Bye Bye American Pie
As most of you know by now, automobiles are personal to me. I grew up around cars, car people and car racing. And I grew up in America of the 60s and 70s. Whence I came from Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie & Chevrolet wasn’t just a slogan, it was a root truth and way of life.
My parents moved west for a good climate for my father’s asthma and so that he could open up a new car dealership. Years before I was born, that’s what he did. The gleaming edifice at right is it after being constructed but before the stock arrived for the grand opening. The photo on the left is at the ribbon cutting. The man on the left is my father; the man on the right his partner and the little girl in the middle his partner’s daughter. I was still a few years from being born, ergo I am not pictured. It started out as a Studebaker/Chrysler/Imperial dealership, but was converted somehow (not quite sure on this) to a Chevrolet dealership after my father died when I was age two. So I have roots in both of the big news items of today in autoland, the bankruptcy of General Motors and the emergence of Chrysler. The third leg, Studebaker, died long ago and was the catalyst for our move to Chevrolet. As went the sturdy Studebaker, so almost went the mighty GM.
All of the foregoing has made this a very bittersweet day for me. There is something at once both greasy and wonderful about the greater automotive business. But ask Rayne or Marcy or anyone from Michigan or anywhere teh biz iz, anyone around it for any substantive amount of time; it gets under your skin and in your blood. In a profound way. It was Americana; it was us. General Motors was bigger than The Phone Company and it was bigger than Big Brother.
Today, the General, at least as we knew it, is gone. It has been bankrupted, placed into Chapter 11 and replaced by talk of "The New GM" which will emerge. Don’t be distracted by the shouting points of the minute; this is an important and transcendent day. I have had so many thoughts, on so many tangents and planes; but I cannot relate all of them in coherent and linear thought. So, I want to adopt and incorporate some thoughts by Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times. Please, when you are done reading this post, go read Dan’s full article, it deserves it.
For those that think GM has lost its importance, think it is dissociated from the status of being equated with baseball, hot dogs and apple pie, chew on this:
Surely a company, a country, that could produce such an object [the American car business and General Motors] would last forever.
…
In the midst of the deepest recession since the 1930s, it’s hard not to see GM’s bankruptcy as a signal moment in a larger history. If mighty GM can fail, cannot also the United States? And the answer is, absolutely.This is the lesson of GM’s bankruptcy, and it has little to do with market share and miles per gallon. It’s a rebuff of the notion of exceptionalism. Any organization that fails to sufficiently safeguard its means of self-correction and reform, that forsakes long-term investment for short-term gain, that piles up debt year after year, will eventually fail, no matter how grand its history or noble its purpose. If you don’t feel the tingle of national mortality in all this, you’re not paying attention.
Man, I wish I had written the previous words. Prophetic and true, in every regard.
In his book "The Fifties," David Halberstam described what many regard as the moment of GM’s original sin: In 1958, after a long-standing prohibition, it became permissible to discuss the company’s stock price in management meetings.
From there, it was only a matter of time before the company twisted in Wall Street’s wind and strategic decisions were calibrated according to dividend pennies.
I have my own theory. In 1999-2000, GM had a golden opportunity to right its ship by backing Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. This might seem counter-intuitive, at least, since the auto industry has long postured against Democratic candidates as being pro-regulation and anti-business. Gore himself is an avowed enemy of the internal-combustion engine.
And yet, by backing Gore, who had the support of organized labor, GM would have gained enormous goodwill with the United Auto Workers, goodwill it desperately needed as it attempted to downsize in the new century.
Gore also argued for universal healthcare, a program that, had it become reality, might have relieved GM and the other domestic carmakers of that burden.
Dan Neil has always been not only a good auto beat writer, but a cogent observer of Americana. This is the type of writing talent that is being sapped from the LA Times, Otis Chandler’s LA Times, at lightning pace.
From a certain historical altitude, GM’s problem is fairly simple to appreciate: Call it a prosperity hangover. The company acquired enormous momentum in the postwar boom when the United States was the world’s only functioning economy. With no domestic peers and no overseas rivals, in a society frantic for mobility and flush with cash, GM became the colossal incumbent it was.
In the decades since 1962 — the peak of its market dominance — GM’s singular dilemma has been servicing its own over-scaled nature as it competed against a succession of younger, smaller and more agile companies, primarily from Japan
What is Neil’s conclusion? The same I have; and, again, I could rephrase it and whatnot, but he said it better first:
It will be painful, it will be ugly and there will be many losers, but GM will emerge out of bankruptcy, in all likelihood before the end of 2009. When it does, it will have shed many of its historical burdens and will still possess a talented workforce, significant physical assets and some of the best minds in the car business. A restructured GM will be a force to reckon with. If I worked for Ford or Toyota, I might be getting a little insomnia by now.
