Re: {FORGED?} Re: console and 4-spd

[John McEwen <moparrr@xxxxxxx>]

> Snip:


This was my point exactly.  The idea was to sell cars.  Special order 
sales which weren't mentioned in the brochures or mid-year additions 
designed to spruce up old stock and encourage sales were commonplace 
in the industry.  It didn't take much paper work to shuffle the 
various combinations around to ensure a sale where the buyer might go 
to another company.  This would certainly not affect the 
marketability of the cars which normally offered these features.  As 
I see it, limiting certain profitable options to certain models has 
two major concerns:  1.  It requires some paper work and extra 
supervision on the assembly line.  2.  The fellow who really wanted a 
sedan - but 'had to have' the sporty stuff, thus buying the hardtop, 
might be miffed if he saw exactly what he wanted in someone else's 
sedan - having been refused that combination by the dealer.

Option packages became available during the '60s.  At this time, it 
was deemed to be much more profitable to sell someone two or three 
things he didn't really want in order for him to get what he wanted. 
Today the picture is even more complex where access to certain 
options requires buying an entirely different trim level of the same 
vehicle.

I think that some manufacturers today - given the level of computer 
control of ordering and assembly - might do well by giving potential 
buyers exactly what they want on any vehicle - but charging enough 
for it so that the overall picture will be as profitable as group 
selling.  As an example, for many years it was possible to order a 
vehicle with certain standard options deleted.  These "Delete" items 
usually included radios and other kinds of equipment which normally 
came packaged.  Many companies offered heater delete into the late 
'60s and probably later.

I own a late model Ford Explorer XLT.  I use it as a general purpose 
vehicle for transportation, towing and hauling.  I want a vehicle 
with cloth seats rather than leather because my truck is a work 
truck.  However, I also wanted to have certain options which are not 
available on the XLT but are available on the Eddie Bauer and the 
Limited.  The problem is that they come only with leather seats.  As 
a result, I don't have heated rear view mirrors or heated seats or 
automatic temperature control.

Why not offer cloth seats on all models, or heated mirrors and seats 
plus ATC?  Living in our extreme climate, these things are not the 
frills they must seem to others.  I would happily pay a premium on my 
next order to get the vehicle I want - not a compromise.  This was an 
unwritten policy of many companies during the '50s and early  '60s. 
It was standard operating procedure for many firms before WW II - 
particularly with paint and interiors.  If you wanted it, they would 
build it.  Other buyers, who don't specifically want a particular 
make but are looking for certain options will probably go to the 
company that gives them what they want.  Brand loyalty is a very 
fickle thing today - particularly with US cars.

I think AMC was in a position where they needed to cater to the 
buyer's wants more so than other companies.  If someone bought from 
an important dealer, why not build it?  Chrysler was certainly doing 
it.

Of course, all of this is idle speculation and dreaming  I'd like to 
hear other stories where known deviations from the standard 
specifications occurred - in any company.

John

> Never say never. In 1969 when my friend ordered his Road Runner all 
> that was offered for an interior was a plain taxi cab interior with 
> a bench seat. He got his special ordered with a GTX bucket seated 
> interior for some extra bucks. The only arm twisting he had to do 
> was say if you don't do it I will find a dealer who would, so all of 
> a sudden it was ordered with the GTX interior.
> "Doc"
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