OK, Now It's Official...
I have to begin today with a death notice.
And, like ANY death notice, there is always some sadness to it...for someone.
This past weekend, on Halloween to be exact, a death went hardly unnoticed.
Now, in today's fast-paced world, who can honestly keep up with everything that goes on around us, hmm?
And yet, THIS death means a lot to me, and I'm sure when you read about it, you'll feel something as well.
The PONTIAC motor car division of General Motors is deceased...no longer alive...taking that long dirt nap.
Such an ignoble ending to a fabulous line of automobiles.
But, if you check my archives, I had a "future" obit about a year ago, complete with the tombstone seen here.
The NY Times even had their OWN obituary in yesterday's edition:
(( "It was 84 years old. The cause of death was in dispute. Fans said Pontiac's wounds were self-inflicted, while General Motors blamed a terminal illness contracted during last year's bankruptcy. Pontiac built its last car nearly a year ago, but the official end was set for Oct. 31, when G.M.'s agreements with Pontiac dealers expire." ))
Eighty four years old...hardly seems fair, does it?
Now, you CAN get a really good deal at a GM dealer for "leftovers" with as much as $6-$8K off the sticker price for remaining models, but the warranty might be less than a full term one, and rather abbreviated.
Hell, the warranty on MY Pontiac expired around 1986. Weird thing is...it STILL RUNS (and pretty damn well).
Personally, I think a lot of the problems Pontiac encountered began with the engineers and body stylists.
When you "reinvent" a model such as the venerable GTO with a car that basically comes from DOWN UNDER (Australia - The Mondaro) it makes you stop and wonder.
When men of vision like Bunky Knudsen and John DeLorean fade from view, and no one with such foresight and innovation steps in to take their place, what can you expect, other than the "cookie-cutter" vehicles in showrooms today.
Yes, such iconic names as Bonneville, Catalina, GTO, Trans Am, Firebird, Tempest, Chieftain, Ventura, Vista-Cruiser, LeMans, Grand Prix, Fiero...and many more. They are ALL no longer among the "living".
Still, if anything, many of them have survived the morticians funeral and evaded the "graveyard".
It's just that keeping them on life-support (and on the road) will take a bit more work from the owners.
For a much more comprehensive explanation of what PONTIAC was, as a car company, here's the WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac
It bothers me to think that we, here in America were once responsible for manufacturing SO many automobiles.
Here's the WIKI on JUST the "defunct" American manufacturers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_United_States_automobile_manufacturers This list is ASTOUNDING!
Now, consider THIS...
The United States "produced" over 5.7 MILLION motor vehicles just LAST year.
(China leads the pack...we're THIRD behind Japan)
Yet how many AMERICAN CARS did WE make?
Nowhere near that 5.7 Mil...that's for sure.
ANY vehicle that has at least 20% of it's manufacturing done in a specific country is considered to be "made" IN that country.
So that means that all the cars with sub-assemblies produced in say MEXICO...or CANADA are still thought of as "made in the U.S.", because 20% of the work (final assemblies) are performed HERE.
Which means that the TAXI you're riding in isn't "all American" these days...and neither is that POLICE CRUISER that's chasing down the bad guys.
Pretty sad state of affairs, don'cha think?
And if that's not enough to make you burn your toast, try this:
After WW2, the UK had close to 142 car makers actively manufacturing vehicles. Their exports alone were in the millions.
Today, you can practically count the car makers on ONE hand, and THOSE companies are owned and operated by other nations, for the most part.
On last night's (BBC America channel) TOP GEAR episode, Jeremy Clarkson made this observation, which was spot on..."We don't make ANYTHING anymore" he proclaimed...and he was right. Britain was the home of the two-seat sports car, even after the Corvette came along.
Today, they just don't make anything.
Same goes for the USA.
Sure, we have a percentage of our workforce building cars and trucks, but BY whom...and FOR whom?
Our choices as consumers are extremely FINITE these days.
Gone is the competitive spirit that drove us (pun not intended) through the Industrial Revolution and into automotive history.
The "Big Three" managed to quash that rather nicely (anyone remember a man named Preston Tucker?)...and then turn in upon itself along the way.
Well, that's what happens when you become a bit of a hog with an ever-increasing appetite.
After you've "eaten" everything around you, you start gnawing on YOURSELF...and we see the results.
Add this insatiable hunger to a staff that lacks the innovative skills and engineering dreams that can be turned into automotive reality, and you've got a lot of rolling boredom on the highways...and to what end?
Fuel economy has come a long way since the days of abundant gasoline at rock-bottom prices.
And certain, specific styling aspects and engineering breakthroughs have helped that along nicely.
But overall, we've not gotten all that far...and we were doing so damn well for a time.
Now, we turn to alternative fuels.
(rolls eyes) Puh-lease...spare me the angst.
We're not exploring good alternatives like HYDROGEN, while thrusting ETHANOL in our faces.
Soon, we'll see E-15 at the pumps...more ethanol, less gasoline, and to some newer vehicles, that's fine and dandy.
But what about dinosaurs like MINE?
What about the corrosive properties of ethanol? How's that going to work in older cars and trucks?
And WHO is going to pay for any damages incurred by USING such a mixture in a vehicle NOT designed to use it in the first place?
(probably US...as usual)
Seems we've got one helluva ditch being dug all about us...
And when there is no purpose and no really good result of that ditch being dug, wouldn't it be nice if all these people just put DOWN the damn shovels and STOPPED DIGGING?
I mean, haven't we enough problems in front of us these days, without having to worry about how we're all going to be getting around to face those problems?
Perhaps we'll become like some Indonesian nation...replete with moped and bicycles for everyone.
Or even better...we could always go back to HORSES and BUGGIES.
(I'm sure the AMISH would love that - they could be the next Bill Gates)
We need to be moving FORWARD...not backward as a nation, and as a people.
We need to pursue that which made us great in the past.
We do not need to lower ourselves or our standards to place us "on par" with less developed nations.
That's what's been happening.
This needs to stop...now.
And perhaps there's is no better place for this to occur than at the voting booth...today.
Maybe, by flipping ONE lever, YOU can allow the United States to get back on the path this nation was destined to travel on, and not the ditch this nation has been driven into by all those with shovels in their hands.
We do need a CAN-DO spirit again here...that much is certain.
Because having to attend so many "funerals" such as the aforementioned one, is never good for anyone, least of all the deceased.
Therein lies the lesson.
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and...
Stay safe out there, America.