Yeah, exactly. Take a stroll back and remember what was said about Lee Iococca and Chrysler a scant couple of decades ago when they took a crash bailout. Paid back with interest. And that was Chrysler; this is General Motors. Is their return assured; heck no. Is the potential still there for a market killer? You bet. The only question is whether it will be realized. Let’s hope that it has the vitality left to grow as big as it once was and takes the American economy with it. Or even just a solid part of such a movement. We still need GM either way.
Great post, brother. We were Chevy people when I was a kid, and my brothers still are, even though one of ‘em works for Ford.
Love the photos too!
Great post, bmaz !
I wish for two things …
1. For the many bad practices by the Execs of GM to die.
2. For American ingenuity to ignite the new Company and give us cars that we love to drive.
Funny thing Petro, that was all the exact direction of things before the credit squeeze and final burn consumed GM. Were they late to the future, oh yeah, but they were already doing everything now occurring; albeit it on a much slower and inefficient path. But the critical changes were already underway; and that is one reason, of many (not all innocent) a behemoth like GM was so exposed when the contraction hit.
Exactly – the credit crunch was the real trap door for GM – “nobody could have predicted” that sales would tank 50% and nobody could finance car purchases even in the worst case scenario when GM was planning its restructuring over the past few years. Ford avoided government assistance not because of better management, but better timing and hocking the entire company while there was still money to be had – and now buying back debt at a discount.
Dunno, from what I could glean Ford was really gutsy when they brought Mulally in to head up Ford — totally outside the business although familiar with engineering processes and very complex industrial production requirements.
I actually think Ford was very gutsy, and Bill Ford invested in ‘green building’ elements for Ford starting back some years ago. He’s really been ahead of the curve. I’m increasingly convinced that leadership really can — does — make a difference.
Bmaz, great LA Times article, too.
Wow, this all makes me want a root beer float and a helping of fries…
I don’t disagree – just that Ford would have been there for government bailout money if they had not borrowed $24 billion in 2006 to finance their restructuring, new vehicles and plant closings, and for which they had to pledge almost all their physical assets, which at the time was unheard of for a big American company like Ford.
I know what you mean. Delivered on roller skates.
Oh, yeah – and in a town where people didn’t even lock cars or doors, way up to the very end of the 60s and early 70s, if you can believe it.
scribe… lovely.
Selling a car is kind of like having to put a pet down… at least, if you’re attached to the vehicle.
Remember the A & W Rootbeer Stand?
Geez, the Historical Society, for the love of gawd.
I certainly do. Rootbeer floats are still one of my favorites, and the A& W Rootbeer stand on S. Park in Madison, WI has become enshrined in my mind. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my own wheels in H.S., but I lusted after a 1957 Chevy Bel-air.
College was a different scene.
Bob in HI
Oh! corn-dog-on-a-stick, grilled onions (quite likely grown within 100 miles of the drive-in), and an A & W Root Beer float!
A & W must have used the identical architecture for most of their drive-in’s, because that sure looks like the one near my little town.
But on Saturdays, if there was a movie that my parents wanted to see – or they thought would be okay for us to see, we’d join a whole lot of other families at the local movie Drive-In; big cars, kids in the back seats and plenty of blankets for when the kids dozed off. Lotta families at the movies on Sunday night, and in the church pews on Sunday morning.
And I probably saw this Intermission Ad in its original format sometime around 1963 or 64. Back in the heavenly era of the Double Feature!
Very cool, I remember those snack bar ads at the drive-in thanks for the link have not seen one in years.
You know, i have wanted to talk about that for a while now, but kind of felt it sour grapes from a GM punk. The popular meme is that Ford was so much more brilliant than GM. A little bit of that is true as far as product and business development, but not that much. Mostly, just as you allude, they were harder up for cash earlier, and smarter about realizing it, and mortgaged the whole ball of wax for certain credit and cash. When the flood came; they had the financial levee that GM did not because it was more exposed in investment to the long term future. To be clear though, events and facts have born out Ford’s better process. It is what it is, but it is not over.
Thanks to both you and Ishmael for the follow up; makes more sense to read your comments.
But there needs to be a better general understanding of the differences between the real, absolutely huge risks involved in industrial design and manufacturing, as opposed to say… ’selling’ life insurance (or credit default swaps) and selling ‘derivatives’.
Congress rolls over for banks, and in large part appears to be fairly ignorant of the risks involved in industrial and manufacturing processes. I don’t think it’s ’sour grapes’ to start that conversation — it’s the best basis for moving forward IMVHO.
I did have to smile, however, as a few too many of my recollections of great cars involve ‘watching the submarine races’ in high school years. Also known in polite company as ‘parking’. But just in case my kids were ever to see this comment, I’ll leave it at that … good times!!
