Journal damn_registrars's Journal: Bashing American Cars on Slashdot, Part 445987 12
But when some idiot felt it useful to bring up the Pinto, I decided to respond:
The Pinto was 40 years ago. You conveniently overlooked the money they spent correcting that problem, and the fact that the Pinto has been out of production for a long time. That error didn't last the full run of the Pinto, for that matter.
But no, let's go ahead and line up to bash the American company. Need I remind you what the Japanese cars were like in the 1970s? Toyotas were barely able to reach freeway speed. Hondas were too small for a large segment of Americans (ie, people more than 6' tall) to drive comfortably. Both had rust problems galore. But yet they improved. Now people speak fondly of their Japanese cars. In the 1970s nobody would have believed that Toyota and Honda could some day make competitive luxury cars, yet now we have Lexus and Acura.
And if we look to South Korea, the turn around is even more dramatic (at least with regards to how quickly it happened). Hyundai from the 80s and 90s were utter garbage. They probably never should have been allowed on American freeways but we let them on anyways. They weren't reliable, comfortable, or safe. Yet now Hyundai and Kia are very competent little cars.
But yet we keep bashing Ford for what happened 40 years ago. If we did that to the Japanese and Korean cars they would have gone bankrupt years ago.
In case you haven't noticed, Ford Fusion has beat Toyota Camry in initial quality, best midsize, and car of the year more than once and from multiple reviewers. But yet obviously it is more important to remind people about what Ford did when Nixon was president.
Jap Cars. Yank Cars. Korean. (Score:2)
Crap.
Mostly.
They age really poorly, and the asians generally rev high, with torque that kicks in near 4000. Drove a new, top-end Maxima couple months ago. Would not ever pay money for that thing - but beat the crap out of the Chryslers I was forced to rent.
Caddy CTS is good. But still not a 3-Series. Way not my old Jag.
I like the Monte Carlo 6 cyl they quit making in 2007. I bet it would have had wear issues on fittings over time. But fun.
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Best car ever [cloudlakes.com]... pillow soft ride.
Damn Americans had their chance [archdaily.net]...
And Lee Iaccoca should be in prison.
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My 87 XJ12 had the Citroen licensed rear-end damping system. Hydraulic, not gas.
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My 87 XJ12
If you're talking about a Jag XJ V12, you have my envy. I've looked at those cars longingly for many years. Granted they are not anywhere near as beautiful as the classic E-type (not that any car from any manufacturer since ever has been) but they are still nice looking cars.
Of course, when the XJ V12 was available I couldn't afford the cost of the parts that routinely fell off of it. Now I have slightly more money but they aren't available in running condition anywhere.
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Heh. Good cars. Don't let 'em go out of maintenance...
Had 87 and 97 XJ12's. A couple of older 6's. The 87 interior build was mixed quality. Fine wood and leather, with door panels that had cheap nylon cleats. The door handles had cheap, breakable springs, too. Fixed that and was very happy, except for the cost to fuel. ;-)
If you guys were talking about... (Score:2)
...the ease with which a rear-ender turned them into fireballs, it wasn't limited to the Pinto--at least some Mustangs had the same problem.
But what stuck in peoples' craws was the whole idea of "yeah, there's a problem that tends to kill people, but it'll be cheaper for us to pay out the occasional confidential settlement than spend a little more per car to fix it" disregard for human life that was their way of dealing with the problem.
But if that's the only safety complaint one could make about Fords in t
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...the ease with which a rear-ender turned them into fireballs, it wasn't limited to the Pinto--at least some Mustangs had the same problem.
I presume you are referring to the Mustang II, which was made from 1974-1978 and was loosely based on the Pinto (whereas earlier Mustangs were based on the Falcon and 1979-2004 were based on the Fairmount). if that is the Mustang you are referring to, I have to tell you that you are wrong. I owned a Mustang II for many years and I read up on the structural differences that made the Mustang II different from the Pinto; one of them was the design of the rear bumper support relative to the gas tank. That
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Original Mustangs.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mu... [cbsnews.com]
I'm not holding any car company to a higher standard (in their price range) than others safety-wise, but what bothers people 4 decades later about Ford wasn't the defect, it was the apparent cold-blooded attitude.
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...it was the apparent cold-blooded attitude.
That attitude is global, and ongoing. This is what happens when we put bean counters in charge for *everyday low prices*. And in Ford's case we can lay the problem on one individual who still profits from that attitude.
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I'm not holding any car company to a higher standard (in their price range) than others safety-wise, but what bothers people 4 decades later about Ford wasn't the defect, it was the apparent cold-blooded attitude.
So then what do you want Hyundai to do about every car they built in the 80s and early 90s? They built cars that were incapable of safely accelerating to freeway speed by their own power and sold them as family cars in the US. Equally as bad, the brakes were so awful that if you found a long and steep enough hill to reach freeway speed, the brakes weren't able to stop from freeway speed in an acceptable distance. Taking a car that can't do 55 onto a road with a speed limit of 60 (or above) is equally as
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Did Hyundai see that they had a problem, see where they could make a manufacturing change that would deal with the problem at a cost of only a few dollars extra cost per vehicle, do the math comparing profits that way with letting someone burn to death and paying out a confidential settlement every so often, and say to themselves "Even paying off lawsuits, we still come out ahead money-wise not making any assembly line changes, so 'Burn, Baby, Burn' "?
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Did Hyundai see that they had a problem
Every Hyundai sold in the US that was made in the 80s was a death trap. Every. Single. One. Not one of them were capable of traveling safely on the freeway, in spite of what they were sold to do.
see where they could make a manufacturing change that would deal with the problem at a cost of only a few dollars extra cost per vehicle
By the time the problem you mention with the original mustangs was reported, that car was already out of production and a different gas tank had been implemented. What you actually appear to be asking for is not a ch