96 Pony

Yeah, I didn't agree with all Miss Davis' politics but she did a huge service during WWII. And anyone Hollywood millionaire that would order a Mustang when she could have whatever she wanted well - that's aces in my book. :shades: Back to topic please?

I wish I had the balls Betty Davis did. :D Always a class act. Told it like it was.

I can't argue with anything you have posted except for one thing - the Chrysler/Dodge nameplates remained alive. This appears to be nothing more than huge corporate greed to destroy one of the Big Three just to get their hands on their cash on hand, additional share of the government bailout and to dump their money losing GMAC on Cerberus in hopes of saving a failing company. As far as I am concerned, there will be only one American automaker - Ford - left if this transaction goes down and the Chrysler/Dodge nameplates disappear. Thankfully, Ford is addressing their auto lineup now because I think a lot of people will be pissed if GM totally kills Chrysler and will switch to Ford instead.

Exactly what I have been thinking. Buick and Pontiac blow compared to Chrysler/Dodge in NA, IMHO. Overlap would need to be taken care of. GMC - why does it even still exist? It is GM's Mercury. The LX platforms do have a following, so I wouldn't immediately discount them even tho Zeta may be superior. A Chevy, Saturn, Dodge, Chrysler, Cadillac lineup I would not have a problem with.

Cosign. People will switch to Ford or a foreign product.

If this happens and GM essentially kills Chrysler, I will never, ever, purchase a GM product ever. All Ford now. And if Ford doesn't have what I want I will switch to German (never Jap!) Not that I have ever owned a Chrysler - mostly all Ford. This just reeks tho from what I am reading here.

Yep - Spot on. That is what I see the end result as well. Maybe not now. But in 5 years +, yea. I need a beer . . .

Meh - have to wait and see. I disagree that Chrysler's entire car line is a flop - they still have a lot of stuff I would buy over Ford/GM. Also, Buick and Pontiac aren't setting the world on fire either except maybe overseas. So who knows. There would be a lot of overlap if GM kept its current lineup as is. I would love to see Cerbius take over GMAC. Then maybe we could have an American call center for questions about our mortgages, as opposed to having to deal with the rude asses who you can't understand at GMAC's current Indian call center. :angry:

Ah yes - the seat foam. When my '76 Delta 88 got up around 80k miles pieces of foam started appearing around the interior. The one thing I remember about that car, which in retrospect I wish I still had, was that it was bought new by my dad in '75 - I inherited it in '79 - and by '81 the rocker panels had to be fixed because the surface rust was really bad.

I dunno - I too have never dealt with a start button. But from what I have heard - keyless start button = answer to question nobody asked. I do like the new center stack on this B) The new F150's looks like scary button stack. :o

Corvair is the first case involving bad engineering of a car. And I too would like to see that movie.

Truthfully, I myself did not remember it until you posted it. Probably because by the time the saddle tank issue came about, we were so desensitized with all the recalls and all the lawsuits that were happening all the time that it was just another day when it came to the Big Three. I don't know how old you are but at the time, it was literally watching the Big Three, several times a month, go down the toilet on t.v.

Because the Pinto case came first and for the first time, it came to light that automakers did put a value on human life.

You guys need to pull your undies out of your cracks. Nothing is going to happen. This is merely a historical film along the same lines as Tucker. It's not anything earth shattering, unlike if someone did a film about the Pinto matter. THAT would be a film that would probably cause problems for Ford. Tucker referred over and over to the efforts of The Big Three and the Detroit lawmakers trying to kill the car. Nothing happened after the movie came out. Car sales didn't take a sudden nose dive. Roger And Me also didn't cause any sudden downward loss for GM, although unfortunatly it did make Michael Moore think he is relevant. :rolleyes: Chrysler and GM aren't mentioned because their lawsuits came after Ford's Intermittent Windshield Wiper case was settled. The Ford case set the prescedence. As I said in an earlier post this case, like the Polaroid v. Kodak case regarding instant pictures, is a required read for anyone that works in the patent field. I recall when I was in school having to study this case because of Kearn's inability to get enchanced damages and corporations abilities to prolong a case hoping that independant inventors give up and settle. The movie will probably not be a flop but I doubt that it will finish at the top. People will see it because Greg Kenear, Lauren Graham and Alan Alda are in it, as well to see the cool cars and a historical piece. That and it has brought about interest recently because a lot of people didn't realize there was a time before intermittent wipers where there were only two speeds! :o Period. The movie I would like to see made is GM's conspiracy to destroy all the streetcar lines across the US and replace them with buses in the 50's.

I don't know why but his death has kinda affected me this weekend. I guess because I do not respect hardly any celebs but he was the exception.

Well, it appears the Big 3 bailout was approved by Congress today.

I'll be interested in seeing your thoughts after you see the movie. I too will go see it (which is rare as I usually wait for them to come out on DVD!) The sad lesson of this movie and the case - which has nothing to do with Ford, Chrysler or GM whom he went after - is that you have two choices. Run with the money or stand up on principal. Only problem is, principal will cost you the majority of the time.

Cars owned: 1976 Delta 88 Royale Crown Landau 1981 Cutlass Supreme 1987 Cougar XR7 1996 Mustang GT 'vert 2001 Mustang GT 'vert 2002 Thunderbird Favorite was the '96 Mustang. The color, the styling, trouble-free everything - couldn't ask for more Love/Hate - the Thunderbird. 6 years later total strangers still approach me personally or yell when they drive by what a great ride I have. B) Which makes it easier to overlook all the mechanical problems I have had with it. :angry: But I will not be getting rid of him anytime soon - just still too much fun to drive.

I rarely disagree with you on anything so your response caught me by surprise. Yea he was fixated even after it was over. But working in the IP industry, I can understand when some basement inventor comes up with a novel invention and companies try and steal it. Yes they were and are just intermentent windshield wipers. Hard to believe now but in 1967, all of the Big Three were trying - and failing - at making them. And when they came out they were considered revolutionary. I remember when my grandparents bought either their '72 Galaxy or '75 LTD and they had them on it and us kids were amazed. So I guess I give Kearns a bit of latitude for being obsessive. My how times have changed. Windshield wipers being exciting! P.S. - I watched the trailer again - the Mark III still looks stunning

^^^ Cosign. Especially after the thread "What Would You Drive If There Was No Ford" (or whatever the title was) and half the people who responded said they would drive Jap cars.

No, he wasn't a whack job. He invented it and then the Big Three tried to steal it from him. He went about the lawsuits a bit unconventional but - It wasn't just Ford, although they were the first. I work in Intellectual Property law and this case (along with the Kodak/Polaroid instant picture case in the late 70's) are required reading when in school. Trailer is good - Flash Of Genius

Challenger or Charger or Ram or Nitro. Would never drive ANYTHING where the profits don't stay in the U.S.

I have to wait until the camo comes off for a true evaluation. Right now I am thinking it is a worse update than the '99 was. I could be wrong - have to see.

*sigh* If only Ford offered the option of throwing a deecent engine in some of their vehicles as well. This - however, I agree is over the top.

*Ugh* We don't want to talk about that! Mystic Gold - I don't remember. I could look it up but I have been cocktailing all day and am just not in the mood! I love vaca time!