. car manufacturing” diatribe, but anytime we lose a US corporation (car manufacturing or not) it’s a blow to your economic and self reliance. More importantly, and this maybe just because I’m older and more nostalgic these days, its a piece of our nations living history dieing off. Having spend some time in Italy this past fall, FIAT is huge and their cars are built to last. They have to be, the driving there in the big cities is tough….much worse then most of our road…YES….even here in Arizona. Interesting enough. I saw a lot of Chevys and Fords in Italy, in the big cities (Rome and Florence) and even out in the rural wine country. Do you know the number of Chryslers I saw there – 2. Maybe that will change for Italians but it’s a loss for us.
adminI loved the Magnum, the Charger – not so much. But I’m sorry, the Neon wouldn’t be something I’d hold up as major player for Chrysler. Having owned one, I am confident the were a very bad attempt to make a compact/street tuner. Maybe not an EPIC fail but a fail none the less. (My son was in a side impact accident where the Neon split wide open. If he’d been any slower the impact would have been at the driver door and I doubt he’d be here today. – No air bags deployed.) I understand their claim to fame with the Mini Van, but they were not stellar, many issues even when new. They sold, because they were “inexpensive”.
You mentioned the RAM trucks, but again, I’m not sure the quality is there. Chrysler sold a lot during the Homeland Security boom, in particular to Border Patrol, but they just didn’t hold up well, here in the southwest. They are slowly replacing them with Chevy. I’m not sure how the Mitsubshi relationship started, but they do have some good engines (case in point the LaBarron) – I seem to recall the Stealth (2000 or 3000) was the first major Mitsubshi contribution.
I think you are correct FORD has been consistent and since the 1950’s has been producing cars worth of being American. In fact, I am going out on the limb and say we’ll see the 2015 Mustang winning one off the Car of the Year awards.
I’d like to jump to GM they’ve had a fantastic year – Caddy CTS winning car of the year. Corvette and Silverado winning awards this year as well.
It remains to be seen what becomes of Chrysler, I hope it returns to producing quality cars and stays here in the US. BTW – I love the Challenger!!!!
Drop me a note.
Thank for reading.
Tim
Bill
Thanks for the blog and sounding post!
I have to comment on the Neon and minivan. These were vehicles that were the ‘best for the money’.
The NEON was the first factory produced car that was available ‘race ready’. You could order an ACR NEON that had no AC, no ABS, no Air Bag, and NEON RACING decals in the trunk. My friend that worked at Santa Cruz Dodge ordered an ACR NEON and it was ‘bang for the buck’. He auto crossed this car across the State of California and had a blast. Then the SRT NEON was introduced and again it was ‘bang for the buck’. Having said all this, my original point with the NEON was Daimler replcaed this car with the Caliber, and it was a terrible vehicle that laid an egg in that car segment.
The minivan was another best for the money vehicle. Always about $5,000 less than a competitor Seinna, or Odyseey it would maintain the market lead until Daimler dropped the ball. The forth generation minivans under Daimler were de-contented without a price reduction, and slipped in reliability and saftey ratings.
Finally, about Mitsubshi. Chrysler had 49% ownership of Mitsubshi from the late 1970s. This produced excellent cars such as the Dodge Colt and D50 RAM, but the really great product was the Diamond Star trio of the Laser, Talon, and Eclipse. I owned a Laser Turbo and it was 100% trouble free and would easily cruise at 130MPH (I got a ticket in Oklahoma wih the radar gun showing 124MPH, and was let off for 10 over). These cars were built in Illinois as a joint venture and were always a Car and Driver 10 Best awrad winner. Again, Daimler severed the Mitsubshi relationship and sold the ownership, and both Chrysler and Mitsubshi lost out here. (Today the Daimond Star plant produces the Galant only)
My only GM car ownership experience, a 2001 Impala, has tainted me on the brand. Other than a Corvette, I cannot bring myself to vere consider a GM car. I actually experienced the GM decline personally with my father’s cars. He bought a new Buick LeSabre every 7 years from the 1960s throughout the 1990s. Up until his 1982 purchase, all of these cars were bulletproof to 100K miles, then in 1982 everything changed, and in 1989 it got even worse. His GM loyality still endured, eventhough the cars were spending many days a year in the service bays with issues such as the dashboard falling off the firewall, exploading window regulators, intake manifold failures, transmission logic controller failures, and even a heater blower motor that failed every three months like clockwork, etc, etc. I still believe that Toyota’s best salesperson was named General Motors.
Thanks for letting me rant!
Tim
You can build reliable cars without all the extras. Folks that plopped down hard earned money wanted something to get them around – not something that would leave them stranded or fighting the dealership for honoring warrantee work. Once you gain that poor quality tag it’s tough to shake. And it wasn’t just MOPAR, as we all know it was the U.S. auto industry in total.
Dodge Neon
Thanks for the blog and sounding post!
I have to comment on the Neon and minivan. These were vehicles that were the ‘best for the money’.
The NEON was the first factory produced car that was available ‘race ready’. You could order an ACR NEON that had no AC, no ABS, no Air Bag, and NEON RACING decals in the trunk. My friend that worked at Santa Cruz Dodge ordered an ACR NEON and it was ‘bang for the buck’. He auto crossed this car across the State of California and had a blast. Then the SRT NEON was introduced and again it was ‘bang for the buck’. Having said all this, my original point with the NEON was Daimler replcaed this car with the Caliber, and it was a terrible vehicle that laid an egg in that car segment.
The minivan was another best for the money vehicle. Always about $5,000 less than a competitor Seinna, or Odyseey it would maintain the market lead until Daimler dropped the ball. The forth generation minivans under Daimler were de-contented without a price reduction, and slipped in reliability and saftey ratings.
Finally, about Mitsubshi. Chrysler had 49% ownership of Mitsubshi from the late 1970s. This produced excellent cars such as the Dodge Colt and D50 RAM, but the really great product was the Diamond Star trio of the Laser, Talon, and Eclipse. I owned a Laser Turbo and it was 100% trouble free and would easily cruise at 130MPH (I got a ticket in Oklahoma wih the radar gun showing 124MPH, and was let off for 10 over). These cars were built in Illinois as a joint venture and were always a Car and Driver 10 Best awrad winner. Again, Daimler severed the Mitsubshi relationship and sold the ownership, and both Chrysler and Mitsubshi lost out here. (Today the Daimond Star plant produces the Galant only)
My only GM car ownership experience, a 2001 Impala, has tainted me on the brand. Other than a Corvette, I cannot bring myself to vere consider a GM car. I actually experienced the GM decline personally with my father’s cars. He bought a new Buick LeSabre every 7 years from the 1960s throughout the 1990s. Up until his 1982 purchase, all of these cars were bulletproof to 100K miles, then in 1982 everything changed, and in 1989 it got even worse. His GM loyality still endured, eventhough the cars were spending many days a year in the service bays with issues such as the dashboard falling off the firewall, exploading window regulators, intake manifold failures, transmission logic controller failures, and even a heater blower motor that failed every three months like clockwork, etc, etc. I still believe that Toyota’s best salesperson was named General Motors.
Thanks for letting me rant!
You can build reliable cars without all the extras. Folks that plopped down hard earned money wanted something to get them around – not something that would leave them stranded or fighting the dealership for honoring warrantee work. Once you gain that poor quality tag it’s tough to shake. And it wasn’t just MOPAR, as we all know it was the U.S. auto industry in total.