Still one more text post before i dive into videos, i don't rightly know that I still have the hardware to do so, i haven't used the camera in well over 4 years, so here goes my second post.

There is a lot of chatter right now about the bail out of the big three auto makers.  I myself, having been a mechanic, will never buy one of their automobiles again.  This is not to say i didn't enjoy my 90 bronco, my 76 grand prix, my 85 delta 88, or my 89 cavalier. No, this is to say that i enjoyed my 88 4Runner, my 90 Stanza and my 04 forester a lot more. 

It is my belief that the Japanese simply make a better automobile.  there are many reasons for this, two off the top of my head - the incorporation of bushido (the samurai code) into business ethics, and a willingness to develop through R&D a better product.  For instance, in order for Toyota to compete at the same level as Chevy and Ford and Dodge in NASCAR, they had to de-evolve their engine by almost 50 YEARS!

Think about that, the engines that the big 3 put out on the track Toyota hasn't put into a car on the road since 1958!  I like to use the example sitting in my garage if i may.  MY 1980 Datsun Z.  While its head design may not be the most power conducive design, for 1980 it was light years beyond what chevy was using.  I have under my hood a fuel injection system that chevy wouldn't use for almost a decade later, and no i'm not bashing carburetors but i am saying that if the general had given any thought to overhead cams and fuel injection in 1980, they might not be milking the corvette while leaving all of their other cars to die slow deaths.  This is what is.

What was, back before the big consolidation efforts of the roaring 20's, was every man for himself, make the best car you can make at the best price possible.  It was called competition and it bred success! For years american automakers that are now under one conglomeration were bitter enemies in the show room and on the track.  Then after a few wars, there wasn't any real competition, until the japanese came and the big 3 laughed them off with their economical gas-sipping engines.  Now they are wishing they had thought of it.

What could be is a return to the days when automakers had style and individuality.  when one could look and tell the difference right away from a ford, chevy, chrysler or buick.  no more of this platform sharing crap, no more internal policies mandating that "no production vehicle can beat the corvette" (GM really handicapped themselves with that rule). NO, go bakc to being your own comapnies, have your own production teams and innovations.  Get your prototypes out there and get involved in racing.  Let the technology that wins on the track make its way to the streets and you will know success.  They could be glorious days for niche automakers.

My final words on the subject matter are these - let the big 3 go, let them rest in peace.  They had their run but the market no longer has a need for 16/mpg soccer mom tanks. Even though gas is cheap now, it wont be forever and we'll be hearing the same problems all over again if we do not learn from our mistakes. Put more money into R&D, have an ethos upon which your corporations stand and take it to the track! let your engineers showcase theri ingenuity and you will find success.