Other than to say that I think a WHOLE lot of Americans have some pretty powerful emotional attachments to their cars ;-))
Except that it could, though not to this extent). They’ve been cannibalizing future sales since right after 9/11 with the 0% financing
Eh, don’t worry about “zero percent financing”; it has almost zero to do with anything. They actually make more money on that than a straight sale. These are car manufacturers and dealers, you actually think that was a giveaway to the consumer?? Nuh uh. Trust me, the only bad transaction for big auto is the one where the consumer negotiates the price down low and pays cash on the barrelhead; anything other than that is a boon. Seriously.
Well, Ford does (or did–Fritz looks pretty good) have better management. I was hanging around Dearborn when Mulally got hired. And I was a real skeptic. One of the first things that happened after he came on was I lost my contract (which was a really smart business decision, finally). Mulally has been pretty impressive.
They had 2 Camaros near my home and were offering test drives. I waited an hour and there were still 20 people ahead of me … the passion is reawakening !
As difficult as the bankruptcy process will be on communities like Spring Hill Tennessee, and those GM employees and dealers who still face job losses and business shutdowns, there is definitely cause for optimism that the new GM will be a phoenix and not a turkey. GM will certainly sell fewer cars in the future, but that still means 4-5 million vehicles a year in North America in a few years – and the synergies that GM will contribute to the new green economy and the jobs, direct and indirect, along with the preservation of a significant industrial capacity and the many, many companies that are necessary to support an infrastructure like GM are enormous.
*waves to Ishmael*
Are the Tulips in full bloom ?
Yes, the Tulip Festival was beautiful this year!
I have a couple of close friends in Ottawa, who begged me to come for it but the weather was so dreary, we stayed here for the long weekend. Glad to hear that it went off well.
Wow, what a terrific post.
In one of the small towns of my childhood, the GM dealership always had the biggest Christmas tree in town, and it was fun to watch the big door open while they drove the tree through and placed it in the prime position in the main window; usually the cars drove in and out of the dealership, but once a year, it was a big, beautiful Christmas tree that everyone enjoyed all season.
I think that I sat between the GM dealers kids from 2nd grade on up through 5th. And those were the days when you’d spend part of summer evenings in the family car going to the Drive-In movies, and that was after swinging by the Drive-in burger shop for fries, a hot dog, and root beer. With wet towels and wet swimsuits hanging out the window sills to dry in the breeze while the car cruised off to the drive in.
Americana, indeed…
Wonderful post.
I happen to agree with the conclusion; I think that GM has a chance to do some good things moving forward. It’s natural to move through phases; it seems quite likely there will be many good, sustainable products in the future.
————–
Note to self: now that bmaz’s connection to car dealerships and auto dealers is quite clear, stop saying rotten things about GM dealers who buy up floodplains for car lots…. but if GM had backed Al Gore in 2000, they would have known it’s dumb to build car lots in flood plains…
It’s all good; that is a valid point and I remember it well.
OK, now I have a whole new take on bmaz (not really).
Fine piece.
bmaz, I see your connection to cars now. If GM can make it, I think it’s going to take involvement with our other newest asset. The banks. They’re going to have to offer no interest or VERY low interest loans for people to be able to afford to buy right now.
Cool info on your early life.
One more thing … we’d heard that Gore pressed the Big3 for as Veep … a midsize sedan that seats 5 and
gets 80 mpg. All of them were at or near that mark when Bush stole the 2000 election and promptly stopped
the program. Things would definitely have been very different if Gore had won in 2000.
bmaz,
Thank you for quoting these words:
Holy mackeral, Batman, look around and see if you can think of another big organization that needs to learn the lesson embodied in this quote! If anyone needs a clue, look at that last sentence again! Matter of fact, I think I just might save that middle sentence as a “signature.”
It’s hard to be #1 forever. Arnold Toynbee tried to understand how that works by comparing many #1 countries, whose glory has now faded. We are in the middle of the moment in history when it will be decided whether we, as a nation, will fail to sufficiently safeguard our means of self-correction [viz.: impeachment; prosecution of war crimes] and reform, whether we will forsake long-term investment for short-term gain, or will pile up debt year after year.
We live in “interesting” times.
Bob in HI
Yeah Bob, that is the part that drew me in to Neil’s work here too.
Well, now I see that Chris Matthews also focused on that same paragraph on HardBall.
What a metaphor.
Bob in HI
To be honest, I first saw the Dan Neil part of this post on Matthews as I was writing the other part.
The post, and the comments are so brilliant I have very little to add. But let me toss my last 2 cents in:
I know from the heartbreak of orphan cars. When I was a kid starting school, my Dad traded in the robin-egg-blue ‘57 Chevy BelAir 2 door in which I’d come home from the hospital for one of the last Studebakers to come off the line: a spanking new ‘66, in an odd pea-soup green they called “Seafoam”, also a 2 door. They didn’t want us kids to have a shot at opening the back doors while in motion. I had the left seat in the back, and my sibs theirs – one in the middle, one on the right. There was an ashtray built into the back of the drivers seat.
