Posted on 09/09/2007 6:36:38 AM PDT by shove_it
... the Model T was a piece of junk, the Yugo of its day...
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
No doubt there. Small vans weren't new -- the VW bus/vanagon was around forever, and there was even a Corvair van, and probably some others I can't think of. Coming up with a small van that had passenger-car ride, handling and amenities earns Iacocca & co. some props.
The funny thing is that for a man, driving a minivan today is the ultimate sign that you've been domesticated. Funny, because a decent minivan is downright sexy compared to what it replaced, the station wagon.
It was 50 years ago this past weekend (Labor Day weekend) in 1957 that the Ford Edsel was unveiled at dealers all over America. The magazine "advertising teasers" showed cars wrapped in brown paper being delivered via trailers causing intrigue and anticipation. But leave it to Time/CNN to turn this into political commentary. If McNamara knew Vietnam was a lemon "when he saw one", why was McNamara in charge from the very beginning of the escalation of the conflict during the Kennedy Administration and still around throughout the LBJ fiasco trying to "fix it"? The good old Mainstream Media -- what a bunch of liars and Dem-sympathizing losers.
PS: The Edsel looked like a Buick sucking a lemon -- the vagina reference is Time looking to be provacative.
Chevy Vega not on list. Bad list.
There was almost no traction. Luckily, traffic was heavy and we were moving slow anyway.
I totally agree. After the description of the Model T and how it forced the evil automobile on the US consumer with all it horrendous consequences, I stopped reading. Sheesh, what a load of crapola.
Last year my cousin sold me her lovingly taken care of 1996 Explorer.
It certainly does put me above the traffic,thats for sure, but it allows me to go out in the snow without getting stuck and I have a feeling I’d be safer in an accident than a little $14,00 jap crapbox.
Oh, and I paid just $2,000 for it. It runs great, doesnt use any oil and the engine purrs like a kitten.
So that guy can just bite my white middle aged male ass.
I have my eye on a Model T that been in a garage down the Street for over 40 years. I had one that was a hot rod but now I want a stocker with mountain brakes of course.
Amc Pacer Wagon it went thru everyone in our family as a utility car we drove over for over 150000 miles.
Trabbi I still say that my Trabbi was the most reliable car I ever drove over 40000 miles without even a flat tire.
He has alot of cars I would like to own on that list.
Here is a site with some great little Cycle Cars.
I remember that the grill was thought to look like either a horse collar or a toilet seat, the female anatomy wasn't part of the equation (as a frame of reference, I graduated HS in 1971, Edsels were becoming scarce as they rusted into oblivion, but you could still buy one for a couple of hundred bucks or less.
I want one with lasers (holding my hands in the air making the quotation sign - ala Dr. Evil).
I was (and am) being absolutely serious! There was the Toys for Tots drop-off point last Christmas, and the USMC was there. Two of the vehicles they had there were HMMVYs, one with an M2, the other with the automatic grenade launcher mounted on the top. I asked if they'd let me take either of them out for a spin, but they wouldn't. :-( . It would certainly make my daily commute a more enjoyable one...
Mark
I had the misfortune of driving my friend’s LeCar once for about 3 hours of a 10 hour trip. The left rear suspension broke loose from the vehicle while taking an off-ramp at 25 mph, leaving us stranded by the side of the road. Apparently, the LeCar isn’t designed to make slow turns to the right.
What I have wanted to know is who decided what is a good signal or a bad signal to be sending by doing anything? I’m getting over irritated about seeing every leftist politician on TV saying one thing or anything sends a “disturbing signal.”
Do they really think that because some rich dentist buys a $45,000 H2 that their neighbors will take that as some sort of sign that they can go out and burn more gas?
Fugly!
The depression of 1920 weeded out many autos makers. So, you are right to say it was when GM became a “powerhouse” — but for the opposite reason you suppose, and a few years later on.
In 1916, Billy Durant recaptured the GM he had founded by merging it with Chevrolet. But as happened in 1910/11, when he lost GM for the first time, he overexpanded just as the country was entering WWI. By 1920 the value of the company was in the tank and Durant was out. The Duponts took full control and set things on track, but not necessarily right. For example, they backed Kettering’s near-disasterous air-cooled engine, which set the company back yet again.
While GM wandered in and out of WWI, Ford kept doing his one thing (while forcing out his partners and bankers), which the economic conditions and WWI-regulatory regime rewarded. GM came out of the early 1920s strong, but it was not a sure thing. That 4-year period of 1917-1920 was crucial for the Model T’s survival and ability to last through to 1926.
I guess what I’m arguing is that the Model T was at first an innovation that, thanks to the WWI government takeover of the economy, endured beyond its usefulness.
A: You got it — Yugo.
Yes, but intentional pushing of a vehicle off the bridge doesn't count.
Pushing a Yugo off a high bridge into a deep river or lake should merit a special award for service to mankind.
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