@Botswana Meat Commission FC: Yes, the old-school El Caminos make great moving beauty queen swimming pools. Get a caulk gun, plug in the holes, fill with water/champagne and stir.
I remember when my grandfather bought a brand new (for him, it was a dealer demo) 1976 Plymouth Volare. That thing was an absolute nightmare. When you road in it you felt like you were on rails. Not that it handled like it was on rails, but because the wheel bearings were bad. Both front wheel bearing went out. Later on a rear wheel bearing had to be replaced. That thing was constantly in the shop or was on the side of the road. My grandfather had been a marine in the pacific and hated the "Japs" and vowed he would never own a Jap car. After that Plymouth, he bought a Toyota.
@Flathead Smith: My parents bought a '76 Volare station wagon, which eventually was handed off to my brothers and me in the mid-'80s when we learned to drive.
My brothers beat the shit out of that car, and it STILL kept running. One brother played chicken with my then-boyfriend, stopping our Volare by running into a solid wood mailbox, but it didn't hurt that car at all.
Yes, the Volare rusted from the bottom up, and yes, when it rained, we had to lift the hood and spray WD-40 on the carburetor, but hey...it's character-building to stand in the rain with your head under the hood...
@xyzpdq: I had that issue some days with my baby. That is, my '73 Chevy Impala, who threw a rod then smoked up the whole neighborhood last month, RIP. I am still farklempt.
@Tony Agee: The reason why GM and Ford aren't doing as well as the furriners? Stigma. It may be a well-deserved stigma from the past, but that doesn't apply to the new lineup.
@philibuster:No, the reason they don't do well with foreigners is that they are too fucking big, with poor mileage compared to efficient European and Japanese cars. In Europe you can't drive a pick-up or American-sized SUV. You just can't; roads and parking spaces are just too small. If they want to expand their market they need some serious restructuring and redesign. Also they need to match the production and labour costs of Japanese companies.
Maybe once the UAW takes ownership of GM away from the overpaid fuckwits who've been running the place into the ground they'll start making good cars. Let the people who actually buy them build them.
@Imnotatnbc: That is the worst idea I've ever heard. Imagine a grammar school has all of the faculty taken away, and the kids run the show. What do you think the graduating literacy rate would be? Five percent? Three percent?
England already tried this. Ever wonder why you don't see as many '85 Jaguars as you do Cadillacs?
@BRAWNDO_POWERED: Auto workers are not children. Not since child labor laws have been enacted, anyway. So your analogy is a big steaming pile of fail.
I would suspect that the board is elected democratically, as union leaders are, and that the new chief executives will not be drawn from the Bob Nardellis or the Carly Fiorinas of the world, nor will they be guaranteed huge bonuses in exchange for ruining the company.
@beercheck: I'm good at spotting bullshit like this. I love that EVERYBODY is blaming the unions for GM's demise. Oh yeah, let's blame all of this shit on labor. After all, they researched the cars. They designed the cars. They market the cars. They price the cars. All those high-paid money grubbers in Michigan who are mostly out of work are TOTALLY responsible for all of this. If GM had cheaper labor to build their vehicles they'd be so much better, more dependable and well designed.
Let's blame bad all the horrible TV shows on the money-grubbing jerks who build the TVs while we're at it.
@Imnotatnbc: Seriously. While unions did have a hand in bringing this on, the majority of the blame has to be with the company. Making shitty cars that can't realistically compete in overseas markets is not the way to maintain success in the automotive industry. I think what they really need is to basically adopt a business model of a successful European company and see where that takes them.
@Almostbanned [jezebel took away my star]: I bought a car about a year ago and now I wish I would have at least considered an American car. The new Chevy Malibus are not bad looking.
The remaining problem with US cars is that most of them look like imports from 5 years ago.
Yes the Chevy Aveo is a masterpiece of design and engineering. Those Hummers are brilliant. Buick is cutting edge, technologically advanced and as hip as ever. Cadillacs are fantastic and hip, why else can you explain how many of them are all over Miami Beach. Saturns are incredibly well built and are known for never breaking down.
Suck it, Japan with your affordable cars with their modern designs and proven dependability. You're going down!
@Imnotatnbc: The new Malibu is every bit as good, if not better than, the Accord or Camry in every way, including looks and reliability. I'd put the new Caddy lineup against BMW any day. The new Corvette (and particularly the ZR1) is an absolute masterpiece. The Pontiac G6 was (until Pontiac was killed) a triumph of performance, cost and styling. The Solstice is a car every bit as fun and stylish as the Miata. There are others too, just as good.
I'm not saying every car they put out is perfect, but there are many gems. Not that Japan isn't putting out good cars also, but we need to give credit where due here.
And the whole 'American cars are unreliable' routine is completely outdated. Ford has been rated more reliable than Toyota for the last two years I believe.
@Almostbanned [jezebel took away my star]: "every bit as fun and stylish as the Miata", like the time my birthday party had as much laughs at the Hindenburg explosion??
I want GM to survive as well. I cant agree with you that they are building 'world class cars' at least not for sale in the US.