We kept that car a good five or six years until it turned over 100,000 and we could watch the road zoom by through the holes in the floor. Back in those days, undercoating helped make more rust, holding water against the underbody.
Along the way there was a montstrous GM sedan – a rolling living room – and a glorious mid-70s Nova with 350 V-8 and a 4-barrel that threw you back into the drivers’ seat like an F14 kicking in the afterburners when the catapault shot it down the flight deck. A bunch of Plymouths. And a magnificent early-60s Olds, its aluminum-block V8 burbling ultra-low RPMs at idle and all. A Saturn.
Land of orphan cars. All, at various times, loved, cursed, kicked, slammed, made-up-to, and, when they went to the trade-in or worse, mourned. That Studebaker went right from the driveway to the junkyard (no one wanted it in trade) and, every now and again for many years thereafter, errands would take us by that field of broken vehicles where we could see it among all the other orphans and castaways. We always wished it well and, almost (it had a viciously unreliable front end whose propensity for needing repairs was neither forgotten nor forgiven, and a flaky alternator, too) apologized for putting it there.
We’ll make it – don’t worry.
Aye.
Well, my dad claims he’s the original hippie. He bought a school bus in 1963 and moved us from Bemidji, MN to CA. He had it all checked mechanically and had it painted MINT GREEN with black stripes! Guy’s crazy. Still is. Moves between Vista and Bajamar, MX now. Loves the golf. Ask my dad any question about good music, and he’s probably seen the artist.
There is so much to take in with this post bmaz. I need to process it after more thought. Beautifully written. Many thanks from “us auto bugs” who have been writing about this and watching the movement…
That’s my prayer…
My Dad drove a company car most of my life. NOTHING but Ford was even considered.
Completely OT but I just spotted this
US judge: Guantanamo evidence must be made public
Did I miss this going on?
Over at Open Government Dialogue, more evidence as to why Obama is dragging his feet over prosecuting BushCo: Going on the basis of votes for my “idea” to Investigate and prosecute war crimes , 25% of voters in that venue think its a bad idea! I don’t see that as a website where wingnuts hang out, unless Powerline or some such is herding its readers over there.
If you look around at other “ideas” on that site, the % negatives is usually much smaller, like maybe 10%. So there’s some potent polarization about this issue.
Bob in HI
forgive me Buddy:
thas fey you, bmaz
unless you wanna disavow it …
I might a skipped a line or two
Don who ???
(duckin & runnin)
an did I ever mention that I got problems followin instructions
I looked up the GM wiki page when ya told me to read the article …
the GM wiki is surprisingly comprehensive
I don’t know about accuracy
I’ll read the article tomorrow, but I wanted to say that GM was an evil behemoth long before post WW II America
they been fuckin over society since before the war to end all wars
My first conscious memories are of riding in the backseat of a 1963 Chevy Corvair Monza (btw, I hate you, Ralph Nader).
My first attempt at driving was in a 1967 Pontiac GTO convertible.
My first job was at a GM subsidiary which made steering components.
Monday’s been an emotional day here in Michigan, probably the closest thing to an earthquake those of us who don’t live in California. We’ve been through many tremors leading up to this day, but this was the big one and there’s no place to hide.
But we really shouldn’t have had to bear the brunt of this. I remember in 1976 while visiting San Francisco how a shopkeeper, upon realizing my family was from Michigan, exclaimed, “Wow, you must have a lot of cars there!” At the time there was a car-to-person ratio in California of 5-to-1; save for the Lodge freeway in Detroit, Michigan had nothing on California’s traffic. I had everything I could do to keep from laughing.
But perhaps the addiction to cars did ultimately screw California as badly as it did Michigan; both states are desperately bankrupt, in no small part because cars received more attention than the respective economic infrastructure of each state.
Great post.
Gasoline is in your blood and memories in your pen.
Should we obselesce (sp) MIT’s Alfred Sloane School of Management?
My dad’s first job was at GM. That’s where my parents met. In the GM library, where she worked. Two of the huge corporations where he worked, GM (now bankrupt) and GE (not doing so well either). He’s 92 and frail, not doing so well either. Sad for a guy who courted my mother in a GM convertible to see live to see things like this.
Nostalgia for many old folks. And some, not so old.
I still get nostalgia when I want it. there’s an A&W stand about 6 miles from me. Just like the old days, except not all the waitresses are on skates. Chilidog and a root beer float.
Boxturtle (And 50’s rock playing from the pole speakers)
Mostly, I rode a motorcycle in College, but for a while I had the use of the only GM car I’ve ever really driven – an old 1970 Plymouth Fury III Convertible like the one in these photos.
