Date:         Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:09:20 -0700
Reply-To:     Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: 50 Worst Cars
In-Reply-To:  <46E59889.4030606@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

And yet the Japanese manufacturers met the challenge
head on and excelled.  This is why GM and their ilk
are falling whoafully behind and more and more folks
in the U.S. are basically snubbing the U.S. companies
altogether.  I remember the stubborness of the U.S.
companies too.  They didn't want to add seatbelts,
airbags or anything that might cost them any more
money.  Then a few years later, they all claim that
they were the first to put in these improvements.

Do you still think that the Feds shouldn't have
pushed for seatbelts? airbags??  These days I feel
funny if I don't have my seatbelt on....  I for one
am glad the Feds got involved with emission control.
And no, I don't think they always get it right but
at least it got and is getting the attention it
deserves.  How bad would the pollution have to get
for car companies to do something about it by them-
selves?  We'd probably be choking to death by that
time....

>
> Most of the crappy cars in the late 70's and early
> 80's are the result
> of apathy by the car companies, of course, but its
> rather important to
> remember that the morons in Congress were caught up
> in the energy crisis
> of the day, so without a whole lot of understanding
> of the industry,
> they came up with some really stupid standards of
> mileage and safety
> that the General Motors types of the day, were
> woefully unprepared to
> deal with.
>
> It has to fall on the manufacturers, but as with so
> many other things
> that the feds stuck their nose into, they really
> messed it up even
> worse. I recall a few mid 70's machines with smog
> pumps, ridiculous
> emissions controls, low grade gas and just no guts
> at all, that I swear,
> were probably dirtier than the late 60's beasts I
> would street race with.
>
> Basically, what saved all our collective bacon, is
> the catalytic
> converter. Without it, I cannot imagine how bad our
> air would be. Since
> its inception, the decrease in smog in the denser
> cities has been very
> dramatic. Kudos to whomever invented it, and helped
> to almost perfect
> it. About every three years I replace the one on my
> chevette, and the
> emissions drop to nearly zero all the way around.
> Tremendous invention.
>



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