Posted on 11/22/2012 8:08:31 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
Wrong.... There was no competition from Europe and Japan until the late 60’s and early 70’s.
Right about the limited lifespan of cars back in the day. In 1965 my dad had a 57 Chevy (the sort of car collectors fight over nowadays). These days 8 years for a car is no big deal; back then it was different. One day in ‘65 I stepped out of that car (pink and white, cool colors), and stepped on the rocker panel. Car was so eaten by rust that entire rocker panel came right off (and I weighed all of 60 lbs or so back then). Remember my dad saying once car hit 100K miles, it was no good. Gremlin was probably early ‘70s; AMC had the Pacer back then too, it looked like a greenhouse on wheels. You’re right about homes, they were crazy cheap back then.
Well, Volkswagen beetles—maybe the first subcompact—were all over the place in the 1960s (which I remember all too well), ditto for VW microbuses, that were common even in the early 60s as the first minivans, and became iconic as hippy transport later in that decade. And even in the 1960s Japanese transistor radios were almost a cliche, and I have a late-60s Panasonic table radio in my office. Makes a lot of static when you turn it on, but works great otherwise. Don’t want to forget my dad’s Grundig-Majestic cabinet AM/FM/SW with turntable hi-fi, either. He got that around 1957. And I suspect your average home in Europe had radios and TVs made by companies like Grundig, Phllips and Telefunken (and in Japan Sony and Panasonic). Don’t think Zenith, Philco and Magnavox penetrated those markets. Too many trade barriers plus national pride.
So what shall we do?? Tell people what to buy?? I’m going to be getting a Nissan real soon. No more Ford, no more Chrysler, and I refuse to buy a GM car.. You can’t live in the past and you can’t turn the clock back..
I wonder if Walmart would go Galt if they cannot hold back the unionization efforts of Van Jones
No probs. I drive a Camry (made in KY). Most “Japanese” cars are made in the US, anyhow.
They should..
Funny, I was thinking the same thing.
Thanks is was a Pacer I had not a Gremlin...It had the best seat of any car. The front windshield seems to be part of the roof. It was like being in the womb again...but I loved it..
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