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["Mahoney, John" <JMahoney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

An addendum to Joe Fulton's info on sun and moon on doors under roofs: in Europe (particularly German-speaking?) some doors were adorned with hearts rather than with crescents.  Of course "Herz" doesn't mean "heartwood" but -Haartz- is an important part of all American --- and some German --- motors' history.

J. C. Haartz has always been tops in car tops: my '31 Convertible Coupe (yesterday) has always had Haartz cloth above.  AMC Jeep Wrangler had a Haartz Soft Top.  And among the first cars Harley Earl customized was a Pierce 66 (with a 168" [!] wheelbase and a -Cadillac- [!] engine) that, of course, had a Haartz top. 

http://www.haartz.com/Company_Profile/tabled_profiles/Fabric_of_time.htm

Take heart that you can see the sun, moon and three-pointed stars today (Mercedes' "Sonnenland" fabric is made in a Haartz-owned factory...): you never know what you'll see (through your plastic rear window?) tomorrow.

So drop the top to take a "beginning-to-end" AMC history ride

http://convertibletopguys.com/cgi-local/displaycat.cgi?cat=575 

http://www.convertibletopguys.com/cgi-local/displaycat.cgi?cat=579

http://www.torq-o.com/Images/Blog%20images/50-Nash-still-19.jpg 

http://tinyurl.com/m3fhr

and remember what the VP and GM of TMS USA said in March, 2006:

"You make success.  It doesn't come to you."

("TMS" means Toyota Motor Sales...) 

In its March 6, 2006 issue, "Fortune" magazine listed the "Most Admired Companies" --- both in America and in the world.  "You-know-who" was in the top twenty on the first list and in the top ten on the second.   No other automakers were so highly admired.  That's today.  No one knows what will happen tomorrow.

But there is -no- excuse for not knowing what happened in the past.

The first "Most Admired" list appeared in 1983: the top ten then were IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Eastman Kodak, Merck, AT&T, Digital Equipment, SmithKline Beckman, General Electric, and GM.  "GM" was General Mills, not General Motors.  As Yanks say, "Way to go!"  As Brits say, "On the up!"

There also was a "Least Admired" list in 1983: the bottom ten then were International Harvester, A&P, AMC, Pan Am, Woolworth, Crown Zellerbach, RCA, Republic Steel, Tesoro Petroleum, and National Steel.  "AMC" was American Motors in ruins, not Nash and Ramblers.  "Way to die!"  "On the way down!"

Three of the names above are "Most Admired" -still-.  GE, J&J, and IBM.

Some of the names above are mildly forgotten, some unknown, some dead.

Warren Buffett said, "It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."  He never tried to buy, build, or drive AMC.  Maybe he believed that from its 1954 beginning, AMC was a lost cause.  Or maybe he never even -looked- at AMC as in investment.  It doesn't really matter at all.

It doesn't matter if anyone thought about AMC at all.  AMC is history.  History, too, can be quickly ruined.  An "E" here, an "AMC" there and it's all over.  Like one of those 1983 motor vehicle makers, all gone.

But did that really have to happen?  Did AMC have to fail to survive?

Maybe if there had been more magic.  Maybe AMC might have lived anon.

What if "Dick deployed his magnetic personality [convincing] AMC's CEO [that] the company can make a difference with design" and he succeded? 

It all began and ended in the months of January, February, and March.  

It's very easy to forget what really happened.

It's very hard to succeed when time runs out.