Hudson

NUMMI was set up so that GM could learn how Toyota built vehicles...as in put them together. GM has progressed greatly since 1984 and NUMMI was part of that learning curve.

That is a great book. And I know one of the editors personally and in addition to being a great guy, he's one of the most knowledgable people on many automotive history subjects. By the way, what are some of your (all posters) favorite automotive books?

Yes...this 21-year old partnership was just renewed last year. I'm surprised that Toyota has continued it so long, but if they renewed it recently...I don't see why they'd suddenly drop it in five/six years (when the next Vibe ends its cycle). Toyota needs the capacity and I doubt that Toyota would BUY NUMMI from GM since it is a UAW shop. So NUMMI either closes (and Toyota builds yet another plant) or NUMMI continues to be the joint-venture that it is. By the way, even a marginally larger Vibe would be considerably smaller than a Torrent. The new Vibe is due out in August 2007.

From what I've read on this site, you would be the ONLY person who believes what Car and Driver writes.

C'mon...I've seen far worse on this site. Heck I've exclaimed FAR worse just READING this site.

You know he has to put on that fake smile and "go get 'em" attitude for the employees and dealers! He can't be the only person on the planet earth who doesn't believe that Isuzu will leave the light-duty market in the US in the next two years.

I am offended!

My apologies if it seems that way. I've been reading this magazine for longer than two years and it went through a lull in the past decade but has returned somewhat in the past two or three years. I haven't seen anything from this new editor to make me think otherwise. You're right. I don't own a truck...nor do I have a need or desire to own one. And my opinions are not (by my thoughts or anyone else's) "the be all and end all" of ANY topic. They are simply my educated opinions that I hope will open someone else's eyes to something they might have missed. That's all. Advertising the "truckiness" of a truck does not mean it's being compared to any contractor's vehicle or off-road vehicle. The "truckiness" factor being shown in advertising simply comes from the vehicle being marketed to people who think they want a truck. These people have no reason to own a truck an yet they buy hundreds of thousands of Silverados and F-Series (light and heavy) and Ram Trucks and rarely if ever dirty the beds. It's all image. Don't get me wrong, there are many hundreds of thousands of these pickups in the hands of people who actually need them for work or play. But there's a huge market of people who don't. These are the people who are targeted with upscale pickups like the "Harley-Davidson" F-Series or the Sierra Denali or Silverado SS or Ram SRT-10. These are also the people who buy Nissan Titans (because Nissan doesn't have the capacity to market to the whole range of truck buyers). And these are the people who buy the Ridgeline. You can have car-like attributes in a truck and still advertise the "truckiness" of it. The Subaru Baja hasn't been much of a success as a car-like pickup. The Ridgeline has appealed to a wider market as a truck-like, unibody-based pickup. It's a market that I expect to grow of the coming years as more and more "wannabes" realize how much money they're wasting on gas in their Silverado or F-Series or Titan and how much more comfortable a Ridgeline is. The Honda will handle 99% of the needs of this target group. While the more "truck-like" trucks might handle 100% (and then some) of their needs, they carry (no pun intended) too much baggage in girth, gas mileage, noise, comfort, etc. Pricing should NOT be compared to an F-Series. The Ridgeline is an upscale vehicle and when you compare it to upscale 4WD four-door F-Series or Silverado or Ram Truck, you get a different comparison altogether. I'm not a fan of the Ridgeline in particular. But that doesn't mean it's a bad vehicle, just that it's not my taste in vehicles. It is a good vehicle for the market it's targeted at. And THAT is my point.

The Fairmont/Zephyr was a very modern car for 1977. These choices have to be seen for their era. The Fairmont chassis even made some desirable products in the early 1980s (Ford LTD LX), mid-late 1980s (Lincoln Mark VII), and early 1990s (Mustang). But it all started with a lowly mid-sized, RWD, inexpensive car in 1977 offered in four body styles with three engines (four, six, and V8).

AMC wasn't even the first "American Motors." But my favorite car brand of all time was the "A Car with No Name": a simple idea of building a car and allowing local merchants to place their own brand on it...the 1920 equivalent of "Walmart" or "Acme" brand (not that there wasn't also an Acme brand).

Apparently I've been subscribing to Motor Trend longer than many of you have been ALIVE. And it's obvious that I don't have this cloud over my brain where I think that everything the mainstream media publishes is "bias" against domestics. I have seen the Ridgeline upclose and it's the best new truck out there today. Too many people have this misconception that "half ton" means it competes with the F150 or Silverado...this isn't the case. A traditional "half ton" pickup is now the equivalent of a Dakota or smaller. Honda noticed that competing directly with mid-sized or full-sized pickups was not going to work for Honda in its first attempt. Being the intelligent group of people that Honda is, they came up with the Ridgeline: a fully-capable, light-duty pickup with room for five adults, acceptable gas mileage and more than adequate power. This is NOT, nor was it meant to be, an F150 or Silverado. Most modern buyers of pickups are NOT using them on construction sites or for going off road. These buyers want comfort, interior space, and a bed out back for occasional hauling of stuff from Home Depot, a yard sale, or a nursery. These buyers are NOT looking to tow a yacht...they're not looking to run the Rubicon Trail...they're not looking haul two tons of gravel. The Ridgeline fits its intended purpose. By all means, send in your letters to the editor (freedom of speech and all). But PLEASE be informed before you do. I don't want to read more drivel from half-informed readers who think the Ridgeline is something it's not. Remember, the El Camino (and Ranchero) was a "full-sized" pickup with a cab/bed combination and few people thought it was an alternative to the C/K (or F-Series)...it was just a different animal. Atleast the Ridgeline can carry five adults (compared to the El Camino's 2 or 3), has good power (compared to the relatively low power in the older Chevy), and has all-wheel drive (something the El Camino never attempted).

