The Truth About Cars » Editorials

Curbside Classic: GM’s Deadly Sin #4 – 1983 Chevy S-10 Blazer

Paul Niedermeyer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:34:54 +0000

This Curbside Classic took the same trajectory as the Blazer. It started as a legitimate nod of acknowledgment to the S-10 Blazer as the trailblazer of the compact SUV market. But as I got further along, I realized just how badly GM bungled the huge opportunity for the baby Blazer in a segment that became [...]

Curbside Classic Review: 1951 Oldsmobile Super 88

Paul Niedermeyer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:06:03 +0000

No one’s going to accuse me of not having a nostalgic streak, especially when it comes to cars. That’s what motivated me to write the Auto-biography, my time travel through words. How about the real thing, in steel, glass, rubber and wool? One of my main motivations for starting Curbside Classics was to document and [...]

GM Zombie Watch 20: IPO Or Bust

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:12:23 +0000

GM’s first post-bankruptcy financial data has arrived, underscoring in red ink the folly of the government “investment” in the shambling zombie once known as General Motors. Bankruptcy-driven improvements in cost structure have not prevented GM from turning a non-GAAP-certified loss since emerging from Chapter 11, and GM is already warning that 4th quarter results will [...]

Feature: Five Automotive Passenger Pigeons

Jim Sutherland — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:20:22 +0000

Passenger pigeons were the most common bird found in North America. So common that flocks numbering 2 billion were up to a mile wide and 300 miles long. In other words, the average North American in the 18th and 19th Century saw a lot of these pigeons. You could easily argue that a passenger pigeon [...]

The Candidate’s Choice

David Holzman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:51:00 +0000

For politicians, the sphere of the personal shrinks as that of the political swells, until for some, the personal all but disappears. Then, even the choice of car becomes political. During the recent elections, one car loomed so large in the fleets of presidential aspirants that the manufacturer actually touted it as “The Candidates’ Choice” [...]

Editorial: Sergio Marchionne: Savior or False Prophet?

John Horner — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:27:33 +0000

Not long after Fortune’s long time auto writer Alex Taylor III finished his apology to Ford he went on to write a love letter to Sergio Marchionne. Taylor starts with parallels to Ghosn’s myth making success at Nissan, then ups the ante: “The other day in Auburn Hills, Mich., Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne took a [...]

Curbside Classic: 1989 Nissan Pao

Paul Niedermeyer — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:31:11 +0000

Oregonians have long treasured the random little collectable objects that Japan’s artisans inadvertently send our way. Usually that takes the form of beautiful hand-blown glass fishing floats that spend years or decades bobbing in the Pacific before a storm washes them on our shores. But occasionally another form of distinctly Japanese objet d’art finds its [...]

Curbside Classic: 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1

Paul Niedermeyer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:43:11 +0000

Look at this car and what do you see: Eleanor, star of the original 1974 “Gone in 60 Seconds” movie? All the worst excess and ugliness of the early seventies folded up into one bloated pile? A long stripe of black rubber burned into a country road? The destruction of an American icon? Nostalgia for [...]

Editorial: Opel, Aftermath and Prelude

Bertel Schmitt — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:09:20 +0000

On Tuesday, twenty years after the fall of the wall that separated the two Germanies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel went to Washington. For the first time since Germany’s Chancellor Adenauer in 1957, the topmost German addressed Congress—to roaring applause. There was another wall. A wall of silence. Nobody in the US government—owner of General Motors—supposedly had [...]

Curbside Classic: 1968 Chevmobile Impala

Paul Niedermeyer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:20:09 +0000

Hybrids are big in Eugene, but some are just plain huge. The Prius is the official new car here, having dethroned Subaru. But here’s a hybrid of a different color: instead of a marriage of two drive systems, it’s a cross between two brands, the engine of one transplanted into another. Back in the day, [...]

Curbside Classic: 1965 Volvo 122S Amazon

Paul Niedermeyer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:57:44 +0000

How exactly did the Volvo 122 Amazon achieve its mythological stature? Naming it after the eponymous nation of all-female warriors was a good start. Legendary ruggedness and durability solidified its status. Sporty performance burnished it further. Then there’s the magic belt: one of the twelve labors of Hercules was to secure the girdle of Hippolyta, [...]

How I Won/Lost/Failed to Understand the Cadillac CTS-V Challenge

Jack Baruth — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:53:50 +0000

With apologies to Douglas Adams: Stress and nervous tension are now serious social problems in all parts of the Galaxy, and it is in order that this situation should not in any way be exacerbated that the following facts will now be revealed in advance. I took my privately-owned 2009 Audi S5 to the CTS-V Challenge, intending [...]

Curbside Classics: Chrysler’s Deadly Sin #1 – 1976 Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen

Paul Niedermeyer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:59:08 +0000

While the human Seven Deadly Sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride – clearly play a part in any automaker’s fall from grace, Detroit cultivated its own favorite deadly transgressions. Chrysler’s recurring dirty little habit was premature ejection: spurting cars out of the factory door before they were ready. The shoddily built [...]