What you can’t tell from the pictures is that that behemouth weighs 5,000 lbs. and comfortably seats 8 scrawny College kids, assorted surf boards, a keg and a suitcase full of 8-Track Tape Cartridges! And that’s without even using the trunk – which sometimes held a bushel of oysters on ice, shucking-knives and gloves, a leg-less Weber grill, bags of charcoal and a spare, iced-down keg!
The front seat was a bench covered in clear, hard vinyl, at least 10′ wide. If the car had seat belts, I never knew it. Making right-hand turns was no problem – I’d just get thrown-up against the driver’s door. But, left-hand turns were a whole ‘nother deal – if I didn’t hang my arm out over the door, I’d slide over into the passenger’s side clinging-on to the steering wheel for dear life.
In general, nobody I knew went to class on Fridays. Instead, we would load-up ‘the Boat’ on Thursday evenings – after partying! – and motor over to the beach. It was so warm, I’d just lay down to sleep on the sand at a point where my feet would get wet from the incoming morning high tide and wake me up to surf.
I haven’t had a car, before or since, that had as much ‘character’ as that Plymouth…
Man, I feel bad to break this to you, but that Plymouth Fury is a Chrysler, not a GM product.
My folks had one in 1966, a Fury sedan in turquoise metallic with a turquoise interior; we drove it across country when we moved from California to Ohio. I remember the ugly red puddle some modeling clay left in the rear window of the car, somewhere around the Texas panhandle…looked like something from outer space, an oozing blob of brilliant red in the middle of that turquoise interior.
Wish I could remember anything else about that car, but I was a kindergartner at the time.
yep, the fury is a chrysler product
pretty bloodthirsty too, if ya believe your Steven King
but that whole “evil regeneration” thingy really cuts down on repair costs
too bad they couldn’t stop the fury from it’s killing sprees, cuz that technology had some real potential
yeah, I do believe everything I see on TV, why do you ask ???
D’oh!
What can I say, the only other American car I’ve spent any time driving was the AMC Mustang!
And, freep, the Fury didn’t just switch-off with the key, it rumbled on for a while, like it was snoring instead…
It’s worth recalling what A.P. Sloan Jr (CEO of GM in its heyday) said in his book “My Years with General Motors” (1964):
Like the man said…..
This part by Neil was what really struck me:
This really is a metaphor for our country as a whole. In fact I would argue that over the last decade GM has done a better job of turning and changing for the future than the US as a whole has.
Especially given the old adage: As GM goes, so goes the nation…
Great post bmaz thanks. I haven’t had a chance to read through the thread, but I wanted to highlight this bit again:
It must have been a painful irony for a reporter from the LA Times to write that sentence. It could be argued that print news media are suffering from the same fate as GM, and if we fail to reform our shortsighted economic structure, the country could easily follow suit.
great to see you at the awards too bmaz
I’d like to ask a very pertinant point, begun with a little anectdote;
for the past three years my dad has been saying;
“I don’t know how they can keep it up, new cars are everywhere and they last forever, the only reason a person buys a new car is because they want it, not because they need it”
that’s true youn know, when I was growing up cars lasted for 50,000 miles, that was it, after that you’d be repairing things every month
my aging dad is one smart cookie
now cars last around 300,000 miles and the only reason they don’t go further is you won’t want to put 500 dolars into a car that only you’d only get 1000 to sell
so how, in a world where the cars really are that much better is it possible to keep a company going when they count on an attrition rate that doesn’t exist?
sad to say, we made them manufacture better cars and as far as I can tell that’s the real reason they are struggling.
ps
could someone tell me the business model of hundai?
are they a government owned or psuedo government owned corporation?
O/T or back to state secrets
Nadler To Hold Hearing On State Secrets
By Zachary Roth – June 1, 2009, 6:47PM
“Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who chairs the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties subcommittee of the House Judiciary committee, will host hearings Thursday to examine how to curb abuse of the privilege, while protecting true state secrets.
“Testifying at Nadler’s hearings will be Patricia Wald, a retired federal judge; Asa Hutchinson, the former GOP congressman from Arkansas; Ben Wizner of the ACLU; and Andrew Grossman of the Heritage Foundation.”
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…..ref=fpbO/T
GM Reaches Deal to Sell Hummer SUV Brand
REUTERS Reuters US Online Report Business News
Jun 02, 2009 06:29 EST
DETROIT (Reuters) – “General Motors said on Tuesday that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding to sell its Hummer brand, but didn’t name the buyer or say how much money it would get for the all-SUV line.”
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…..hp?ref=fpb
********************************************************
Delphi Reaches New Deal to Exit Bankruptcy
JUNE 1, 2009, 1:22 PM
“As General Motors went bankruptcy protection on Monday, Delphi, a former unit of the giant automaker, unveiled a new plan to leave it.
