Tuesday, April 07, 2009

GM car of the future

This is the "Lada," which, according to economist Mark Perry, has been produced in Russia in the same inefficient manner for the last 40 years. The company, like GM, gets huge government subsidies despite its inefficiencies.

I'm trying to think of a good slogan for GM. How about: "Socialism: Get used to it."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Victory in Vermont. Are you not happy for us. I am sure the people at Kentucky Equality Federation and Fairness Campaign are throwing a party! That is 2 states in the same year and soon it will come to Kentucky!

Lee said...

Hmmm. If you think the Lada looks similar to a 1974 Fiat 124 sedan, then congratulations, you have a good eye for auto-manudacturer DNA. Fiat built the Lada factory for the Soviets. P. J. O'Rourke wrote (as always) a very entertaining article on touring the Fiat Lada factory back during the final years of the Soviet Union. Oddly enough, he was impressed with the apparent efficiency of the place. He said, by far, it was the most impressive thing he had seen in the Soviet Union, and then added: "When the most impressive thing in a country was built by the Italians, you know that country is in trouble."

I married into a 1974 Fiat 124 sedan, however, and am here to tell you it was not that bad. Some of the features were ahead of their time, and scary-good. It had a 1.6-litre dual-overhead-cam four-banger that screamed. It had four-wheel disk brakes -- find me a Chevy Vega that had disk brakes. It was roomy, the seats were good, and it handled like a sports car.

However, it burned oil like crazy even when new, about a quart every 200 miles. It took my 1997 Cadillac Sedan DeVille about 100,000 miles to work up to that. The electrical system was quirky and would just cut something out, say, the head lights, whenever it felt like it. It was not horribly unreliable, and in fact was more reliable than my 1982 VW Jetta Diesel (a.k.a. "Hitler's Revenge") and the aforementioned Cadillac, the owning of which was like putting a kid through M.I.T. I got rid of it when I was driving it to work one day with a co-worker in the car, and the dash just started spraying him with boiling hot radiator fluid. It had about 125,000 miles on it, which is about when a Cadillac is worn out but a Toyota is just broken in.

But I'm here to tell you the Fiat 124 sedan was a better car than a Chevy Vega, a Chevy Chevette, and a lot of other American-built cars from the 1970s.

BimBeau said...

Still got my Fiat 124 from 1975. Mine though is a Syder and has no history of histrionics. I've replaced the convertable top twice; the interior leather is worn but uncracked, 5-spd is still smooth and with rear wheel-drive is a thrill in twisty windy country. Last trip to Germany (1992 > 6, topped out at 140 and today still gets well over 20 mpg in town. With 280K on the clock don't drive it much, but with a Benz E-Class & 2 Jeeps don't need to.
If Fiat & Chrysler merge, I'll drive it more becausew of parts avail.

Old Scout said...

Felix -

This is not a place to get information. A few of us here stick to truth and data. Most here are thrilled by spewing hatred fuelled with half-truths that worship white males over 50 with limited vision and educations.

It's open season on any popular and effective politician that isn't white, male, over 50 and under-educated. Also included are liberals and any idea that promotes unity within a community. Any liberal or progressive concept that challenges the authority or comity of said white, 50 y/o males is belittled with ignorance and by stupidity, and this is the center for distributing that superstition.

Martin Cothran said...

For example?

Old Scout said...

Marty -

You and Marcus moderate your sites to manage the responce cycle. You (two, at least) are frauds. You no more believe the exchange of ideas is a media of growth than you believe Geologists who have proved the planet is 3 to 7 Billion years old, nor Anthropologists who can place upright humans on the planet surface nearly a million yeears ago.

Your hatred is mendacitous; you (two, at least) are educated beyond the capacity of the idiots who believe you and follow docilely; therefore, you aren't spreading ignorance like they are - innocently or not. You are purveyors of racism, sexism and are as patriotic as the Rosenbergs; as faithful as Derzhenski; sycophantic as Beria and as innocent as Hitler. If there had ever been a god, your mothers would have been counselled by said deity on the merits of abortion so that real humanity would not have to deal with you.

I would give nearly anything for the viability to live another 40 years so that I could punish you with the information that the 40 years of Democratic hegemony had not yet run its course and Republicans were still running, coarse from ignominity, hoarse from idolatrous screaming and without force - of character, intellect or redeeming social value.

Martin Cothran said...

Old Scout,

For one thing, I don't know who Marcus is. For another, I don't even know how one would manage the "response cycle". I try to post one or two posts a day to keep it fresh. That is my only conscious rule. And I do that whenever I can manage it in light of my work and travel schedule, which have been heavy over the last 3-4 weeks.

What I do is try to stick to issues and arguments (with a few exceptions for those who simply need fun poked in their direction). What I don't do is make wreckless charges about people's personal motivations and assume the worst when I have absolutely no idea what they might be thinking.

Why don't you offer an argument instead of casting aspersions? So far, I don't see that you have done that.