Friday, March 20, 2009

The cars that sank Detroit

Why is it that I have a special bias towards Japanese cars.

Maybe because as a college student our house owned 1) Ford Pinto 2) Chevy Vega 3) AMC Gremlin.

When my one roommate's Gremlin blew up, he replaced it with an AMC Hornet. The other roommate's Vega cracked a block and we pushed to a place where we knew it would be towed so he could abandon it. I had to drive my Pinto back from Cincinnati to Lancaster in second gear because that was the only one I had.

So I have to question any list of the ten cars that ruined Detroit with a skeptical eye when it's missing three of those beauties.

Chevrolet Vega (1970s).

Ford Mustang II (1970s).

Chevrolet Nova (1970s).

Dodge Omni (1970s–1980s).

Oldsmobile Cutlass and 98 diesels (1980s).

Buick Skylark (1980s, similar to Chevy Citation, Pontiac Phoenix, and Oldsmobile Omega).

Dodge Neon (introduced in 1994).

Chevy Lumina (1990s).

Pontiac Aztek (2001–2005).

Pontiac Montana (late 1990s/early 2000s, similar to Chevy Venture and Oldsmobile Silhouette).

More.....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

No one is buying cars. And American cars, forget it. Car lots across the country are filled with brand new unsold, overpriced, low quality vehicles. Yet the Bailout Wizards of Washington think it's a good idea to publicly fund continued production of these jalopies which will only exaserbate the over supply.

Back in the old days, shitty products used to mean that you go out of business. Nowadays it means you get free money. And those who work and create quality have to pay to keep their competitors from going out of business.

And the decline of Western Civilization continues as we subsidize idiots and penalize those who are industrious enough to create jobs for those losers.

Norma said...

I had a Pinto; loved it. My mom had an Omni-type (what was the sister's name?) and it was quite faithful.

gordon gekko said...

Norma

You could be referring to the Charger or the Horizon.