“Delphi, the auto parts supplier that has languished in bankruptcy for nearly four years, said Monday that it reached an agreement to sell most of its assets to Platinum Equity, a private equity firm specializing in distressed companies.”
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes……38;emc=rss
Oh, no, not another private equity company. To me, that’s just the deathknell – it’ll just be delayed. Supported by this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05…..038;st=cse
On this piece, bmaz, nice. Rouses nostalgia in me, too. The ‘57 Belair reminds me of the car my h.s. boyfriend called “The Bomb” (it wasn’t a compliment, the), either a ‘56 or ‘57. Huge boat of a thing.
The best thing about it was the bench seat (of course, buckets were exotic at the time), which allowed us to ride along with him driving w/ his left hand, draping the right around me. Ah, teen-age love…definitely tangled up w/ cars.
Come to think of it, that is the only car I remember at all from any boyfriend in those years. They all had cars, or access to cars, but I couldn’t identify any other by make, let alone model. LOL.
57 had bigger fins. Both were great years and not nearly as big as what was to come.
Michigan feels brunt of GM’s bankruptcy
State hit with 7 of 14 plant closures, with Oakland hardest hit
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News
“Michigan, which soared the highest during the glory days of the American auto industry, will suffer the greatest under General Motors Corp.’s decision to shutter more plants and shed more workers.
“In the latest round of cutbacks, announced Monday as part of GM’s historic move to file for bankruptcy, an estimated 8,900 jobs will be lost at GM facilities in Pontiac, Orion Township, Livonia, Flint, and Ypsilanti Township. The cuts will follow the closure of a Grand Rapids stamping plant on Friday that employed hundreds more. Nationwide, GM plans to eliminate 21,000 jobs at 14 plants, plus three warehouses, in eight states.
“Michigan’s share of the total job loss: 42 percent. And that doesn’t count the trickle-down impact on suppliers, . . . “
http://www.detnews.com/article…..bankruptcy
Thanks bmaz.
Ralph Nader and Labor Professor Harley Shaiken Discuss the Bankruptcy and Future of General Motors
Gmgoodweb
Auto giant General Motors filed for Chapter 11 yesterday in one of the largest bankruptcy cases in US history. Shortly after the filing, GM said it would close fourteen more plants, including seven in Michigan, and cut up to 21,000 more jobs. More than 2,000 car dealerships will be shut down, as well. After the factory closings, GM will have fewer than 40,000 workers buildings cars in the United States, one-tenth of a workforce that numbered nearly 400,000 in the 1970s. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/20…..sor_harley
I hope that GM recovers and that all these out-of-work people get their jobs back. However, considering the competition from Japan (and other places) I’m afraid this is going to be like raising the dead.
Here’s me, my critters (Raven rip) and my 66 Chevy Longbed Fleetside. I’ve owned it for 25 years and have completely rebuilt it.
And here is is now!
Cool!!
I suppose I should have given some “context”. I’d rather push a Chevy than drive a Ford!
she’s a beauty
Wow, looks llike you AND the car cleaned up nicely since the first pic.
I was hoping that he still had the long, wavy, blond hair. Oh, well – the truck is great and if that’s your wife so is she.
That would be her. Rare to find her not in the garden. That, by the way, is not our house. That is the oldest house in Oglethorpe County, GA.
I’ve got the hair, it’s in a bag upstairs!
LOL!
After I had my past-waist-length hair cut, 20+ years ago, I kept the cut-off 12-inch braid for years. Finally decided it was time to toss it some time ago. I understand, it’s hard to say good-bye to the long tresses.
I sanded her down to the bare metal before I used the John Deere Blitz Black to get that old school “Rat Rod” look. She has that bench seat with a 3 speed on the floor with Our Lady of Guadalupe gear shift knob.
Had a ‘63 longbed, small window, 283, 3 speed column. Loved that old truck.
I had it ‘72-’75 . . . it took me to the Sierra’s with two buddies and all our gear many, many times in those three years . . . even in the winter . . *G*
My first truck out of the army was a 62 GMC shortbed with the 305 v-6.
I tried to get a 283 when the old mill crashed but the only short block I could get was a 350! I like the look of the big window but the hot Georgia sun slammin off the chrome toolbox can be a killer.
ahem, I assume Raven is the one on the left?
Raven was actually the black cocker. . .the heart of a lion on that dog. The white one is the Bodhisattva!
quick story about ralph nader;
he actually kept the corvair in production by publishing his book, checy scheduled discontinuation since it was competing against itself with the nova and I believe the malibu, they were going to discontinue the corvair however nadar’s book, ”unsafe at any speed” forced gm to keep it in production since they couldn’t be seen discontinuing a car because of a book
the corvair wound up being a great car with the independant suspension the vette wound up using and I believe it was the first production american car with a blower
Nope, 1932 Dusenberg was the first; Stutz had a limited production model as well shortly thereafter I think (i am not positive about the Stutz, that could be a custom).