I believe the problem lies in licensing. Any yahoo who goes into the DMV in the US can get a license. There's no real testing required. My problems are people who can't (or don't bother to) read. There are signs to tell you which lane to be in, usually posted multiple times. There are signs telling you which lane is merging into which lane. There are signs for so many things that often get ignored causing the uneducated driver to cut-off someone or make some other stupid move. And then there are the people who don't understand how that little stalk on the left side of the steering wheel works. When you're turning or (and this is important) changing lanes, turn on the turn signal. I'm a good enough driver that I can anticipate many bad drivers around me, but it still infuriates me that there are people on the road who don't understand these SIMPLE rules. And my new pet peave is people who lollygag in the left lane when there's no left turn for miles. The law (in a few states anyway) is "drive on the right, pass on the left." Sitting in the left lane doing less than the speed limit (or less than the flow of traffic) should be a capital offense. I think there are many driving infractions that should be punishable by death. Think of how good all drivers would be if, say, not signaling a merge could get you the electric chair! As John Lennon said (and I think he was thinking about bad drivers at the time), "Imagine!"

Does anyone read Collectible Automobile? There's an excellent history of the Reatta in there this month.

What is Car-Nation is this all about!

It was actually an article called, "Comparo: 1915 Quarter Horse vs Chevrolet 390" subtitled "You'll never guess who wins!"

Motor Age still exists today under that title.

It varies state to state. When Daewoo came to the US, Daewoo America owned dealerships in a number of states. In states where this was not legal, they were forced to sell franchises.

Yes...but I have a copy (reprinted in 1985) of the first issue of Horseless Age from 1895. I worked for the company that published the current iterations of Horseless Age (Automotive Industries) and Motor Age, both of which are still published today.

Not that I entirely see the connection to the topic...but....Cressidas were offered with 5-speed manuals.

Chery isn't owned by the Chinese government. It's actually owned mostly by investors and the province of Anhui, but not the Chinese government.

Yes...let's look at those two dashboards. The Dodge's dash sweeps from driver's side over the center stack while the 300 has distinct driver's, center, and passenger's areas. The Chrysler has the HVAC controls lower than in the Dodge and the Chrysler has an analog clock splitting the center HVAC vents, while the Dodge's vents are right next to each other. The Dodge door handle has a round opening for your hand while the rectangular opening in the Chrysler is a bit more formal. The gauges on the Dodge are closer together in the middle while the Chrysler has distinct right and left overlapping gauges. They share basic layouts and placement of some lesser switches. But with those similarities, I can find you completely unrelated instrument panels that would be "very similar" as well.

Or perhaps how the original LHS/New Yorker was distict from the Concorde/Intrepid?

Buyers don't typically care about the number of ratios in an automatic transmission (can't say the same about manuals, but so few Americans buy manuals that it doesn't matter for this argument). But that's where our agreement ends. A difference in fit and finish or interior design DOES matter to a buyer. I highly doubt that any buyer (and most of the media) is going to measure door gap with a micrometer. But when you get inside the car and there are burrs on the plastic turn signal lever (something the average driver should touch daily) or when the floor shifter has as much play as a manual transmission in neutral or when the dashboard sounds hollow or tinny, a buyer will notice. I've shown Pontiacs to people and they've agreed that the "unfinished" feeling of a turn signal makes that car feel cheaper than an Accord or Camry with a "finished" switch. From power window switches to dashboard fit, buyers notice. When buyers come into a Chevrolet store over and over, chances are they've never driven anything else. The same goes with executives for Ford and GM. If you compare the two in the ways that an everyday driver does (fuel economy, NVH, interior fit and finish, seat comfort, ergonamics, etc.), GM products do not typically bubble to the top.

I read quite a few different magazines and to a GM I'm sure they seem that GM products are just dismissed, but that's just not the case. I know a number of automotive writers and they find Hondas and Toyota to be typically better than the competitive GM product...as do I. Did you miss the recent four-way test where the Camry came is LAST (behind a Ford and a Hyundai)? That doesn't seem like there's an automatic love-fest with all things Toyota/Honda. I really wish I could take a few of you out in a new GM product and a new competitive product from another manufacturer so that I could show you the problems. I don't believe I would convince all of you (fanatics are fanatics, after all), but I'm sure a few of you would see what I'm talking about. GM is not the enemy of car magazines. GM is its own worst enemy.

Perhaps even a Stout Scarab.