GM (AND Chrysler, AND Ford) has failed to build the good quality; desirable car the people want and need. Too much time and money has been spent in the wrong direction to pat them on the back right now.
I was never a Ford fan but if any of the big 3 have done anything right over the last 10 years, i would have to give that credit to Ford.
The Malibu has in fact been rated better than the Accord and the Camry. The Silverado is the most powerful pickup in America, and is only second to the F-150 as a result of the F-150's vastly greater fleet sales. The Corvette, is, and always has been, the sports car bargain of all time. I believe that the Tahoe is the best-selling vehicle in its segment. Barring the DTS, there isn't a single Cadillac that isn't more than a match for its competition in its intended segment. That includes the CTS, Escalade, and the SRX. With the advent of the Enclave and the new LaCrosse, even Buick is now building cars that are as good, if not better, than their Lexus competitors.
Does GM still make some lousy cars? Yes. Until the death of the DTS, the Cobalt, and the Aveo, they will have a slightly flawed lineup. But no other automaker has a flawless line-up, either.
GM has made incredible improvements almost overnight. It took them only three and a half years to go from producing the crappiest lineup to producing one of the best lineups of any automaker.
@pauljones: I almost bought a Malibu a few years ago. It drove horrible and was more expensive than the Toyota we went with (and still runs). I dunno, I hear so much about the improvement in quality and stuff, but I always found domestic cars more expensive. Even now, the Taurus is way more expensive than the Accord LX or Camry equivalent.
Pontiac had something called a Vibe. It was basically a Toyota Matrix. But the Vibe cost 3000 bucks more. I'm guessing it's licensing fees (?) but that's why I'm not seriously considering domestic cars. While they make have improved quality, getting the equivalent version in an import is cheaper.
@engineerd: Agreed, my Jalopnik brutha. Ford's got some damn fine iron these days. If I were a gambling man (and face it, buying ANY automaker stock these days is gambling, not investing) I'd buy Ford stock.
GM will retain the acronym, and become "Governmental Motors. Sort of an American Citroen.
Chrysler looks like its becoming the new American British Leyland.
I think that part of that cost increase as compared to their Japanese rivals is that Detroit companies have higher overhead costs to cover as a result of them having to pay workers far more both upfront and terms of long-term benefits than do any of the Eastern 4. This leads to more costs that they have to try and cover, leading to more expensive cars. I also agree that there are a several domestic cars that are too expensive for what they are and how they stack up against their direct competitors; namely the Malibu and Aura hybrids.
But, all in all, I have been shopping around for a new car for a while, and I have found them to be roughly equally priced, and in some cases I have found domestic cars to be cheaper as a result of all the incentives that are out there right now combined with low interest rates on automotive loans.
@pauljones: yeah, so many of the incentives are fighting with the dealer, though. I tend to buy cash and the whole zero percent financing seems like a way to add in costs. Sure the payment is the same but you're paying more in the long haul. We are looking for a new car and it's nice that we can go to the dealership and tell them we'll pay 18.5 K for that accord or camry. I tried it with the taurus and was basically laughed out of the dealership (although not before being told with 0 percent financing out monthly payment would be the same as the 7 percent Honda financing is offering.) I know most people finance their cars, but the argument wasn't useful. We were able to save for this new car because the old one lasted 7 plus years without many issues.
@justsomereportingguy: @pauljones: Yes, Ford is pretty much the only one that really is capable or deserving of surviving. They have an extremely lucrative European market, with a entirely different line-up of small hatchbacks and small sedans suited to the lifestyle. Big fucking Caddies, Escalades, Buicks, SUVs, etc just don't appeal where space is limited and gas prices are regularly high enough to make Americans hyperventilate. And the Camrys and other sedan/coupe lines just don't have any competitive edge with BMW, Mercedes, VW at the high end and Skoda, Citroen, Renault, etc at the lower ends. Not to mention, even, the Japanese cars.
Basically, the American automotive industry seems to be a microcosm of the American approach that America is The Best at Everything so we don't have to actually compete in industry, just keep making things that nobody outside American wants.
Hilarity is ensuing. First thing most people think when they see Ricardo Montalban is "corinthian leather."
Finally looked it up. Soft Corinthian Leather was manufactured in New Jersey! This has completely changed my perception of Corinth, its sprawling tanneries and ruddy citizens.
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
[img src="http://www.auto-classics.net/files/79ElCamino.jpg"
04/28/09
grrrrr. did Gawker mess with the secret img tag?
[www.auto-classics.net]
04/28/09
04/28/09
Sigh, where has he been?
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
My brothers beat the shit out of that car, and it STILL kept running. One brother played chicken with my then-boyfriend, stopping our Volare by running into a solid wood mailbox, but it didn't hurt that car at all.
Yes, the Volare rusted from the bottom up, and yes, when it rained, we had to lift the hood and spray WD-40 on the carburetor, but hey...it's character-building to stand in the rain with your head under the hood...
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
I predict they will be back on top within a couple of years.
