The (not so) good old days

As is well known, all of the former "Big 3" domestic automakers are in trouble currently, losing money in spades, and possibly heading toward bankruptcy. Although the present tailspin began very recently with the runup in gasoling prices and falling sales of traditional SUVs, it's common knowledge that legions of former domestic car buyers have switched their loyalties to the so-called "import" automakers, especially Toyota and Honda, over the last three decades. These companies as well as Nissan, Hyundai, Mercedes, BMW, Mazda, and Mitsubishi have assembly plants here in the United States. Many of these companies build their engines and transmissions here as well, and stamp the body sheet metal.

We're all familiar with horror stories regarding the Big 3's lack of quality and reliability. Most seem to think the downturn in these areas started in the 1970s. However, there were problems well before that; for example in their April 1965 annual auto issue, Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, complained that their batch of mostly American cars selected for testing exhibited the poorest workmanship in a ten-year slide starting with the 1955 models.

In regard to build quality and reliability, we Americans tolerated a lot back in the 1960s before the imports could compete in the medium and large car field (unless you paid a king's ransom for a Mercedes, and even that was only "compact" size). This was before the often documented maladies of the 70s with the "Rube Goldberg" emissions controls that lowered gas mileage and made cars hard to start and keep running.

My mother's 1967 Chevy Bel Air 2-door sedan was rife with build quality issues, including numerous dents in the body work, a missing dome light bulb, and a driver door that scraped against the A-pillar trim when opened. There was also a "jingle bell" sound that some years later was discovered by my brother to be a loose bolt in the starter.

As for cheapness, granted we didn't have a mainstream Impala (pictured above in idealized splendor) or top-line Caprice, the trunk was totally devoid of any carpeting or trim -- all speckle-painted metal -- what was the point of the bottom of the line Biscayne?

I distinctly remember the automatic choke failing to shut off and the engine backfiring going up inclines within a couple of years of ownership. Rust started to bubble through the quarter panel behind the right rear wheel after just two Pittsburgh winters.

On a cross-country trip in 1971 (starting at 25,000 miles), the water pump failed on the way out and the alternator on the way back. Luckily back then, service stations still provided service; they weren't primarily gas, junk food, and cigarette outlets like today.

Detroit has mainly itself to blame for losing so many of its former loyalists. Let's hope the situation can be turned around, because competition is good for everyone.

Whither Chrysler...and Ford and GM?

With regard to the domestic auto industry, I'd very much like to see it succeed, because as someone once said, "competition improves the breed." The more competition in auto choices we have, the better ALL cars will be.

Detroit became fat and lazy in the past because there was too little competition, once Studebaker, Hudson, Kaiser, et al folded. Oh, we could buy those "foreign cars" from Europe, but most were too small, weird, or expensive for American tastes. Only Volkswagen, with its Beetle and to a lesser extent its Microbus, achieved a modicum of success. It wasn't until the Asian cars began their "invasion" in earnest after Detroit was caught napping after the first oil shock that the imports really took off. Toyota passed VW as the largest importer in 1975 and never looked back.

I remember Chrysler’s Lee Iacocca bleating over and over again in the early 1980s about "leveling the playing field" by demanding that the Asians build their products here. Well, be careful of what you wish for!

Now it looks like General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are in as much trouble as the hapless "independents" in the 50s and early 60s. Hopefully, the situation can be turned around, but Chrysler’s fortunes appear especially bleak now that DaimlerChrysler is trying to sell off the Chrysler portion. If a private equity firm gets the winning bid, I can’t see how the company won’t be broken up and only the best parts, such as the Jeep brand, remain in production.

Since the 70s, a lot of people were "converted" to the imports, and many won't be coming back. Worse for the domestics, the children of the converts heard lots of stories about the "bad old days," so they in turn don't want domestic products either.

Don't take my word for it -- look what Joe Sherlock said in his blog, “The View through the Windshield." His dad worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, once one of America's mightiest corporations, now gone. Joe is a consummate car guy and grew up loving domestic cars. He even has a classic (though modded) '39 Plymouth. Now as you know, I don’t agree with his politics, but his views on cars are usually right on the money. Read his take on where Detroit went wrong here. And his update here.

Then contrast that with his personal experience with a 2005 Toyota Avalon:

My wife's Toyota Avalon is now two years old. We have not had a single problem with it - no rattles, squeaks, electrical gremlins or mechanical issues. The Avalon has great fit-and-finish and is dead-bang reliable. It is also a pleasant car to drive. It is not a driver's car like my Jaguar sedan - the handling is not as crisp and/or sporty and, on long trips, the seats are not as comfortable. The exterior styling is unexceptional, although the interior is very nice. But the Toyota is a fine car nonetheless and we are very satisfied. We average 23-25 mpg in mixed driving and close to 30 mpg on the highway - all on regular gas.