Great post. We had those A & W’s in Mi too.
About the Corvair, my brothers HS grad gift was a beautiful red Corvair. The first day he had it he took a friend out for a spin in it. He came home with a smashed up car because he rolled it. Lucky he and his friend lived through it. It was a dangerous car.
Nader does not know his ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to cars. I lost all respect for Nader the first time I actually had the opportunity to drove a Corvair. The Corvair was GM’s answer to the VW Bug… and was in most ways a better car. It was more reliable and handled better than not only the Bug but the majority of American cars of the same vintage (still awful by modern standards, but hardly unsafe in context). It did have two features that made it distinctly different in handling from many contemporaries — rear weight distribution and independent suspension. The rear weight distribution was a vice, but that did not distinguish it particularly from contemporary rear-engined vehicles. It was certainly less of a vice than the awful brakes typical of most American cars of that vintage. The suspension was a major advance in automotive technology.
Nader’s efforts to improve auto safety have betrayed a complete lack of knowledge of cars and a condescending attitude towards those who drive them. For instance, his push for mandatory airbags resulted in airbags being widely deployed before they were technologically mature, causing hundreds if not thousands of deaths. This was because he did not believe that the US driving public could be convinced to use seatbelts. US seat belt usage rates hit 83% nationwide last year according to the NHTSA, with Michigan hitting 97.3% and American Samoa bringing up the rear at 55.7%. The fight for airbags drained political capital and cash that could have been used for more effective safety measures, such as mandating four-wheel ABS disk brakes or improved driver training.
Pretty much agreed about Nader here, but please don’t forget his partner witch in crime, Joan Claybrook. They have created a lot of destructive hell in the American car business, and have a very significant role in the decision to stay with large unsophisticated iron too long.
As to your point about the Corvair, compare and contrast with the early Porsche 356 and 911. Nader was full of shit.
I didn’t forget Claybrook so much as leave her out of an already over-long response. Their heirs have continued to push the curb weight of new cars up, eating most of the efficiency gains on the engine side.
And as for the early 911s, lift-off oversteer FTL! I’ve driven on in simulation, and that was scary enough.
I grew up in a Ford town and identify completely with the sense of importance that the automakers have had on many towns in the Midwest. I live in New York now and it’s hard to make clear how powerful those old industries were in our lives.
Sorry to go OT on cars, but is anyone else watching CNN?
Campbell just did a segment with A. Dershowitz and some lefty Rabbi Michael something. It was interesting, just like everywhere when Israel gets discussed. It was Jew V. Jew and she was so um, guys, guys, guys? What did she expect.
The Turbo Charged Monza Spyder
Monza Spyder! Now, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a looooong time.
If we’re not careful, we’ll be driving away all the young’uns with our nostalgia. ; )
Eli is upstairs at the Mothership!
Pennsylvania’s Furry Foley
I remember distinctly a very spirited debate between myself and my former father-in-law (Archie Bunker) about the need for protectionism in the auto industry. It was so obvious that every other country was subsidizing their auto industries (specifically Japan), and that it was only a matter of time before all of the US manufacturers would be bankrupt.
There’s nothing surprising in this outcome. It was legislated. The government just never saw the foreign competitors as its own competitors – until now – when it actually owns the industry it failed to protect from unfair competition.
Sure the US made an inferior product. But the reason Toyota was able to compete is that their government helped to subsidize some of the costs related to delivering those vehicles here at that price.
Given the known legacy costs and systemic risks related to an auto industry failure, it remains astounding to me that government officials didn’t comprehend that “free trade” was a disadvantage to the United States, the world’s leading consumer society.
Great post bmaz, and great comments, one and all, including the criticism of GM and our auto industry in general.
The memories and nostalgia are valid, and so is the criticism.
The auto industry SHOULD be a dinosaur, but this nation refuses to embrace mass transit, and THAT’S to it’s own demise.
Going green, while sustaining individual cars, is not a good thing . . . unless we get our individual car units to where they don’t produce emissions, and don’t use fossil fuels and are affordable for EVERY one. That’s never gonna happen in the next 25 years, I don’t think.
We need jobs. We ain’t getting any jobs packages like WPA in FDR’s time. That’s the single most tell tale sign of how we are being controlled, and how we are being let down by Obama.
No jobs, no improvements in the economy for the masses.
Any improvements at all will be to sustain a small highly educated workforce of elites.
The gap is growing wider, and the war machine plows along and grows.
There is no regulation on banking/financing. There’s no oversight of military affairs and their designs on ever lasting war that’s all based on bought elected officials, domestic and foreign lobbying, and the war machine profiteering.