04/28/09
Wow...no. Not even close.
Just because a CTS-V can lap a track in Germany really quickly does not mean it is comparable to the German's best sedans.
10 seconds inside of any Cadillac tells you all you need to know about how GM had to cut corners to keep costs down.
04/28/09
The fit and finish on the new Caddys is great.
You want to see cutting corners?
Check out the E-class line from Benz.
And shouldn't reliability enter the equation?
04/28/09
04/29/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
England already tried this. Ever wonder why you don't see as many '85 Jaguars as you do Cadillacs?
04/28/09
04/28/09
I would suspect that the board is elected democratically, as union leaders are, and that the new chief executives will not be drawn from the Bob Nardellis or the Carly Fiorinas of the world, nor will they be guaranteed huge bonuses in exchange for ruining the company.
04/28/09
Oh, wait...
(I *heart* beercheck)
04/29/09
Let's blame bad all the horrible TV shows on the money-grubbing jerks who build the TVs while we're at it.
04/29/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
Ford and Chrysler, not so much. They're better than they've ever been for sure, but that's not really saying anything.
I really hope GM can pull themselves out of all this.
04/28/09
The remaining problem with US cars is that most of them look like imports from 5 years ago.
04/28/09
Yes the Chevy Aveo is a masterpiece of design and engineering. Those Hummers are brilliant. Buick is cutting edge, technologically advanced and as hip as ever. Cadillacs are fantastic and hip, why else can you explain how many of them are all over Miami Beach. Saturns are incredibly well built and are known for never breaking down.
Suck it, Japan with your affordable cars with their modern designs and proven dependability. You're going down!
Just like GM stock.
04/28/09
04/28/09
And that, my friends, is why I own a Datsun, a Honda, and a Toyota.
04/28/09
04/28/09
I'm not saying every car they put out is perfect, but there are many gems. Not that Japan isn't putting out good cars also, but we need to give credit where due here.
And the whole 'American cars are unreliable' routine is completely outdated. Ford has been rated more reliable than Toyota for the last two years I believe.
04/28/09
04/28/09
I want GM to survive as well. I cant agree with you that they are building 'world class cars' at least not for sale in the US.
GM (AND Chrysler, AND Ford) has failed to build the good quality; desirable car the people want and need. Too much time and money has been spent in the wrong direction to pat them on the back right now.
I was never a Ford fan but if any of the big 3 have done anything right over the last 10 years, i would have to give that credit to Ford.
04/28/09
The Malibu has in fact been rated better than the Accord and the Camry. The Silverado is the most powerful pickup in America, and is only second to the F-150 as a result of the F-150's vastly greater fleet sales. The Corvette, is, and always has been, the sports car bargain of all time. I believe that the Tahoe is the best-selling vehicle in its segment. Barring the DTS, there isn't a single Cadillac that isn't more than a match for its competition in its intended segment. That includes the CTS, Escalade, and the SRX. With the advent of the Enclave and the new LaCrosse, even Buick is now building cars that are as good, if not better, than their Lexus competitors.
Does GM still make some lousy cars? Yes. Until the death of the DTS, the Cobalt, and the Aveo, they will have a slightly flawed lineup. But no other automaker has a flawless line-up, either.
GM has made incredible improvements almost overnight. It took them only three and a half years to go from producing the crappiest lineup to producing one of the best lineups of any automaker.
04/28/09
/wonders why he ever leaves Jalopnik to read the ignorance on the other blogs.
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/28/09
Pontiac had something called a Vibe. It was basically a Toyota Matrix. But the Vibe cost 3000 bucks more. I'm guessing it's licensing fees (?) but that's why I'm not seriously considering domestic cars. While they make have improved quality, getting the equivalent version in an import is cheaper.
04/28/09
GM will retain the acronym, and become "Governmental Motors. Sort of an American Citroen.
Chrysler looks like its becoming the new American British Leyland.
04/28/09
You make a good point.
I think that part of that cost increase as compared to their Japanese rivals is that Detroit companies have higher overhead costs to cover as a result of them having to pay workers far more both upfront and terms of long-term benefits than do any of the Eastern 4. This leads to more costs that they have to try and cover, leading to more expensive cars. I also agree that there are a several domestic cars that are too expensive for what they are and how they stack up against their direct competitors; namely the Malibu and Aura hybrids.
But, all in all, I have been shopping around for a new car for a while, and I have found them to be roughly equally priced, and in some cases I have found domestic cars to be cheaper as a result of all the incentives that are out there right now combined with low interest rates on automotive loans.
04/28/09
04/28/09
04/29/09
Basically, the American automotive industry seems to be a microcosm of the American approach that America is The Best at Everything so we don't have to actually compete in industry, just keep making things that nobody outside American wants.
04/28/09
04/28/09
Hilarity is ensuing. First thing most people think when they see Ricardo Montalban is "corinthian leather."
Finally looked it up. Soft Corinthian Leather was manufactured in New Jersey! This has completely changed my perception of Corinth, its sprawling tanneries and ruddy citizens.
04/28/09