Ask the Best and Brightest: What If We Didn’t Have Federal Safety Standards?

Robert Farago — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:02:05 +0000

Curbside Classic: 1985 BMW 635CSi

Paul Niedermeyer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:29:35 +0000

Somewhere deep in the comments to last week’s oft-misunderstood Datsun 210 CC was this: “With all the beautiful cars in the world, why do you insist on picking shit boxes all the time?” Well, it’s not like the streets of Eugene are lined with Delages and Delahayes sitting curbside in the [...]

Housekeeping: TTAC’s Comment Policy

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:01:18 +0000

As TTAC moves into its next chapter, it’s important that we revisit a topic that has long been a defining factor in our site’s success: our comment moderation policy. TTAC strives to provide the very best discussion on all things automotive, and in order to maintain decorum and high-quality online discourse, we’ve always moderated comments. [...]

Ford Death Watch 49: Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

Robert Farago — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:43:48 +0000

Will Ford go bankrupt? I doubt it. Not while the “bad” automakers that suckled on the federal teat go on and on and on and on. A FoMoCo C11 would expose the government’s Detroit bailout for what it was/is: unfair, ineffective, ill-conceived and unsustainable. Politically, Ford’s failure is not an option. If push comes to [...]

Editorial: The Carless Kids

Edward Niedermeyer — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:27:49 +0000

We’ve seen the signs coming for some time: rumors from Japan, declining car sales at home, advertisments selling cars as “the ultimate mobile device.” And the picture that’s beginning to reveal itself is a challenging one for fans of four-wheeled transport. Young people, once a deep well of enthusiasm and sales growth for the car [...]

American Editorial: Huzzah! First Single-Digit Drop In 17 Months!

Bertel Schmitt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:22:18 +0000

Prepare yourself for an increasing number of „good news“ along the following lines: „October U.S. auto sales should be down about 6 percent from a year ago, marking the first single-digit monthly decline since May 2008, industry forecasting firm J.D. Power and Associates said on Friday.” Glad tidings, brought to you by Reuters. Times must be really [...]

The Carless Generation

Jim Sutherland — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:31:45 +0000

There is always going to be a generation gap. The term “generation gap” was coined in the 60s when it became evident that Baby Boomers had developed a whole new set of rules for themselves that put a significant chasm between them and their parents in terms of interests and values. Generation gaps will always [...]

Gordon G. Chang: China’s Car Sales Are a Fraud

Bertel Schmitt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:11:09 +0000

If right-wingnut Glenn Beck needs a China hater on the tube, he usually calls Gordon G. Chang. Chang is always good for talking bad about China. In 2001, Gordon Chang published a book titled. “The Coming Collapse of China.” In it, he predicted that China would implode by 2006, if not earlier, due to the [...]

Curbside Classic: 1980 Datsun 210 Sunny

Paul Niedermeyer — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:04:05 +0000

With what words shall I express my overpowering feelings toward this tin can wrapped in vinyl wood appliqué? Jeremy Clarkson once called the Sunny “the worst car in the world ever” (probably not for the first or last time). To show he meant it, he hurled one to its death from [...]

General Motors Zombie Watch 19: You Get What You Don’t Pay For

Robert Farago — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:43:47 +0000

OK, so, GM is a nationalized automaker. I know, I know: nationalization is for third world dictators. But there it is. Thanks to outgoing president George Bush, the feds used $50 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Fund to bail out General Motors, in exchange for majority ownership. So no matter what W's political successor says about his administration's "hands off" non-management of Government Motors, he who owns the gold makes the rules. And when it comes to running a federal-funded organization, Uncle Sam plays by different rules than, say, any private enterprise extent. The bottom line is that there is no bottom line. Amtrak, the U.S. Postal Service, Medicaid---they're all run at a tremendous, ongoing loss. Which means there's zero sense of accountability. Which means they will never, ever be able to fully and fairly compete with privately held corporations. Why should GM by any different? Answer: it isn't.

Curbside Classic: 1951 Packard 200

Paul Niedermeyer — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:50:31 +0000

You would be forgiven for mistaking this modest-looking sedan as a low-end Dodge, Pontiac or Mercury. A Packard? The very name conjures images of exclusive cars from the classic era, like this illustrious coach-built V12, or perhaps its last gasp luxo-boat, the 1956 Caribbean. But finding this lowly [...]

Editorial: Where’s The Yellow Peril?

Bertel Schmitt — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:48:58 +0000

A year ago, the 21st Century Business Herald reported that SAIC might buy GM and Dongfeng might buy Chrysler. TTAC was the first to break the story in the USA. As a result, our servers melted down, and we were accused of driving down GM’s and Chrysler’s stock price. Usually, buyout rumors drive prices up. But GM and Chrysler had only one way to go: Down. Months later, GM and Chrysler went bankrupt. They became a ward of the US government. Chrysler was given away to Fiat. GM was trimmed down to the barest minimum and is still owned by the US government. And the China story turned out to be a myth. Following this, stories of Chinese car companies buying US car companies became a regular staple. Up to now, it is mostly talk and little action.