I’m tellin yas all, I don’t see much hope. But if there is any, it’s from the blogosphere, the internet and a continuing uphill battle to reveal to those masses who refuse to believe, that they are indeed, getting fucked.
It’s just not a far cry from GM’s ordeal to the complete ruin of the middle class and the wasting of the masses as services are cut for the needy from coast to coast . . . all that and the increased volatility amongst the rightwing nutz and religious extremists.
Hard to see any bright lights in it all . . . . however, everyone is still free to save themselves in their own manner, be it doing with much less or heading for the hills survivor style . . . I guess that’s a bright light. I guess.
Still, a great post and great comments. Thanks.
P.J. O’Rourke is about the only conservative I find sometimes funny. He is an excellent writer and somewhat car obsessed. Check out this recent article:
The fate of Detroit isn’t a matter of economics. It’s a tragic romance, whose magic was killed by bureaucrats, bad taste and busybodies. P.J. O’Rourke on why Americans fell out of love with the automobile.
China gets Hummer.
(sorry, no linky… linky maker seems broken)
who killed interurban transport in the usa? GM, Ford, Firestone, Goodyear.
and for what reason? to force the populace to purchase automobiles. and all those replacement parts[tires, etc].
who killed the railroads? and promoted eisenhower’s interstate highway system? the system that killed most cities and divided the populace by race and income.
the same entities.
let us consider the crimes in greater detail. i have written about this previously on this site. as i recall, it wasn’t relished. but i care to reiterate the crimes that were the divestitutes made by GM that resulted in delphi, the divestitures made by ford that resulted in visteon.
both of these pseudo corp[ses] are now in bankruptcy. why?
well, rick wagoner and the GM board of directors saw that they could make GM become profitable if it threw-off a number of critical “in-house” operations.
the illustrative story is the AC spark plug operations in flint, mi. the figures i am going to quote appeared in a wsj article[A18, 31/03/06] entitled SHOWDOWN ON COSTS LOOM AS DELPHI GOES TO COURT.
suffice it to say, when AC was a part of GM, GM had to bear the average variable cost of a spark plug when it manufactured an engine. reportedly, that was $2.05 in 2006. but, GM required Delphi to sell that same spark plug to it for $1.70.
so, if the WSJ article is accurate[and as a long-time observer of the automotive industry, i think it is] Delphi took a loss on every spark plug it supplied GM.
and those losses were not confined to spark plugs. virtually every component GM spun-off to Delphi were then sold back to GM at a price lower than the average variable cost.
in the short term, this allowed the GM board to shout how it had reduced its costs. note who were officers and directors of GM while this fraud was being perpetrated.
and the management of Delphi was hardly a “hands-off” circumstance. JT Battenberg had been an officer and director[?] of GM when he was sent downstream to be the ceo of delphi. he was very conversant with what the bloodletting he was supposed to perform. after all, he had run AC-Delco.
this story goes undiscussed in the financial air[wsj, ft, cnbc]but the GM board looted the investors in delphi. a grotesque economic crime.
after the delphi bankruptcy filing, and delphi remains in bankruptcy, many of the divested assets were secretly restored to GM ownership by order of the bankruptcy court. i think that those bankruptcy court decisions reveal that a bandruptcy court judge recognized the fraud of those delphi divestituures. sometime last year, GM had to absorb those average variable costs. such as spark plugs.
of course, none of this gets covered by the whoreson media.
after GM pulled this divestiture stunt, ford did the same thing. created an entity known as VISTEON. into which they threw a lot of their parts making entities. and then they forced visteon to sell those parts back to ford at below average variable cost prices.
it should come as no surprise that visteon, like delphi, was finally forced to file for bankruptcy last week.
so, let us consider this history, now.
GM delayed its demise by the Delphi deception. but in that process it swindled all the stockholders, bondholders of delphi. do you read where this economic crime is being pursued by any law enforcement agency?
similarly, the stockholders and bondholders of ford’s delphi facsimile, visteon, have been defrauded. do you know of any law enforcement agency going after ford?
and then we must consider the icons of the purportedly progressives in the usa, the UAW. i must tell you that you must recognize the fact that the UAW was knowledgeable of these scams. and that knowledge should inform you that the UAW was an accomplice to those crimes[in the law, this is known as misprision of a felony].
in my view, this history is the stellar incident in contemporary fascism: big labor, big business, big government establishing a totalitarianism that destroys any semblance of the precepts of the constitution, the bill of rights.
Hate to be the ant at the picnic, but there is something seriously wrong with a country that uses automobiles for mass transportation or that bails out banks rather than workers. Everything is out of whack and still is.
Don’t know if it portends anything but the last time I rented a Chevy I had to use the button on the key ring to open the trunk. Not even the owners manual could tell me where the trunk release was. I never did find it.