***2. Plastic body parts like a 90’s Saturn to cut down on body rust; ***
Up until recently, I surely would have agreed with that. But the cars out in our dooryard built in the past decade seem remarkably free from rust. Maybe I’d wish instead for more use of body panels without complex folds that could be cheaply and easily repaired by shade tree mechanics. Might not be possible though.
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What I’d wish for is far greater use of standardized parts and form factors. There is, so far as I can see, no more reason for non-generic fuel pumps, brake pads, door locks struts, tie rod ends, etc. than there is for non-generic light bulbs. Yeah, there might be a reason to have three or four classes of some items, but making them different for every car seems silly and inefficient.
Agree, people like Iacocca don’t come along very often. Henry Ford II was a stubborn guy, and a bit of an egomaniac. The Edsel was largely his idea; a car mid priced car for a shrinking market with the country is a recession.
Twin Turbo; glad you have some experience in market research and focus groups. As a busines school project I canvassed dentists to get an idea of the market for an instant dental X-ray development machine. Until that time, they had to be sent out to a lab. The advantages were obvious, but the cost, $10,000 at that time scared off the more conservative dentists. A number of the younger and more enterprising ones could not wait to get one. The rest is history, of course; everything is instant now.
Politicians are the worst at manipulating data. Don’t know whether you are old enough to remember Jack Kennedy’s war on poverty. He said: “Thirteen million American childeren go to bed hungry every night!” Scary. BUT, this was based on a national nutrition survey, and yes, 13 milion children were not eating healthy foods, not because their parents were poor, but because they were buying too much junk food, even in the 60s. They were defintinely not going to bed hungry.
Educating the parents in proper nutrition and making food stamps only available to buy healthy foods would have been a good program. I was not against the war on poverty of course, but against the way the money was spent.
Last week I met a guy who owns a small business that supplies parts for the automakers. As we bemoaned the current state of affaris, I made the crack that I need a large AWD SUV to haul lotsa crap and family, and that gets 45 miles to the gallon to cope with my home among the hills in WV. He said that by now, the plan was that we’d be driving such vehicles, but the powers that be killed off the switch to industry standard turbo diesel technology. Was the infrastructure change (adding more diesel pumps)too great? The profits too thin for the oil companies?
Basically both. Although I like automatics in trucks better, since they typically tow more, and the gearboxes and clutches in trucks have long throws and don’t lend themselves to powershifting that much
For the record I have a Mustang GT and full sized Bronco. If Ford would make a 2 door SUV variant of the Super Duty, I’d be the first one in line. I’ll take mine in gunmetal grey with the gas V10 ,5 speed automatic, 3.73 gears and if possible a locking rear diff. As for the Mustang. When the new Boss engines arrive, I’ll probably buy a new Mustang.
During world war 2 the army in it’s infinite wisdom, decided to average out the typical GI. Came up with the average shirt, pants, and shoes then issued them to the new recruits. They ended up not fitting anybody. Same story here.
You also have to realize that what you want is not what everyone wants. A Joe Average here may want a car that can transport them exactly 1.6 miles to work/school and get good mileage. Joe Average in rural Alaska will want a 4WD truck that can handle long distances on rough terrain.
There are more than a dozen new 4-cyl access cabs within 50 miles of me. Rather than trying to special order, the one you want has been made and is in stock for $20,000 or less.
There are spray on bedliner franchises in most areas, try the yellow pages or yellow.com
Would you settle for timing belts or interference engines, never both?
Without question…a timing belt is BETTER for a interference engine. YES belts break…But chains slip. And when a chain slips…SAME PROBLEM…valve meets piston.
Yes, solenoid actuated valves would have benefits.
Several companies have been working on that for years. The problem is reliability. A simple mechanical system like a cam operated valve system lasts HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of miles it properly lubricated. Last I read about the solenoid actuated valves…they were seeing failures around 40k miles…That is NOT acceptable. When they can get them to last 300k miles without any maintenance THEN I’d say it’s a good design.
although it has been danced around, the thought that the ‘sales’ industry, commissions and company profit demand exactly what you are trying to get away from. That is if it is in demand it costs more. You will pay (usually handsomely) for your ‘choice’ in whatever it is. Autos are probably the most expensive luxury item the masses can purchase.
BEfore you praise Iacocca to the skies, remember that he was also responsible for the exploding Pintos. He insisted on keeping the weight under 2000lb, even after the engineers told him the frame wouldn’t be strong enough.
Once upon a time I tried to get a factory tach installed from a dealer,using service parts-the cost was unbelieveable.I think there exists a niche if the companies would exploit it to customize new vehicles,sometimes you can come fairly close with an optioned Dodge if you do a national dealer search-Kevin
